Ekibana (or ikebana) is an ancient Japanese art that allows you to create beautiful autumn bouquets of leaves, flowers and other natural materials. Used for decorative purposes, it is available to both adults and children, but requires adherence to a number of principles and special attention when choosing the materials used in the work.
General characteristics
Autumn ikebana is a unique interior decoration created with your own hands from fresh flowers, leaves, acorns and branches. Initially used for sacred purposes, such bouquets later began to be used for decorating the premises, giving it a special festive atmosphere.
The most favorable time for creating ikebana is considered to be the first autumn months - September and October, allowing you to make original, bright, and even extravagant bouquets of multi-colored leaves, birch bark, late flowers and moss.
It is recommended to collect the material for work in a forest belt or in a park in advance, choosing dry, sunny weather for this, and then be sure to dry it by hanging it by the roots in a dark, dry place.
There are also a number of principles for composing ikebana, according to which:
- The composition must have one or more central figures – for example, flowers, and the remaining elements are used to complement and decorate them.
- All components of the ikebana must be harmoniously combined with each other, installed in the container at a certain angle, and form a complete composition.
Necessary tools
Tools needed to create ikebana:
| Natural material | Tree leaves, dried flowers (cotton, acroclinum, physalis), tree bark, cones, branches, acorns. You can also use pumpkin, apples and rowan berries. |
| Container for a bouquet | Glassware, plates, baskets, wide vases or special artificial stands. They can also be replaced by pumpkin, previously cleaned from pulp, dried. |
| Material for fastening a bouquet |
If you want to use a vase and autumn flowers, it is also recommended to purchase floral foam and ribbon. |
| Additional materials |
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Preparation of materials
A prerequisite for successful work is also the correct preparation of the material. Leaves for ikebana should be taken only whole and healthy, and then dried or kept in a special solution. The method of processing natural material is selected depending on the type of the final composition.
Drying methods:
| Drying in a book | Tree leaves used to create children's crafts, herbariums and collages should be placed between the pages of books or albums to dry, after being weighed down with weight. This is done to prevent possible leaf curling when creating a bouquet or decorative composition. |
| Drying in the open air | The method involves drying the leaves used as the base of the pumpkin or squash composition in the open air. This takes about a month, and the readiness of the material is determined "by eye". |
| Natural drying | It is used to create both children's crafts and decorative compositions and involves drying dry grass, dried flowers, and leaves tied into a bundle and then hanging it upside down in warm, well-ventilated rooms. |
| Drying with a hot iron | This method of preparing the material involves placing autumn leaves on a thick cardboard base or a wooden board. Thin paper (tracing paper) is placed on top, and then the surface is carefully ironed with a hot iron until the moisture has completely evaporated. |
| Volumetric drying | The method used to create volumetric compositions and bouquets is suitable for autumn flowers and leaves. When choosing this method, drying is carried out using hot sand, in which cut flowers are placed for a month. |
| Drying in the oven | A quick method of preparation, suitable for chestnuts, cones and branches, involves placing them on a baking sheet and then placing them in an oven heated to 60° to dry. This drying takes 20-30 minutes, and during it it is necessary to constantly monitor the condition of the natural material, preventing it from darkening or losing its shape. |
It is not necessary to dry the natural material used to create volumetric compositions. To process it, you need to use a container with water mixed with 2 tablespoons of glycerin.
Leaves, pine cones, acorns and tree bark should be placed in it for 2-3 hours, then taken out and sprayed with hairspray, which will allow them to acquire a brighter shade.
Particular attention is also paid to the selection and preparation of the base, to which auxiliary elements are added one by one, fixed with plasticine, plaster, foam rubber. The final appearance of the composition will depend entirely on the imagination of its creator.
Ikebana from leaves
DIY Ikebana Autumn from yellow leaves is suitable for a school exhibition or a holiday in a kindergarten. The resulting decorative panel is created from multi-colored autumn leaves dried in a book, supplemented with wheat ears and small pumpkins.
The work uses:
- tree branches to create the trunk;
- square plywood sheet;
- dark varnish or stain;
- a simple pencil and PVA glue;
- wicker basket for pumpkins.
When creating a panel you will need:
- Using sandpaper, polish a 70*50 cm sheet of plywood, paying special attention to the edges. The resulting workpiece should be smooth, without nicks or roughness.
- Using a brush, cover the plywood with stain or dark brown varnish in several layers (each subsequent layer is applied only after the previous one has dried).
- Using a pencil, draw a voluminous maple leaf on the base, and then, using PVA glue (hot glue), stick yellow tree leaves onto it, moving from the edge of the stencil to its center. It is recommended to overlap the leaves, and leave their tips free, which will give the composition additional volume.
- Glue a branch to the place of the stencil trunk.
- The finished panel can be hung on the wall, and next to it, place a basket with small yellow pumpkins of the Jack Be Little variety. They can be replaced with acorns or chestnuts.
In a similar way, by overlapping and gluing maple or any other autumn leaves onto a stencil, you can make decorative panels in the shape of animals and birds.
From twisted leaves
Autumn ikebana made from autumn leaves twisted into the shape of roses will be a wonderful decorative decoration for the room.
You can make it yourself using:
- not dried, wet, freshly picked maple leaves;
- threads and soft wire;
- can of hairspray.
You can use a small glass vase as a base for the bouquet.
To create a bouquet you will need:
- Take a wedge sheet, fold it first in half, and then carefully twist it, moving horizontally, thereby forming the middle of the bud.
- Take the second leaf, fold it in half in the same way, and then wrap it around the base. Acting in a similar way and be sure to hide the sharp edges of the leaves inside the workpiece, you need to form a "rose bud" from 5-6 leaves, slightly loosen the twist, which will add splendor to the "flower" and secure it with threads at the base of the "bud".
- Using scissors, trim the edges of the "rose" and place it on a base of 4 dry leaves located around the "bud". Secure the finished rose at the base with wire and spray with varnish from a can.
- In the same way as the first one, make 3-5 “flowers”, put them together to form a bouquet and connect them by wrapping the “stems” with floral tape.
- The finished bouquet can be placed in a vase or used later to create autumn topiaries, wreaths or voluminous bouquets.
From leaves and flowers
DIY Ikibana Autumn from late flowers can be made in a pumpkin that has been previously cleaned of pulp and dried.
This accessory will be a wonderful addition to your holiday table, and to create it you will need to take:
- one large flat-topped pumpkin;
- a sharp knife and scissors;
- leaves of different sizes and shapes;
- any autumn flowers – chrysanthemums, asters, roses;
- ears of grain, branches with berries and acorns;
- thin wire;
- decorative ribbons;
- floral sponge.
Work on ikebana begins with preparing the pumpkin, for which:
- Using a knife or scissors, you need to carefully cut off the top part so that it is even and smooth, and then use a knife or spoon to completely clean the pumpkin cavity from seeds and pulp.
- Place the pumpkin on a baking tray, put it in the oven and heat it to 60° to dry the vegetable for about 40-50 minutes. You can also dry the pumpkin naturally by leaving it in the open air for a month.
- Once the pumpkin is ready, it needs to be taken out of the oven, cooled and placed on a table or any flat surface. A floral foam needs to be placed inside it so that it is slightly below the top of the vegetable.
- To create a composition you need:
- Take the pre-dried leaves and place them in the upper part of the pumpkin, inserting the stems into the fluorescent sponge so that the larger ones are located at the top and the smaller ones at the bottom.
- Place cut flowers in the center of the pumpkin and complement the composition with a variety of dried flowers, ears of corn, twigs with berries and acorns attached to wooden skewers.
- You can use floral tape to decorate the bouquet.
- To keep the bouquet fresh, it is recommended to periodically moisten the flowers by spraying them with water from a spray bottle. Fresh flowers can also be replaced with pre-dried plants kept in a mixture of water and glycerin, which will significantly extend the life of the bouquet.
From cones and acorns
DIY Ikebana Autumn from pine cones and acorns can be supplemented with a candle in a glass vase if desired and used to decorate the table.
It is made using:
- a wide (diameter 25-30 cm) ceramic, wooden or clay plate with high sides (you can also use a bowl);
- 10 cones;
- a glass cup with a candle or a small, transparent vase;
- acorns – 8-10 pcs.
In the process of creating the craft you need to:
- Place a plate/bowl in the center of the table, and place a vase/glass with a candle in the middle of it.
- Place acorns on the bottom of the vase and fix a candle between them.
- Place pine cones around the vase.
- The candle in the resulting composition can be lit, which will give it a more festive look.
From ears of corn and cones
An autumn ekibana bouquet of ears of corn and cones can be placed in a vase or clay mug.
In this case, you will need to use the following in your work:
- 10-15 small cones;
- any dried flowers (hare's tail, echinops, cotton) and wheat ears;
- foam or fluorescent sponge;
- wooden skewers (they can be replaced with tree branches);
- hot glue gun.
To create the composition you will need:
- Place foam or floral foam in a vase or mug.
- Cut off the sharp ends of the wooden skewers and attach the cones to them using hot glue, then spray them with hairspray. If you want to create a brighter, more festive composition, you can use glitter varnish.
- Insert the prepared cones into the foam/floral foam in any order and add wheat ears and various dried flowers to the bouquet.
- If desired, the resulting bouquet can be decorated with decorative ribbons.
- Instead of ears of corn and dead wood, you can use autumn leaves, arranging them in a circle at the base of the composition. The cones used in ikebana can also be pre-painted with acrylic paints and varnished.
From apples and leaves
DIY Ikebana Autumn from apples is placed in a clay pot, a wicker basket or in a pumpkin that has been pre-dried and peeled of pulp, replacing the vase.
To work you will need:
- 8-9 apples;
- autumn leaves;
- 2-3 rowan branches;
- foam or floral foam;
- varnish and glossy paint;
- wooden skewers;
- glue gun.
When creating a composition you need:
- Cover pre-washed and dried apples with a layer of wax or glitter paint. Dry them well and attach them to wooden skewers with hot glue.
- Place a floral sponge into a clay pot and then place the apples on skewers into it.
- Place leaves between the apples and add rowan branches to the composition, filling in the empty spaces.
- If desired, you can complement the ikebana with floral or satin ribbons.
From leaves, flowers in the form of topiary
Autumn ikebana in the form of a topiary - a decorative tree, can contain autumn leaves, dried flowers, ears of corn, late flowers, acorns and chestnuts.
You will also need:
- brown or mustard colored ceramic pot;
- tree branch (for the trunk);
- a ball of floral foam or polystyrene;
- dry moss, pebbles of various shapes.
- dry plaster;
- hot glue gun.
During work you need to:
- Connect the foam ball to the branch-trunk, for which - it should first be put on it, and then removed. Pour hot glue into the resulting hole, put the ball on the branch again and fix it with your hands for a few minutes. It is recommended to dry the resulting workpiece for half an hour.
- Dilute dry gypsum with water to the consistency of thick sour cream, pour it into a ceramic pot, leaving 3-4 cm from the top of the container. Place the trunk-branch of the topiary in the center of the pot, and on top of the still liquid gypsum you need to put moss, acorns and pebbles.
- Leave the resulting workpiece on the table until the plaster has completely hardened and the elements are fixed for 2-3 hours.
- After the plaster has hardened, decorate the foam ball by sticking leaves of various shapes, dried flowers and wheat ears into it with their stems inside in a random order. If you want to add chestnuts or acorns to the composition, you will need to first glue them to wooden skewers and then stick them into the ball.
- Use acorns, sand and dry grass to decorate the voids at the top of the pot, hiding the plaster.
Decorative tree made of chestnuts
An original autumn ikebana topiary craft can be made only from pine cones, chestnuts and acorns.
You will also need the following for work:
- brown ceramic pot;
- glue gun:
- foam ball (can be replaced with floral foam);
- tree branch (for the trunk);
- dry plaster.
When making a decorative tree you need:
- Place the foam ball on the branch, remove it, and apply glue to the resulting hole. Place the ball on the branch again and secure it with your hands, connecting the elements of the composition.
- Apply glue to the base of the branch-trunk and attach it to the center of the pot, then pour gypsum diluted with water to the consistency of thick sour cream into it, leaving 3-4 cm free from the top.
- Leave the base of the composition on the table for 2-3 hours until the plaster hardens, and then start decorating the ball, for which a few drops of hot glue should be applied to the chestnuts, acorns and cones, and attached in a chaotic manner to the polystyrene/floral foam ball.
- Use twine to mask the plaster at the top of the pot and use chestnuts to decorate it, attaching them to the twine with hot glue.
In a similar way, you can make an autumn wreath of chestnuts and cones. In this case, it is recommended to use a wreath base as a base, to which you need to attach acorns, chestnuts and cones in a derivative order using hot glue.
You can decorate the wreath with rowan branches or leaves, securing them with copper wire.
Autumn ikebana is a bright, original and stylish interior decoration that you can make with your own hands from autumn leaves, branches, dried flowers, and pine cones.
Natural materials placed in a ceramic pot, basket or glued to a flat base must undergo special preparation and drying before work begins, which will allow them to acquire a bright shade and significantly extend the service life of decorative compositions made from them.
Video about autumn ikebana
DIY autumn bouquet: