Tied & Tucked Botanical Hoop
There are some activities that simply feed the soul. For me, this craft is one of them. It inspires time in the garden harvesting herb and floral clippings, considering which colors coordinate well together and which herbal blends will be most useful to have on-hand in small quantities. Then begins the slow, peaceful process of working with your hands to create with the botanicals you’ve been caring for all these months. The end result is an ephemeral piece of botanical art with a cottage garden essence that embodies scenes from the season. It can be displayed in your home to dry (I hang mine above my stove so I can pick from them to use when I’m cooking), then the herbs can be dismantled and jarred or composted and replaced with freshly harvested ones from your next growing season.
You Will Need
botanical clippings of choice*
metal floral hoop
jute twine
two-sided tape (optional but recommended)
*Herbs that work well for this project: anise hyssop, bee balm, calendula, chamomile, chive blossoms, echinacea (coneflower), eucalyptus, juniper, lavender, lemon balm, lilac, marigold, mint, rose, rosemary, sage, thyme, yarrow
*Flowers that work well for this project: aster, carnation, cornflower (bachelor button), dahlia, daisy, primrose, strawflower, sunflower, zinnia
To Create
- Wrap two-sided tape around approximately 6" of the hoop, angling it downward and slightly overlapping so that it covers consistently. Then, do the same directly across the hoop on the other side. (If looking at the hoop like a clock, you would tape from two o'clock to four o'clock and then, on the other side, from ten o'clock down to eight o'clock.)
- Cut a piece of twine to roughly 10 times the diameter of the hoop you’re using (or keep on the roll while you created your loom). Tie one end to a sticky part of the hoop with a simple double knot a.
- Pull the twine across and through the hoop and wrap it around the opposite side. Continue weaving the twine back and forth in a figure eight motion with irregular angles, securing the twine to each side of the hoop (in the sticky taped area) as you go. Space the twine and crisscross it so it intersects in different places. When you reach the end of the twine, tie it tightly to the hoop with another double knot.
- Vertically weave the herb clippings through the twine, starting at the top, and reposition the aerial parts to your liking. Be creative with how you incorporate the herbs. You could hang them upside down or upright, staggered or linear, spaced out or closer together.
- Trim the bottom of the stems into a straight line across the bottom for a clean, finished look.
- Hang your finished hoop where you can enjoy its simplistic ephemoral beauty.
Note: I often use 16-inch and 18-inch metal hoops for this craft, however a variety of sizes of hoops would make a beautiful ephemeral collage wall. As an alternative to metal floral hoops, wooden embroidery hoops can be used and come in a variety of sizes too.
