My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Bubble raft to float flowers

Flowers naturally float in water. They just don’t always naturally float on water. For that they sometimes need a bit of help.

If you want to float really delicate floral material see the Transparent ripple Tutorial below

Without a bubble wrap skirt the tulips will slowly fill with water and sink

Water slowly seeps in between the petals to pool and weigh down the bloom.

Bubble wrap skirt to make the tulip float

Cut the bubble raft to fit like a skirt around the flower base

Cut a disk out of the bubble wrap to make a flower float raft

Cut a disk out of bubble wrap. Cut it just slightly smaller than the petals for flat based flowers.

Fold the bubble wrap and cut a hole for the flower sterm to fit through

Fold the wrap and cut a hole for the stem to fit through.

Cut a hole in the bubble wrap raft to fit the flower stem

Also remember: the heavier the flower head the larger the bubble raft. In the water the bubble wrap becomes almost invisible

Simply slip the stem through the hole

Simply slip the stem through the hole

Cut the stem as short as required

Cut the stem as short as required

And set it in water to float

And set it in water to float

Even flat petalled orchids float better with a bubble skirt

Even flat petalled orchids float better with a bubble skirt

And keeps the water from slowly sinking the bloom.

And keeps the water from slowly sinking the bloom.

Press the stem all the way through so that the bubble skirt support the petals

Press the stem all the way through so that the bubble skirt support the petals

And float the flowers

And float the flowers

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

Tutorials

3 March 2011 Reflex Tulip Petals

Tulip petals can be opened or reflexed to create a fuller bloom

11 May 2011 Slow down tulip growth, after the stems have been severed from the bulbs

Tulips continue to grow after being cut. Sometimes when you make a very small design or for competition or bridal work you want to minimize growth. The best way to do this is to...

7 October 2015 Magnetic grass bubbles to reposition under water

When suspending items under water it is convenient to add a tiny magnet so that you can reposition it if the water distorts the lines of your design

4 March 2020 Balancing a fishbowl vase on its side for a floating design

Give new life to an old vase by turning and balancing it on it's side. It's actually easier than it looks... and it looks super impressive!

8 January 2020 Leaf-puddle for a short stem in a big vase

Add a leaf to a large-ish vase to create a small puddle of water for your short flower stem to rest in.

30 August 2011 Suspending and positioning a Phalaenopsis orchid under water

Flowers naturally float and you will need some kind of sinker to keep them suspended under water.

5 September 2018 Wisteria Vine Wreath Armature

Create a barely there armature with sturdy end of season vines.

28 June 2017 Skewer leaf rolls to support a tiny water source for fresh flowers

Hide the water source in a rolled leaf

10 October 2018 Single blade wrap armature

Fold a single blade of grass or slender leaf around a small container to stand your flower in position

1 April 2015 Hana-kubari Bamboo

Hana-Kubari is an Ikebana flower mechanic. Only natural materials such as pebbles, sticks and branches can be seen to support the flowers. Traditionally no twine or wire, nails,...

21 March 2012 Where to cut Tulips to condition

Here is a trick to make sure your tulips will condition thoroughly

26 February 2020 Weave a grass Platform for an opening Tulip bud

Tulips continue to grow as they open. This means you not only have to be mindful of their proportions as they are now... but also as they will be once open.

Favourite Flowers

Tulipa

Tulip

Cymbidium

Cymbidium, Boat Orchid

Phalaenopsis

Phalaenopsis, Moth orchid

Gerbera

Transvaal Daisy, Gerbera Daisy, Germini

Related Designs

3 January 2012 Going Cold Twinkle Turkey

Is it better to go Cold Twinkle Turkey and embrace the minimalist living room or rather ease into it?

15 January 2014 Love at second sight

This is my article that I wrote for the Valentine's Design Issue of Canadian Florist Magazine

19 March 2014 One of one of everyone

Float flowers using a bubble wrap raft

24 September 2014 Leapfrog

Fold and weave a frog from grass

15 July 2015 So Fine

Use transparencies to create floating devices for the flower material

1 March 2017 Gumusservi

To celebrate the 6th year anniversary of My Creative Workbook I am looking at the most popular Tutorial I have done to date:

7 June 2017 Dream, Job

Create a grid to rest some plant material so that it floats and some with their stems to rest in the water below

17 January 2018 Flowering Between a Rock and a Hard place

Create a subtle contrast by floating or anchoring some of your design elements.

11 July 2018 Stay-a-Float

Snip florets from a hydrangea mop head to float on water

5 December 2018 Personal Preference

The third design I did for my book launch demonstration looking at aspects that influences my effortless style of designing.

1 May 2019 Can you see the tiny hint of Sunshine on the tips of the grass?

I left the grass to mature so that the tips mirror the sun bleached yellow of the orchids.

10 July 2019 These are my favourite summer things:

A submerged design... perfect for summertime designing... and enjoying!

4 September 2019 Gently down the stream

A mindful summer craft using banana leaves to create a floating arrangement.

4 March 2020 All Aboard!

Ooooh! Am I excited to show you this design. It is an ordinary fishbowl vase... balanced on it's side.

20 May 2020 Whatever floats your boat

This is one of my best known and still my go-to core techniques for floating flowers.

20 January 2021 Hope Bubble

That good old double vase trick... but this time I deliberately added a bubble between the two layers to create a third circle in the design.

7 July 2021 Do and Don'ts

One of my trusty tried and tested techniques. When the going gets hot... float your flowers!

19 January 2022 Thaw

It's Tulip Season! Perfect for that "it's still winter ... but is that something green I see...?" mood designs.

3 August 2022 It's a Heatwave!

Deep water design for extremely warm weather.

1 February 2023 Why When

An old tulip trick in a new way to keep the flowers fanned out

17 May 2023 Purple haze… float

Softest Wisteria colour to cool things down on an unexpectedly warm day.

10 October 2018 From A... for Acer to Z… for Zantedeschia

This week we look at the design featured in the Flower Guide Chapter at the very end of my book