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Swags

© Vickie Ferguson

For as long as humans have been working the soil, produce, such as garlic and onions have been strung and hung and kept within close proximity to the cooking pots. We have flower gardens in our backyards as well as growing small herb gardens on our windowsill. Somewhere along the line, someone must have decided to put it all together and make beautiful, colorful and very fragrant swags to display in our homes. There are fruit swags, vegetable swags, herb swags, dried flower swags and combinations of all the mentioned ingredients. The choice is yours and the list is endless.

I have three swag project suggestions, each using a different base and each using a different medium. The items you choose to use in creating your swag, whether it is flowers, fruit or vegetables, will be up to you.

In our first project, we will create a dried flower swag using rose blooms (you select the color) as the principle flower. Additional items needed are lemon leaves (or any other leaf with similar shape and color), hydrangea blooms (select a color that will compliment the color of the roses), silver king artemisia and a hot glue gun. For the base, we'll be using artificial pine swag. Vine bases may also be used when making a floral swag, but for this project the pine swag will add additional color and filler. It will also add a three-dimensional look to your creation. The bases come in various sizes. The quantity of flowers to be used is determined by the size of the swag. As an example, for this project, an 11" to 12" base is being used, 12 rose blooms, 11 hydrangea blooms, 14 stems of king artemisia and 16 lemon leaves.

First, prepare the swag by shaping and arranging the branches. Begin building the swag by hot-gluing lemon leaves into the base. Working from one side to the other, place the leaves at angles as you distribute them throughout the base. This gives a more natural look. Next, hot glue the rose blooms to the base. Use the lemon leaves as frames for some of the roses. Place a group of 3 roses in the middle of the base as a focal point. Don't bunch them tightly together. Space them approximately 1 ½" apart. Place the remaining roses to the right and left of the focal point in pairs of two and in varying heights and angles. Use the same spacing. Be sure to have roses positioned at the end of each side of the swag. There will be one lone rose, place it wherever it looks right or is needed for balance. Next, glue the hydrangea blooms in place. Use these blooms across the top (5) and along the bottom (3) of the swag. Place the remaining 3 across the middle. Finish by gluing the artemisia stems along the back from one side of the swag to the other side creating a fan effect. Spray with a sealant.

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