It’s been real smelly around here lately. I’ve been harvesting lavender. I harvested Dilly Dilly in Dave’s Butterfly Garden and couldn’t stop singing “Lavender blue dilly dilly, Lavender green dilly, dilly …” Dave hadn’t heard of the song sung by many, but the one I remember was by Burl Ives. If you’ve never heard it – check it out Here.
Anyway, after harvesting Dilly Dilly I was on to Provence and Grosso.
We have four Grosso plants.
This harvest was just from one plant!
Then I went out and harvested about half of the second plant and decided to make a wreath. Now, I need to tell you that I have NEVER made a wreath before of anything! So this was a challenge.
So after a trip to Michael’s where I got more advice on this project than I really wanted or needed – he wanted me to add ivy. He also said he didn’t like using real plants in wreaths. Oh well! Anyway, I purchased what I thought would work and then home to put this together. Here are my supplies: straw wreath base, scissors, florist pins, moss, wire, and the lavender.
First I covered the top of the wreath in moss. I thought that would give it a nice color.
I then started attaching the lavender to the base.
I learned quickly that I needed to make wired bunches of lavender before attaching them to the base. Otherwise the lavender just went everywhere. When I added the first two bunches I cut the wire and attached them separately- not the right thing to do. I needed to start wiring and just wire the whole wreath at one time, tying it off at the end.
I continued around the wreath until it was complete. Since I didn’t have a large amount of lavender to use, it didn’t cover the inside of the wreath. So after completing the lavender, I added moss to the center to cover up the base.
Here is the finished project.
The next wreath I will use more lavender so that it covers the inside of the base. I’m not sure I need moss but I thought it would add a nice touch. It does look a bit funky, but really looks much better in person than in the photo. It really smells good and after it dries I can always use the buds in our soap!
great idea! i think its super cute and i bet it smells awesome.
LoVe It!!!!!! This would be great hanging on my front door!
I can almost smell it from here! I wish my Grosso were blooming now. The first time I tried my hand at making a wreath I was amazed at the amount of lavender it took. You are so smart with the moss and straw wreath; it turned out beautifully!
I love this! I have been harvesting lavender this week too, but I don’t think my plants are as prolific as yours. I think you could do it without the straw base. What about a wire base and ribbon wrapped around the stems of your bundles? Or use craft wire to attach them? It would be smaller but woouldn’t require as much filler.
Angela, You are right. I could have used a wire base but for some reason I was stuck on that straw base. Great suggestion! Thanks.
Susan, I thought yours would be blooming by now. I do love Grosso and plan to buy at least another plant next year. It’s funny that two of mine are ready to harvest and the other two next to them aren’t. That’s good since I haven’t had the time to harvest them all. Thanks for stopping by again.
Linda! You’re in luck, your earlier blooming Grossos may very well give you another smaller harvest before the fall. Then you’ll have enough to process for all those holiday sachets!
My newsletter goes out today, in case you’re wondering where all those visitors are coming from! Thanks for being an inspiration to so many.
Susan, I just read the newsletter and was surprised to see my blog linked. Thank you!
Wow, it’s gorgeous Lynda, what a great idea!! It must smell soo good throughout your house now :))
Several years ago I made a fresh Lavender wreath using a small Grape vine wreath base. I covered half of the wreath with lavender and attached a laveder butterfly that I found at a craft store and also used lavender ribbin to tie a bow and also hise the lavender stems at the bottom.
Lorrie, I was going to use a grapevine wreath but couldn’t believe how expensive they were! I opted for the straw but the wire one would have been even cheaper and worked as well, if not better. Yours sounded beautiful with the ribbon and butterfly. Thanks for dropping by.
Gorgeous wreath, Lynda!! I like your decorative display, too, because I was expecting to see the finished wreath on a wall. I bet your home smells wonderful now.
Lynn, Thanks. I hung it on the wall and really liked it better in this plate holder. Yep, smells great.
I have some lavender plants and am so excited to make this wreath, it will smell and wonderful and look beautiful … Thank you for the tutorial
Nancy, Thank you for dropping by. The wreath does smell great for a long time. Enjoy.