Autumn is always a great time to try some decorative crafts because raw materials are abundant. Fall garden cuttings can be transformed into a swag to hang over a door or window, or to grace the top of a china cabinet or bed frame.
Although Jan Butler, an Aurora floral artist and craft teacher, makes extraordinary pieces, she points out that “even two bunches of dried asters (with the bottoms of their stems) tied together can lie across the top of a door and look great.”
To make a swag, you’ll need not only plant material but some craft wire (about 24-gauge), two or more small hooks for hanging the finished product, and a spray conditioner such as Victoria’s Ultra Life. The conditioner seals dried plant material so the color lasts and dust can be vacuumed off easily. (Follow the application instructions on the label.) Together, these three items cost less than $10 at craft supply stores.
Beginners also may need a base on which to build. That can be a 3-inch-thick rope of grape vine trimmings bound together tightly with wire, half a store-bought craft wreath base (to begin with an arch instead of a circle), or a yardstick or similar length of wood. For a smaller swag, a base can be made of two twigs wired together at their middles to form a wide, shallow X.
How long the base should be depends on where the swag is destined to hang. If it’s to go over a door, window or fireplace, make the base 4 to 6 inches shorter than the opening–the difference (and then some) will be made up with the materials you add to the base, advises Maribeth King, who owns Mari-Mann Herb Co., a craft and cooking school in Decatur, Ill.
King emphasizes the need to put mounting hooks on the back of the base before starting to build the swag.
“You don’t want to have to turn your finished work over and crush it while you’re putting the hooks on,” she says.
The most important supplies are the free stuff. The list of what can be put to use is endless. Butler uses everything from okra pods and corn leaves to ornamental grasses and pine cones. It’s worth trying almost anything that has a little stiffness and some give–anything that’s neither brittle and crumbly nor limp and fleshy. Some best bets, recommends Butler, are the remainders from blooms of hydrangeas, coneflowers and celosias; and rose hips, sunflower heads, crab apples and birch branches.
When attaching material to the base, start at the middle and work the two sides alternately to get an even, but not tightly symmetrical, composition.
To attach a bundle of flowers, wrap a length of craft wire around the clump of stems tightly, place the clump against the base, and continue wrapping the stems and base together until they are secure. The base of each new bundle that’s attached can be concealed behind its predecessor, and the stems at the center of the swag can be hidden by a big sunflower head, a bunch of dried colored corn, gourds or any other centerpiece.
King acknowledges that it may seem odd to begin with a base whose shape is rigid when a looser, naturalistic look is the desired end. But the loose forms of the materials will make up for it. Crafters should keep in mind the site where the swag will be placed so that the swag is arranged with bundles angling downward or upward.
Completing the piece requires working out to the ends of the base, making sure all along the way that construction is kept thick and full.
Carol Taylor, editorial director of Lark Books, producers of the book “Everlasting Harvest: Making Distinctive Arrangements & Elegant Decorations from Nature” (Sterling, $16.95), suggests keeping some of each plant material aside. Once the swag is all done, any thin spots can be filled in with the holdovers.
Beyond that, “let your imagination and your hands go,” Butler says.
Knowing that a first attempt can be intimidating, the experts offer these additional tips:
– If a bow is part of the design, put it on first and work foliage in around it. This will reduce the risk of mashing down the plant material.
– King points out that because a swag usually ends up mounted over something symmetrical like a door frame, it ought to be well-balanced itself.
– When arranging materials, keep the stems longer than seems appropriate. This will make bundling them easier. The excess can be trimmed later.
– If using leaves, “make sure they stick out as feathers or tendrils, so heavier materials don’t lie on top and crush them,” Taylor says.
