Hello friends! I feel like I’m slowly emerging from hibernation – brushing the dust off my tools, and getting back to doing what I love! Today over on Capitol Romance I’m sharing a quick recipe for how to dry orange slices for use in your holiday decor, along with a few tips and tricks for incorporating them into your decorating. I wanted to expand on that here with an easy DIY for one of my suggestions: an evergreen swag for your front door.
Materials:
- about 12 feet of garland, give or take
- pliers with a wire cutting edge
- floral wire
- floral accents: dried orange slices, pine cones, berries, and cinnamon sticks
- ribbon
You can find the recipe for dried orange slices here on Capitol Romance.
Start by cutting three pieces of your garland, one 24 inches long and the other two around 18 inches. I am using faux pre-wired garland, but you can definitely use the real thing too! You”l just need to toss the greenery at the end of the holiday season. Once you have your three pieces cut, align them at the top and tie them together about 3 inches down using floral wire.
Next, fluff out the strands with some cross branches. Cut 4 (or more, for a fluffier swag) 6inch pieces. Twist a short piece onto each branch about 4 inches from the bottom for the two side branches, and one at 3 and one at 7 or so on the longer middle branch. This should give your garland a more natural branch-like look (but be sure all your needles are oriented the same direction!)
Add your floral accent, including the wired orange slices and cinnamon sticks. To wire the orange slices, poke thin floral wire through the dried flesh of the orange (not the rind) and twist the wire to secure the slice. For cinnamon sticks, there are two possible ways to wire them: either create a “stopper” somehow at the end of the wire by using a bead or creating a wire spiral, and thread the stick onto the wire above, or thread a wire through and back around the outside, aligning the exterior wire with the crease of the stick. For a pinecone, simply thread the wire through the cone as close to the bottom and center as you can.
Create interesting clusters of accents, and wrap them around your garland branches. Try to wrap wire under the needles and so you can use them to cover the wire afterwards when possible. Remember that pinecones would likely appear naturally at intersections of branches, so they look correct clustered there.
Finish off your swag with an optional extra piece of greenery on top – I am using a cutting from my garden here for some textural variety – and tie a bow around the wire holding the tops together to finish. The bow not only covers the wire but also gives you a hook to hang the swag from.
Now hang up your handiwork and relax with a hot cup of mulled wine – you’ve earned it!
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
