We could all use a little more swag in our lives, right?
Although many of us will never truly possess that intangible sense of confidence and braggadocio, we can certainly all obtain the door-hanging version – you know, the kind made out of evergreen branches and red bows.
Since we know little to nothing about the intricacies of this kind of thing, we decided to drop in on Joyce Kimball and the Bow Garden Club during last week’s swag-making and poinsettia pickup day.
Kimball was nice enough to share some tricks of the trade with us, which we can now pass on to all of you as an early Christmas present.
The beauty of making a swag, Kimball said, is that anyone can do it and it doesn’t require much in the way of materials – just go out in the yard and collect some evergreen branches, like the club members do. All you really need to buy is some wire to tie it all together.
“Wire is your friend,” Kimball said.
She started by layering some Christmas tree branches on top of each other, wrapping them together with the thin, green wire. Once the bundle was big enough (just eyeball it to personal preference), she added a few sprigs of white pine to spice up the texture a little bit.
Then, once all the greens were fastened together, it was time for the big, red bow, which is flatter than a wreath bow.
At the end, the top of the swag exposes the stubby ends of the branches. To the discerning gardener’s eye, this is both noticeable and unsightly, so Kimball dressed up that part of the swag with some holly and other evergreen branches – a trick she learned from an old pro back when she was a novice herself.
The end result was a beautiful and festive swag, fit for any door or wall.
Thanks for all the tips, Joyce!
