How to Make a Harvest Garland for Thanksgiving

Garlands are a delightful way to enhance a doorway or banister during the Thanksgiving holiday. They are easy to create, and you can make one yourself from common plants collected from your own garden and a trip to the local market or craft store.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Raffia
• Garden Shears
• Gardening Gloves
• Miniature Pumpkins
• Preserved Fall Foliage
• Small Gourds
• Twine
• Twine
• Paddle Wire

1. Collect Indian corn, wheat, small gourds, miniature pumpkins, and preserved fall foliage.

2. Gather a wheelbarrow full of 6-inch-long garden trimmings. Use the tips of the branches for best results. Some suggestions are juniper, oak, asparagus fern, bay laurel, redwood, cedar, pine or fir.

3. Cut the pieces to a length of 6 to 8 inches.

4. Lay a 10-foot length of string or twine on a large, flat surface.

5. Tie a loop in one end of the string.

6. Attach number 24 floral wire (sometimes called paddle wire) to the loop end of the twine.

7. Select several of the cut foliage pieces and place them together in a bunch, with the stems at one end. You can mix different kinds of foliage in one bundle.

8. Place the bundle of foliage at the loop end of the twine, with the stems pointing toward the long end of the string.

9. Wrap the floral wire around the stems and twine to secure them in place. You will need two hands for this; one will hold the foliage in place against the string, and the other will wrap the wire.

10. Wrap the floral wire around the bundle twice and then pull it tight. Make sure to leave the wire attached to the twine, because you still have a long way to go.

11. Gather another bundle of foliage in your hand, including some of the preserved fall leaves, then lay it so that the stems overlap the first bunch and cover the cut ends. Make sure that all the stems are facing the same direction.

12. Add a few stems of wheat every few feet. The produce will be wired in place after the garland is complete.

13. Continue overlapping the bunches of foliage and wiring them to the twine until you run out of string.

14. Twist the wire tightly around the last bundle, knot the wire and the string together, leave 12 inches of wire (to attach the garland where you want it), and cut the wire with scissors or pruning shears.

15. Add the miniature Indian corn by wiring two ears together with the floral wire. Leave a few inches of wire attached so that it can be wired directly onto the garland. This process goes much faster if you wire all the ears prior to placement.

16. Pierce small pumpkins with bamboo skewers. The skewer should be run all the way through the pumpkin and cut so that only 1 inch is left on either side.

17. Wire the pumpkins to the garland by looping wire around the skewer.

18. Wrap gourds in pieces of old panty hose. (The hose will never show once the garland is hung.) Pull the hose tightly around the gourds and wire them to the garland.

19. Attach nuts using the same panty hose method.

Tips & Warnings

• Cover the finished end with raffia bow.
• If you need the garland to be longer than 10 feet, you can wire two completed pieces together.
• A light spray of extra-firm-hold hair spray will keep your garland looking fresh for a long time.
• Remove any produce that no longer looks fresh.
• Use artificial pumpkins and nuts if you desire.
• This is a dirty job! Work over newspaper, and have plenty of soap and water ready to clean your hands when you are done.