Holiday Decorations From The Garden
Wearing gloves (wire is hard on the hands), fold the length of chickenwire in half lengthwise. Start bending it to the shape you desire, scrunching it up where you want a curve. Once you've got a shape you like, hold it up where it is to go to check on the size. If all is well, wire it together where you've squeezed it, so that it will stay in place.
Obviously, if you're doing it in two mirror sections, make another to match the first and then turn it over to create the mirror effect. You can mock this up in cardboard or paper before you start mashing wire and use this as a guide for the wire work.
Don't worry about the wire shape too much. It doesn't have to be precise, but should bend in the general areas you want your final arrangement to curve. Of course, your shape doesn't have to resemble these little images...it can be any shape you want.
Begin inserting greenery at the bottom of one of the outside ends (using the above images as a guide). Just push the stems through the wire, weaving them in through at least three or four meshes, until they are secure. Continue on up to the corner bend.
You can either continue right on to the center in one direction, overlapping greenery as you go and varying what you use for textural and color interest. Or, you can reverse direction from the top corner bend. This will require a bit of finessing to cover the stems at the corner, but if you want everything in the main swag to point towards the center, this is the way to do it.
If you continue in the same direction that you started, stop when you reach the center and do the other side. You will need a bunch of pine cones, an extra bunch of wired greenery or some other material to cover the stems at the center. This cover can create a focal point to the swag, if desired.
Once the greenery is in place, I mount the frame in its final position. I've got permanent nails in the beams above my fireplace; you'll have to install some nails, hooks or heavy staples. Whatever you use, it needs to be fastened securely
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