Oh, and I promised to mention some other techniques. You can make beautiful wreaths with grape vines, but usually grapes are pruned during dormancy, in the middle of winter. At that time you do not have to worry about leaves, but they are brittle. Fill a 5-gallon bucket with water, wind up the vine as best you can and submerge it in the water in a circle. (You can also use a kiddy-pool. That worked well for us last year.) Leave it for a week, or at least a few days, checking regularly to make sure it all stays submerged. The vines will get supple and easy to work with. Form the wreath in the manner described above. It will not be as dense as the wisteria vine, but it will be lovely. An easier way yet is to simply roll up the vine in a circle, then wrap twine or craft wire around the vines to keep them together. But that’s cheating.
Well! Remember that wild wisteria I attacked violently a couple weeks ago? It’s blooming! It must be masochistic – it likes abuse. So, if you are like me, and you allow your wisteria to get way too wild, you will have lots of wonderful long vines to deal with. So recycle them by making wreaths! Grape vines also work well, with some minor changes in technique. I’ll mention them at the end. First, how to make a wreath out of wisteria vine. (If you don’t have a vine, ask a friend who does! She will be more than happy to let you prune for her!) Start by stripping the leaves. Just grab hold of the vine and pull, but rub in the opposite direction that the leaves grow and they’ll pop right off. Make a circle with the vine to the size you want your finished wreath to be. Wrap the rest of the vine around this circle, passing under and over several times each time you complete the circle, so that it will stay together nicely. Add as many vines as you want to make it as thick as you want, and the more times you wrap in and out the tighter it will be. When it is the size you like, tuck in all the ends that are sticking out. Easy, right? Now you have a lovely wreath, to decorate as you desire. In another post, I’ll show you how we decorate wreaths with dried flowers (well, how my very creative daughter does, anyway!) This will save you tons of money. I was in Michaels today, and I was stunned that they dare to charge $40 to $70 for a simple vine wreath decorated with a few fake flowers and a bow. Gaudy, too. Yours will be truly lovely.
Oh, and I promised to mention some other techniques. You can make beautiful wreaths with grape vines, but usually grapes are pruned during dormancy, in the middle of winter. At that time you do not have to worry about leaves, but they are brittle. Fill a 5-gallon bucket with water, wind up the vine as best you can and submerge it in the water in a circle. (You can also use a kiddy-pool. That worked well for us last year.) Leave it for a week, or at least a few days, checking regularly to make sure it all stays submerged. The vines will get supple and easy to work with. Form the wreath in the manner described above. It will not be as dense as the wisteria vine, but it will be lovely. An easier way yet is to simply roll up the vine in a circle, then wrap twine or craft wire around the vines to keep them together. But that’s cheating.
1 Comment
Ann-Marie Altomare
8/27/2010 12:54:32 pm
Great weaving! Good job!
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AuthorWelcome to Growing Goodness! This website is dedicated to growing good things, both plants and children. It's a gardening blog with maternal overtones, as I discuss the goodness and value of plants, both wild and domestic. In the process I hope to help you pass a love of nature on to your children. Happy Gardening! Archives
August 2011
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