Guest post by Jenevieve Hubbard
We asked Jenevieve (owner of Wild Flora) to demonstrate making a wall hanging with plant life that can be foraged in the winter. Preview her tutorial below, then follow the link to the full post.
Bringing the outdoors in has always spoken to me. But in the winter months, when a vase of garden flowers isn’t something that’s readily available here in the Rocky Mountain West, I have to get creative to find living plants that can be foraged and used in an arrangement.
I sat down this month to create just that: a live winter wall hanging from long-lasting foraged evergreens, bits of juniper blackened by the desert sun, pinecones collected from my own backyard, and some of my favorite odd little things found in the odds & ends section of the hardware store, the Hillman Brass Tube.
First, Gather:
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Foraged Evergreens: Here’s a great opportunity to repurpose a Christmas tree or go clipping around a family cabin. Not just a Christmas item, wild evergreens like pine, spruce and juniper make for fragrant and long lasting decor for a bare winter wall. If you are clipping from a live tree, be sure you are on private land where you have permission, use a nice sharp pair of pruners and remember to clip at an angle to the next junction of the branch. Clipping at the middle of a branch leaves trees open to infection and damage. Some of my favorite evergreens are Colorado blue spruce, lodgepole pine, pinyon pine, and mountain juniper featuring fresh, bright blue berries.
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Foraged Desert Juniper: If you’re lucky enough to have access to desert juniper, the kind that’s bare and blackened by the desert sun, grab it if you can. This item makes the most beautiful accent to any arrangement or installation and provides a strong backing for our wall hanging.
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Foraged Pinecones: I always think it’s a bit funny when I see bags of pinecones at the grocery store selling for $5-$10 a piece. Pinecones are a natural housing for pine seeds and, as such, drop plentifully from pine trees. If you live near a pine forest or are lucky enough to have a pine tree in your back yard, there are plenty for the taking during winter and summer months.
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Hillman Brass Tubes: I happened upon these wonderful little things while designing open Air Plant Terrariums for a table setting at an event. They are delicate hollow tubes made of brass that are about four inches long and can be fashioned into some pretty decor to accent your wall hanging.
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Gold Wire: While you can use standard floral wire, I like to amp this design up with a bit of gold wire that I don’t mind seeing on the exposed bits of Juniper. You can find it at any craft store or floral supply.
Second, Build Your Brass Accent:
Start by threading your gold wire through three Hillman Tubes to make a triangle. Join to that two additional tubes to make a second triangle. A third tube threaded by your brass wire will make for a three dimensional pyramid or tetrahedron. Be sure your wire is threaded through each portion and twisted at the ends.
You can leave it at that or add two more tubes to make yet another triangle plus one additional tube to make for a two sided triangular pyramid or octahedron (hearkening back to high school geometry class).
Ready to get started? Read the full tutorial here.
