My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Balancing the curved stems of dried Autumn leaf tubes

Gather a few large autumn leaves with really long stems and set it aside to dehydrate and start to dry. For my design I gathered some Tulip tree leaves.

Roll the large leaf

Roll the large leaf around a dowel stick. To make it easier to remove start to roll the one end...

Roll the other end over the leaf

... and secure it by rolling the other end over the leaf

Fold the stem over to curve back.

Fold the stem over to curve back.

Wrap the next leaf to hold the previous one in place

Wrap the next leaf to hold the previous one in place

Curve its stem over and wrap the next leaf

Curve its stem over and wrap the next leaf.

Loosely tie the leaves and set aside to dry

Loosely tie the leaves and set aside to dry

Untie the leaves

Carefully untie the ribbon to remove the leaves

Carefully unwrap the leaf

Starting at the lowest leave, carefully unwrap

Because the leaf is dried it retains the tube shape and the stem remains curved

Because the leaf is dried it retains the tube shape and the stem remains curved.

Hook the leaf over the edge of the container

Hook the leaf over the edge of the container.

Slowly balance the stems all the way around the container

Balance the stems all the way around the container, spacing them out as you go along.

Secure with a tiny drop of flower adhesive if you want to move the container

Move the stems so that it crosses over in the middle.

Move the stems so that it crosses over in the middle.

Place a tiny water source in the leaf tube for the fresh flowers

Place a tiny water source in the leaf tube for the fresh flowers

See the detailed Tutorials below on how I make my own water source from drinking straws and how to wire the straw to dangle in the leaf tube

Fill with water and add the tiny oncidium orchids

Fill with water and add the tiny oncidium orchids

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

Tutorials

4 January 2011 Drinking straw "test tubes"

When you need to keep a tiny stem hydrated this is just what you need.

14 October 2015 Roll hundreds (yes! hundreds) of autumn leaves so create a natural, upright flower frog

Rolled leaves offer support for floral stems

18 January 2012 Butterfly feeler hooks for swinging test tubes

I don't always want to wire my test tubes into the design. I like to create a bit of movement by simply hooking the tubes to gently swing.

22 October 2014 Roll a folded leaf coil

Fold and then stitch a long fall leaf garland to roll into a coil

21 October 2015 Rolled up Autumn leaf wreath

Create a textured wreath with Chrysanthemums and rolled up Autumn leaves

23 March 2013 Rolling leaf tubes

Roll foliage to create tubes

8 October 2011 Roll spiral blossoms

Cut leaves and petals and roll a spiral blossom

Favourite Flowers

Oncidium

Dancing lady

Related Designs

11 November 2015 Balancing Act

Bend dried fall leaves to balance on the edge of a glass container

31 May 2017 Let's hang out

Skewer some Eucalyptus to suspend between the orchids

28 June 2017 Somewhere in the Middle

Skewer Dracaena leaves into a roll that supports a tiny water source for the Oncidium orchids

27 June 2018 Look deep

Curl foliage to use as a natural armature for delicate buds.

22 May 2019 Putting your own spin on it

I would definitely describe my own personal style as minimalist classic... but with an edgy twist.

6 January 2021 I tip my (flower) cap!

An enclosed design that invites the onlooker to lean in closer to explore the pretty orchid.

30 March 2022 Cone of Gratitude

Sweet spring design to hold some buds