Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman
Willow Spring
- 24 February 2016
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I use a few willow tips that I wire into a garland to make the spiral. See the Tutorial below for detailed instructions.
Find the middle point of a willow twig garland.
Mark the middle point temporarily with florist tape.
The one half of the garland is wrapped clockwise and the other counter clockwise
Pin this garland to a sheet of Styrofoam with a hairpin wire. Let the end of the garland point away from the Styrofoam and slowly start to manipulate the fresh willow tip garland to spiral out, working your way to the middle point.
See the Tutorial below for more information on how to Manipulate twigs
Slowly spiral the garland and pin it into position. Make sure not to snap or sharply bend the twigs
Pin the other end to a second sheet of Styrofoam
And spiral the willow twig garland back in
Place the two Styroofoam sheets on top of each other and set aside for the twigs to dry
Remove the hairpins carefully
And uncoil the spring
Unpin the other half
Glue in a few grape vine tendrils
The spring is ready to design with
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Tutorials
The cage spirals to form a basket that wrap around the plump ripe berries (or you can slip in a flower) to hang as connections between the twigs.
Most stems, twigs and even sturdier branches can be bend into shapes. It takes practice and more than a bit of patience. The main idea is to slowly manipulate the branch without...
Create a textured wreath with Chrysanthemums and rolled up Autumn leaves
I build up the spheres by weaving willow wreaths and then use those to shape the ball
Favourite Flowers
Curly Willow, Chinese Willow, Tortured Willow, Globe Willow, Dragon's Claw, Hankow Willow
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