Crafts3

Take the beauty of dried naturals and create something lovely for almost any room of the house.
Create a swag in minutes using eucalyptus, dried flowers and a bow.

1. Separate eucalyptus branches into two equal bunches. Position the bunches so that stems overlap; leaves point left and right. For a smaller swag, overlap stems more.

2. Leaving wire on spool, wrap it tightly several times around stems. Let 2" of wire extend at beginning and end. cut wire, twist together and tuck ends into stems.

3. Gently fan out the branches. When branches are positioned satisfactorily, apply glue to the wire wrapped around the stems, using the glue gun, to further secure.

4. Use the glue gun to apply glue to the last 4" to 6" of several penny cress stems and place them in among the eucalyptus branches on one side. Repeat for the other side.

5. Repeat step 4 with the stalks of wheat and again with the delphinium. The placement does not have to be perfectly symmetrical, just relatively balanced.

6. When the swag looks full enough, cut about 12" of wire, wrap around the middle of swag and twist. Then twist ends to form a circular hanger.

7. To attach the bow, pull an 8" length of wire through middle of knot. Position bow to hide glue, wire and ends of stems. Bend wire around the middle of the swag to the back, twist the ends together and tuck into eucalyptus stems.

HANDY HINTS

Hold up the swag at various stages when glue has dried to look for empty spaces or a noticeable imbalance.

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WEB-LIKE GLUE

Strands may appear among the flowers and grasses of the swag-trails from the glue gun. Wait until the swag is completed before removing them to avoid dislodging any of the stems.

Let your personal taste and decorating style determine the flowers and other elements to make up the swag.

Use one floral color in a swag for a subtle look. But if bold suits the situation better, mix the colors creatively. Choose from this list or come up with your own unique combination.

Dried Flowers	Naturals	Other Fillers
Pink Strawflowers Roses Heather Purple Lavender yarrow Purple statice Blue delphinium Yellow Yellow yarrow Strawflowers Sunflowers White Australian daisies White statice White delphinium	Grasses Cattails Pepper grass Bear grass Curly willow Grains Wheat Rye Pods Poppy pods Nigella pods Lotus pods Floral grasses Rushes Caspia Flax	Berries Pepper berries Canella berries Edibles Dried pomegranates Dried fruit slices Nuts Dried artichokes Spices Garlic bulbs Cinnamon sticks Dried oregano Chili peppers And more Pheasant feathers Pinecones

There is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique... if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium, and it will be lost.

Would you like to join the fun of sharing your crafts with others? You can send me your craft instructions along with a photograph of your craft and I will post it, with recognition to you, to this web site. Please send your craft instructions via email or you may s-mail them to:

FLORAL WREATHS