My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Grass Spiral Snail

I used a similar technique to that of folding foliage roses to fold my snail

Split a long blade of grass with a pin

Split a long blade of grass with a pin

Split from where the leaf becomes soft up to the tip

Split from where the leaf becomes soft enough to fold up to the tip, leaving the harder stem side intact

Fold the left side of the split blade at an angle and behind the other half

Fold the left side of the split blade at an angle and behind the other half

Fold the right side under the first half

Fold the right side under the first half

This is your basic spiral folding pattern. Continue to fold the grass to create a snail shell spiral

Simply fold the next blade under the first.

Simply fold the next blade under the first, at an angle

And the next one under the one before

... and the next one under the one before

The folded grass will start to spiral in

The folded grass will start to spiral out

Keep folding the grass spiralling around

Keep folding the grass spiralling around

Build up the snail shell by folding spiral after spiral

Build up the snail shell by folding spiral after spiral

Snail shell spiral

The snail shell spiral is now ready to secure

Weave the harder stem part through the spiral to the back

Weave the harder stem part through the spiral to the back and the soft split ends to the front

Knot the split ends

Knot the split ends to create the snail head

Cut the body end shorter.

Cut the body end shorter and secure with glue if necessary.

Add the spiral snail to the design.

Add the spiral snail to the design.

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

Tutorials

17 July 2012 Guacamole Green Coiled Grass Chameleon

My Chameleon is mono-botanical. Made from coiled grass

24 September 2014 Folding a Frog

Fold and weave a frog from grass

5 January 2011 Palm leaf Hopper-flies (grasshoppers and butterflies)

Weave grasshoppers or butterflies (or fireflies) from palm leaves

Related Designs

18 February 2015 Snail Away

Spiral roll a snail to add to this sunny design

20 January 2016 A lots of stuff and things

Sticks and twigs create a resting spot for palm and rose butterflies

21 June 2017 Playing Favourites

A quick and easy Kenzan design

31 October 2017 Mr Twig-or-cheat

An extra Almost-a-Design for Halloween this year

14 April 2021 a Yay! You

A tiny Spring detail to add to a cute little floral design.

15 March 2023 Hop… Lots!

Beautiful blossoms don’t NEED much to make it into a lovely design. But the start of Spring might just inspire you to add a bit much… just because it makes you happy.

19 July 2023 … And his little flower

Easy support for a single flower... and knot a special secret admirer just to keep it company.

20 September 2023 Did you see that!?!

Take a handful of grass... but then add just enough design to make it interesting.