The weather was beautiful today so I spent some time outdoors creating holiday swags for our front door, mailbox and gates.
I love mixing silver & mercury glass with fresh evergreens, so when I came across a photo (from Stacy Nash of Primitive Designs), showing her addition of a vintage creamer and sugar bowl to her holiday swag, I was inspired to add this whimsical touch as well. (I purchased my vintage sugar and creamer set from Sandi at Wayside Treasures on Etsy. You can visit Sandi's beautiful blog where she shares many of her wonderful French inspired creations.)
For our front door swag, I used a mix of fresh cedar, noble fir and holly. While living in California, our Christmas tree was always a beautiful noble fir. We miss being able to have a noble fir here on the east coast, so finding a few cuttings of this at a local nursery was a welcomed surprise.
Helpful Tips in Creating Evergreen Swags
Florist paddle wire is perfect for constructing and securing the greens together. I find that 24 gauge works best. Rather than cutting lengths of wire, secure the end and then hold the paddle in your hand and tighlty wrap it around the greens cutting the wire after the bunch is secured. I secure each type of evergreen together first, and then wire them into one swag. To hang the swag, I use a double piece of wire which I insert into the wrapped wires on the back of the swag and form it into a circle which can then be hung from a hook.
