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Articles, How-To's and Interviews -
DIY and How-To's
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Written by Jennifer Thompson
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Materials:
Freshly harvested lavender stalks - 18 is a good number (see variations below
for other ideas)
1 yard satin ribbon - 3/8" - 1/2" wide
Scissors
There
are different ways to make these wands, depending on how tight you want
your ribbon weaving to appear. I'll give you one set of directions and
then follow up the article with variations.
1.
Strip the stalks so that there is about 4" of flowers/buds. Remove
any leaves below that so that you have nice, clean stems.
2. Hold the stalks together so that the ends with the buds/flowers are
even.
3. Tie a piece of ribbon at the base of the buds/flowers.
4. Hold the bunch with the buds facing down and gently fold the stems
down over the buds, encasing them.
5. Begin weaving the ribbon. Go over two stems and then under two stems,
alternating your way around the bunch. When you get all the way around,
you'll have one extra stem. Use it, plus the very next one and continue
your alternating of over and under. This will give you a woven appearance.
6. When you have encased all of the flowers/buds in ribbon, tie off
the ribbon.
7. Trim off excess ribbon and neaten up the ends of the stems, and you're
done! Easy, impressive and smells wonderful!
VARIATIONS: You can use narrower ribbon - you'll
just need a longer length of it, and it will take longer to do the weaving.
You can also use different groupings of stalks. Instead of 18, try any
odd number of two groups, like 14 (7x2) or 22 (11x2). You can use any
odd number and go over one, under one (instead of over two, under two).
Or, you can use an odd number of groups of three (like 27, or 21) and
go over and under groups of three stems. It's up to you - try out different
looks until you find one you like.
Have fun!
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