Herbal and Floral Craft Project

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Herbal and Floral Craft ProjectBy Karen HegreA favorite housewarming gifts is a simple sheaf of twisted wheat tied with a braid of raffia. Wheat has long been the symbol of abundance and having a sheaf of wheat in your home meant that you would never go hungry.

Wheat has become a favorite plant for many floral designers and can be used in a variety of ways. "Planted" with dried roses it makes a simple but elegant arrangement. In stores and through the mail order catalogs, these wheat arrangements are very expensive. Yet they are not difficult to make. Even if you don't grow wheat, you can buy dried bundles of wheat inexpensively.

You'll Need:ten inch clay potStyrofoamAbout 50 stalks of wheat24 dried roses with stems and some leavesSpanish or green sheet moss. 9The Spanish moss placed loosely gives it a fuller look at the bottom)raffia

Cut the Styrofoam to fit into the bottom of the clay pot snugly and stick the wheat stalks into the center of the Styrofoam so that the stems stand about sixteen to 18 inches above the pot rim. Arrange the wheat evenly but in an open, airy fashion. After the wheat has been arranged in the center, place the dried roses around the wheat...place them randomly, toward the center. Then all you do is cover the top with the moss.

Another way of using wheat is to just place the 50 stalks of wheat in a terracotta vase or solid colored vase and tying a raffia bow around it. I have seen many arrangements of wheat in the finer furniture display stores around here. They look lovely setting in a corner or on a side table!