My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Willow Spring

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.

Find the middle point of a willow twig garland.

Mark the middle point temporarily with florist tape.

Mark the middle point temporarily with florist tape.

The one half of the garland is wrapped clockwise and the other counter clockwise

The one half of the garland is wrapped clockwise and the other counter clockwise

Pin this middle point to a sheet of Styrofoam with a hairpin wire

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.

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

Pin the other end to a second sheet of Styrofoam

And spiral the willow twig garland back in

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

Place the two Styroofoam sheets on top of each other and set aside for the twigs to dry

Remove the hairpins.

Remove the hairpins carefully

And uncoil the spring

And uncoil the spring

Unpin the other half

Unpin the other half

Glue in a few grape vine tendrils

Glue in a few grape vine tendrils

The spring is ready to design with

The spring is ready to design with

Every week I add a new design with related tutorials. Be sure to subscribe to receive an email notification with design inspiration.

Tutorials

13 October 2011 Spiral Wire Cages

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.

19 February 2013 Manipulating stems: Snapping at an angle, Bending, Spiraling, Curling and Straightening

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...

15 October 2014 Thanks Weaving Hat

This is the basic pattern used to weave a hat

21 October 2015 Rolled up Autumn leaf wreath

Create a textured wreath with Chrysanthemums and rolled up Autumn leaves

25 January 2012 Weaving Willow spheres

I build up the spheres by weaving willow wreaths and then use those to shape the ball

11 February 2015 Stripping foliage from weaving stems

Remove foliage from stems to weave with

Favourite Flowers

Salix matsudana "Tortuosa"

Curly Willow, Chinese Willow, Tortured Willow, Globe Willow, Dragon's Claw, Hankow Willow

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