My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Lining containers to make them waterproof

Line Papier Mache containers with plastic.

If you use Papier Mache, terracotta or clay or any precious container or hand painted container that might damage, scratch, leak, rust, or discolour or disintegrate when it is filled with water, it is best to line the container with plastic before you add wet foam, a Kenzan or any water retaining mechanic.

It is also best to line metal containers to keep it from cancelling out the flower food added to the water.

Use sturdy plastic bags to line containers with.

I prefer to use sturdy plastic shopping bags or thicker clear plastic packaging to line my containers with. It is just as durable as commercially available linings and available in a lot more colours. But it also keeps the shopping bags from becoming trash for one more use.

Inspect all the bags that you receive and store the ones that are clear, or in a nice colour, without any ink or prints or holes in a box as future lining plastic.

Cut the plastic

Place the plastic in your container. Cut the plastic to roughly follow the shape of the container.

Place the soaked block of Oasis or Kenzan in the plastic in the container.

Place the Kenzan (or other mechanic) on the plastic in the container. Trim any plastic that still sticks out over the edge

Line containers

Or fluff out the plastic around the mechanic if you want the lining to show.

Lining a container with tissue paper and cellophane

If you want to line a glass container with coloured tissue paper, sandwich it between two sheets of cellophane or clear plastic to protect it from water.

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

Tutorials

2 June 2011 Papier Mache

I save all the thin tissue paper or un-printed newsprint papers that are wrapped around the flowers that are delivered to me to make batches of Papier Mache with. These sheets...

Related Designs

2 June 2011 Cymbidium Friendship Arrangement in a Papier Mache Container

The Asian Cymbidium is considered a gift of respect and friendship. The florets are also considered symbols of "virtue" and "morality" in many other cultures.

1 January 2012 All in the same boat

10 April 2011 Feeling Funky

I wove vine wreaths to form a pyramid, one just slightly larger than the next. In the natural cavities between the wreaths I placed the roses and lisianthus in plastic covered...

18 September 2012 Tying the knot and loosening those curls

Romantic rose centerpiece with just a bit of an edge featured in the DIY Wedding Magazine

15 January 2014 Love at second sight

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

2 November 2016 Pick your poison

A Fun Halloween design with "poisonous mushrooms" tucked between the moss and petals