When I was little, my family lived on the Great South Bay and we always had plenty of ornamental grasses around. At the beginning of each fall, my mom would have my dad go out and cut down an armful of plumes. He would always come back with a huge bundle and my mom would make a broom or a wreath for the front door out of them. She would then tie it with a pretty, jewel-colored bow and hang it on the door for the holidays.
I always remember us torturing my mom to let us play with the broom. She usually said no, but every once and a while she would let us carefully sweep our front porch with it. We would take turns riding the broom and sweeping up any little bit of dirt we could find. That broom was always a sure sign of fall for us.
After making this wreath from the Tiger Grass in my backyard, I can see why she didn’t want us sweeping it to pieces! This is a very simple craft you can make with just a few materials, but it will take a while, so make sure you have both the time and the patience!
TIGER GRASS WREATH
Materials:
- Plumes from 1 Mature Tiger Grass Plant
- 8 Blades from Tiger Grass
- Small styrofoam wreath
- Glue Gun
Directions:
Step 1: Cut down as many plumes as you can. Depending on your wreath size, you may need more or less. Leave 5 inches of stalk from the plume.
Step 2: Holding the plume stalks on an angle, push them through the styrofoam. You will want to stagger the plumes so that you avoid having any bare spots in your finished wreath. To do this, create a triangular pattern using 3 plumes (see image below) for each triangle. Trim the stalks that are sticking through the back with a scissor.
Step 3: Using a glue gun, glue the blades of grass to the inside of the wreath. This will cover any white showing through from where the plumes don’t reach.
Step 4: Trim remaining grass blades to 3 inches and glue around the back of the wreath. (If you are hanging it on a door with glass windows, this will keep you from looking at a foam back.)
Step 5: Gently shake it to fill it out. Hang with twine or a wreath hanger.
Thanks for reading,
Daniele
Will the wreath keep year after year or would I need to spray it with something to preserve it?
It will dry naturally, but after a while, it starts to fall apart. You can spray it with hairspray to preserve it. I didn’t but this link has some tips how to preserve it. I really wish I had sprayed it, this wreath was beautiful – I wish I still had it! http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ep004
That link was very helpful. Thank you!
This is so lovely. It would be a great autumnal decoration!