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  • Roses
    • Types of Roses
    • Easy Roses
    • Climbing Roses
    • Portland's Rose Test Garden
    • Rose Insects & Diseases
    • Pruning Roses
    • Rose Sawfly
    • Rose Bloom Balling
  • Pruning Basics 101
    • Pruning Tools
    • Winter Pruning
    • Pruning Grapes
    • Pruning Clematis
    • Prune Your Own Garden Registration
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    • Lawn Maintenance Schedule
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    • Compost Tea
    • Houseplant Winter Care
    • Hummingbirds in Winter
    • Winterize Your Garden
    • Ponds in Winter
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    • Dwarf Burning Bush
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Amanda's Blog

Amanda's Garden Consulting Company

A Quickie Festive Swag

16/12/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Time and money seem to be at a shortage this time of year. Quick festive ornaments from the garden help with the budget and make pretty decorations.

Swags are easy to make as they are essentially a bouquet made of evergreens and such that are tied together with a bow. Just one pine or cedar branch with some ribbon will do for a really simple but effective swag. If you have lots of different types of branches, like I have, combine them for a lush look. A mixture of different types of foliage of conifers (pines, cedar, spruce etc.) with boxwood, rhododendron and other broadleaf evergreen branches steps it up a notch.

To make a swag, cut a number of branches approximately the same size. Place the branches on a table and stack them on top of each other. The longest one goes on the bottom, which become the back of the swag, then place shorter ones on top so you can see the layer underneath. Stagger one on top of another so a quarter of the bottom one is uncovered. If they are all the same length and aren't staggered, it lacks definition and doesn't look artsy. 

Once happy with your arrangement, tie the ends together with wire or a zap-strap. Hang it on the wall and look for any stray and unruly branches. There’s no need to remove them, just snip them off where you need to.  Alternately, if you need to add a branch or two, just wedge them inside and push them up into the base of the swag. Even when tied together there's usually some 'give', so adding some small stems isn’t an issue.

When done, finish off the swag with a ribbon. Wrap it around the cut ends, hiding the wire and tie it into a knot, making sure the ribbon is long enough that the ends hang down. Cut another length of ribbon and tie it around the base again, but this time make a bow. To make a puffy bow, use a wide ribbon or fabric and cut it two and a half times larger than the desired bow size. Make a circle with the ribbon overlapping the ends. Cinch the middle of the circle together and secure with wire. Cover the wire with another piece of ribbon, tying it around the wire. Attach it to the ends of the swag and puff up the 'bow' part of the ribbon, making sure it looks nice. And that's it. Your done.

Have fun trying different ribbon as it will change the entire look of the swag. First I tried some fancy silver and white fabric, then tried a canvas type red ribbon. I liked the natural look better, so I went with the red. A nice big red satin bow would be quite elegant. Add a few baubles or spray paint some funky twigs and the look changes again. 

A few caveats. If you are hanging the swag on the door or where people come and go, avoid using thorny plants. If placed on a door, avoid dried flowers and berries as they easily fall off with the motion of the door opening and closing and with people passing by. 

To help prolong the life of the swag, keep it outside, mist it daily or spray it with an antidessicant such as Wilt-Pruf. Hairspray also works if you have any handy. 

Christmas swag,natural Christmas decorations,easy festive decoration from the garden,amanda’s blog,thegardenwebsite.com,Amanda Jarrett
Supplies include branches, pruners, scissors, wire, zap straps and ribbon.
Christmas swag,natural Christmas decorations,easy festive decoration from the garden,December,amanda’s blog,thegardenwebsite.com,Amanda Jarrett
Place branches on top of each other staggering them from large to small as you go. The smaller, and more interesting ones go on top.
Christmas swag,natural Christmas decorations,easy festive decoration from the garden,December,amanda’s blog,thegardenwebsite.com,Amanda Jarrett
Different types of branches make a pleasing swag. There's pine, Douglas fir, cedar, boxwood, Stewartia, Emerald & Gold euonymus and rosemary.

Christmas swag,natural Christmas decorations,easy festive decoration from the garden,December,amanda’s blog,thegardenwebsite.com,Amanda Jarrett
Wire the branches together.
Christmas swag,natural Christmas decorations,easy festive decoration from the garden,December,amanda’s blog,thegardenwebsite.com,Amanda Jarrett
Or zap strap the branches together.
Christmas swag,natural Christmas decorations,easy festive decoration from the garden,December,amanda’s blog,thegardenwebsite.com,Amanda Jarrett
Cut off any stray branches that don't fit the design.

Christmas swag,natural Christmas decorations,easy festive decoration from the garden,December,amanda’s blog,thegardenwebsite.com,Amanda Jarrett
Hang up your swag to trim stray end and to look for bare spots.
Christmas swag,natural Christmas decorations,easy festive decoration from the garden,December,amanda’s blog,thegardenwebsite.com,Amanda Jarrett
Fill in bare spots by adding more stems by pushing them up inside the base of the swag.
Christmas swag,natural Christmas decorations,easy festive decoration from the garden,December,amanda’s blog,thegardenwebsite.com,Amanda Jarrett
The added Emerald and Gold euonymus emphasize the swags curve.

Christmas swag,natural Christmas decorations,easy festive decoration from the garden,December,amanda’s blog,thegardenwebsite.com,Amanda Jarrett
Cover the wire by tying some ribbon around it.
Christmas swag,natural Christmas decorations,easy festive decoration from the garden,December,amanda’s blog,thegardenwebsite.com,Amanda Jarrett
Make a puffy bow by making a large circle and overlap the ends.
Christmas swag,natural Christmas decorations,easy festive decoration from the garden,December,amanda’s blog,thegardenwebsite.com,Amanda Jarrett
Cinch the middle and secure with wire.
Christmas swag,natural Christmas decorations,easy festive decoration from the garden,December,amanda’s blog,thegardenwebsite.com,Amanda Jarrett
Cover the wire with another length of ribbon.

Christmas swag,natural Christmas decorations,easy festive decoration from the garden,December,amanda’s blog,thegardenwebsite.com,Amanda Jarrett
The finished bow, but I think I would like a red bow best.
Christmas swag,natural Christmas decorations,easy festive decoration from the garden,December,amanda’s blog,thegardenwebsite.com,Amanda Jarrett
Tie red ribbon around the end of the swag leaving two tails to dangle down.
Christmas swag,natural Christmas decorations,easy festive decoration from the garden,December,amanda’s blog,thegardenwebsite.com,Amanda Jarrett
Add another simple bow by tying it around the ends, leaving plenty of tails to intertwine among the branches.
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    Here are some of my previous blog postings. They cover a wide range of topics from bugs to my botanical excursions and conventions. Click on whichever interests you on the titles below for easy navigation. 
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    • Colourful Fall Plants
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    • Speeding up Tomato Harvests
    • Saving Tomato Seeds
    • Plant Rusts
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    • ​Types of Roses
    • Easy Roses Do Exist.. Really!​
    • Easy Vegetable Garden Trellis 
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    • Video: How to Divide Dahlias 
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    • Insects & Diseases Control with Dormant Spray
    • Dealing With Drought
    • Heritage Vancouver 7th Annual Garden Tour
    • Growing Potatoes
    • Pruning Shrubs into Trees
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    • Heritage Vancouver 6th Garden Tour
    • The Dunbar Garden Tour 2018
    • Dart's Hill, A Garden Park
    • VanDusen Botanical Gardens Visit
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    • Pruning in Winter
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    • Insects & Diseases Control with Dormant Spray
    • Why Christmas cactus Don't Blossom
    • A Quickie Festive Swag
    • Putting the Garden to Bed
    • How to Drain Soggy Soil
    • A Visit to the Arizona - Sonora Desert
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    • Oops... Wrong Plant, Wrong Place
    • I Had An Ugly Lawn...​
    • ​How to Make a Christmas Elf
    • Houseplant Winter Care
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Photo used under Creative Commons from vwcampin
  • Home
  • About, Services, Contact
  • Ask Amanda
  • Roses
    • Types of Roses
    • Easy Roses
    • Climbing Roses
    • Portland's Rose Test Garden
    • Rose Insects & Diseases
    • Pruning Roses
    • Rose Sawfly
    • Rose Bloom Balling
  • Pruning Basics 101
    • Pruning Tools
    • Winter Pruning
    • Pruning Grapes
    • Pruning Clematis
    • Prune Your Own Garden Registration
  • Lawn Basics
    • Lawn Reno, Seed & Sod
    • Lawn Maintenance Schedule
    • Spring Lawn Care
    • Moss in Lawns
    • Lawn Alternatives
    • Lawn Grub Control
  • Mulch & Mulching
    • Living Mulches - Groundcovers
  • Propagation
    • Growing Seeds Outdoors
    • Growing Seeds Indoors
    • Taking Cuttings
    • Seed & Plant Catalogues
  • How to Garden Topics
    • Fall Garden Chores
    • Planting Know-How
    • Soil Building
    • Watering Tips & Techniques
    • Drought Gardening
    • Sheet Mulching, Lasagna Gardening
    • Cover Crops
    • Composting
    • Compost Tea
    • Houseplant Winter Care
    • Hummingbirds in Winter
    • Winterize Your Garden
    • Ponds in Winter
  • Growing Food
    • Spring Veggie Gardening
    • Crop Rotation, Succession & Companion Planting
    • Harvesting
    • Growing Potatoes
    • Winter Veggie Gardening
    • Taming Tomatoes
    • Speeding up Tomato Harvest
    • Tomato Tips
    • Saving Tomato Seeds
    • Tomato Troubles
  • Plant Pests 1
    • Plant Pests Part 2 - Controlling Insects
    • Garden Inspections
    • Helping Pollinators
    • Dogwood Anthracnose
    • Viburnum Leaf Beetle
    • Dormant Oil/Lime Sulfur
    • Japanese Beetles
    • Peony Blotch/Measles
    • Slugs & Snails
    • Horsetail, the Weed
    • June Beetle
    • Powdery Mildew
    • Soil Solarization
    • Rhododendron Leaf Spot
    • Plant Rusts
    • Black Knot
  • Container Growing
    • Choosing a Container
  • Feeding Plants 101
    • Fertilizers & Ratios
    • Nutritional Deficiencies & Toxicities
    • Organic Plant Food
  • Plant of the Month
    • Spring Flowering Bulbs
    • Colourful Fall Plants
    • Abelia
    • American Sweetgum
    • Ash (Fraxinus) Trees
    • Astilbes
    • Aubretia, Rock Cress
    • Aucuba, Japanese Spotted Laurel
    • Autumn Crocus
    • Bear's Breeches
    • Beautyberry, Callicarpa
    • Black-eyed Susans
    • Bleeding Heart, Lamprocapnos spectabilis
    • Calla Lilies
    • Dahlias
    • Daylily
    • Delphiniums
    • Devil's Walking Stick, Aralia spinosa
    • Dwarf Alberta Spruce
    • Dwarf Burning Bush
    • Evergreen Clematis
    • Fall Asters
    • Flowering Currants
    • Flowering Quince
    • Fritillaria
    • Garden Peonies
    • Garden Phlox
    • Ginkgo biloba
    • Grape-hyacinths
    • Handkerchief or Dove Tree
    • Harry Lauder's Walking Stick
    • Heathers
    • Hellebores, Lenten roses
    • Himalayan Sweet Box
    • Jack-in-the-pulpit, Cobra Lily
    • Japanese Anemones
    • Japanese Forest Grass
    • Japanese Maples
    • Japanese Skimmia
    • Japanese Spurge
    • Laurustinus viburnum
    • Lavenders
    • Lily-of-the-Valley Shrub, Pieris japonica
    • Mediterranean Spurge
    • Mexican Mock Orange
    • Montana Clematis
    • Mountain Ash
    • Oriental Poppies
    • Oriental Lilies
    • Paperbark Maple
    • Pink Dawn Bodnant Viburnum
    • Poinsettias
    • Oregon Grape Holly
    • Ornamental Kale
    • Peruvian Lily, Alstroemeria
    • Phalaenopsis, Moth Orchids
    • Persian Silk Tree
    • Portuguese Laurel
    • Rose of Sharon
    • Sneezeweed, Helenium
    • Snowberry
    • Snowdrops
    • Star Magnolia
    • Strawberry Tree, Pacific Madrone
    • Stewartia
    • Torch Lily, Kniphofia uvaria
    • Tree Peonies
    • Tuberous Begonias
    • Virginia Creeper
    • Weigela
    • Winterhazel, Corylopsis
    • Winter Camellia, C. sasanqua
    • Wintergreen, Gaultheria procumbens
    • Witch Hazel
    • Wood Anemones
    • Yews
  • Garden Tour Blogs
  • Monthly Flower Arrangements
  • Website Index
  • Subscribe
  • Need Help?
  • Garden Club Events