"Simple like an uncarved block."
Tao te Ching


"Like an acorn that holds the promise of a thousand forests."

Thursday, September 3, 2009

BEING CRAFTY

It's that time of year for me to bring out my autumn decorating touches. This tin of flowers has been here since spring and I really should have changed it as summer came on but here it is still at the front door. So I grabbed my grapevine wreath that I made a few years ago and did my embellishment's with bittersweet, silk flowers and a little scarecrow to call attention to the harvest season. You may want to double click on the wreath picture to actually see that the base is a grapevine.
Just for fun let me take you back to how I made the wreath.

There are plenty of wild grapevines in the woods and hedgerows. So I just stepped into the brush and cut a vine near the base of the plant and started pulling. Out it came from its entanglement of the other plants and trees.


Here is the start of a wreath.
As I was looking down at the vine I caught a glimpse of my pant leg.

Egads! As I stepped into the brush I was attacked by the insidious Beggerweed (Stick tight) plant. So I bent over and de-burred my socks and pant legs. It was just a minor diversion. The next step in wreath making was to break off the leaf brackets and then ---

starting at the tender and supple small end of the vine I began curling it into the wreath shape and size I wanted. I will need to gather more vine and keep looping it until it is as thick as I want and then you just sit it aside until it is dry. The next vine gets twisted and woven into the first and as it dries it will tighten and firm up quite nicely.

4 comments:

Marcie said...

Looks cute and "autumny!" I am going to be a really low-key blogger and commenter for while here as my classes start back up.

Cloudhands said...

That sounds about right. Concentrating on what is really important will keep you sane. At least thats a good goal to keep in mind. The important thing is to enjoy the process and earn your degree. Love ya.

Beth Niquette said...

When I read "pant leg" my eyes saw "plant leg," which also works! Lovely post. I enjoyed every moment.

Cloudhands said...

Beth,
I love your view of my plant leg, had I been willing to wait long enough the seeds might have dried, slept and then started growing. The flowers are tiny and actually quiet pretty, but I'm not that patient.