Fresh Cedar Swags

Every year I make swags, for family member gravesites, out of greens I pull from trees and bushes on our property.  I only  have to make two, so it doesn't really damage the trees or the bushes. I just give them a trim, it's actually good from them, and I keep the deer from destroying them by taking cuttings.  These are very easy and only took about 45 minutes make.  It makes me feel good that I can honor loved ones at Christmas, even though they are not here, and let them know I was thinking about them.

I cut enough greens for 2 swags.  These had about 8 branches each.  I try to find bushy ones for both sides to use on the bottom as a sturdy base, and fill in with smaller branches.

 Lay them out so that the cut part of the branches are facing the center, but overlapping each other.

 I use paddle wire to tie them, cut about an 24 inch piece.

 Find the center of the branches, wrap the wire around the center and even it up and twist it, then wrap tightly around the center a few more times, then twist it tightly around the back of the swag leaving a nice tail.  This is how I wired them together.....

 this is the long tail of wire, you will need that to secure with a stake at the burial site.

 So now all the branches are secured, and taking shape.

 I snip off any long branches that you can see from the top, that a bow will not hide.

 Gently pull the branches to fluff them out.  Then I add whatever deco's I purchased to decorate the swag.  My mother loved Christmas so this one is a little jazzy.  I purchase picks and things like that, and a sturdy ribbon at the craft store.

 Plaid is in this year so I went with this ribbon. I love plaid especially at Christmas.

 I made 8 loop bows with shorter tails, fluffed them out and wrapped them with wire to the swag.

 I needed one large one and a smaller one.  These took very little time, were inexpensive to make, as I used greens from my home instead of purchasing them.  Now, I used these for this purpose, but you certainly could use them around your home.  Imagination is a wonderful thing with endless possibilities.