make something: a summertime wreath.

bittersweet vine, yarrow, and joe-pye weed. plus other things.

I woke up with a hankering to make something. The joe-pye weed I hung in my parents’ shed a few weeks ago wasn’t really all the way dry and the stems of the strawflowers from last week’s anniversary bouquet were still decidedly green, but I needed to dive into something creative and so I made a wreath.

More precisely, I decorated a wreath. In April, when I was alone here with my kids’ over spring break, I stuffed the back of our station wagon with a tangle of bittersweet vines I found lining the old soccer fields. While the sun was out and the kids were otherwise occupied, I wound the long tangle into half a dozen wreaths that have been waiting for their moment in the sun ever since.

I added the golden yarrow and the joe-pye weed first and dipped into the dried-out stalks of heuchera and astilbe still in the garden. I tucked in a few seed pods, I’d gathered on a walk the other morning, and punched up the color with strawflowers from last week’s bouquet. I didn’t use any floral wire or twine here, just the plants themselves, all tucked into place.

There’s something nice about a slow-burn project, isn’t there? The way the opportunity for finally finishing it can just kind of burble up from the right combination of time and circumstance and materials on hand? Anyway, I think I’ll try to make some more.

What have you made lately?

PS. We’re still a ways out from things like book pre-orders, etc, but if you want to follow along for news about my new book, MAKING THINGS, out next spring, follow me and Rose here!