Create a Culinary Herb Swag

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Mary Moore

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Photo Credit: Mary Moore

Use your fresh herb cuttings to create fragrant swags and other decorative items for your home.

The aromas of holiday cooking bring to mind warm images of dinners with family and friends. And if you want to add some special flavors to your cooking this season, consider keeping one of these beautiful decorative herb swags nearby. Made with fresh ingredients you can harvest straight from your herb garden, this lovely, easy-to-make swag will spice up your kitchen (or any part of your home) throughout the cold winter months.

To create the herb swag, gather the following items:

A few dozen stems of culinary herbs cut at least 6 inches long. (Sage, tarragon, thyme, parsley, rosemary and other fragrant herbs work great for this project – but harvest more thin-stemmed herbs [like thyme or parsley] than the woody, thick-stemmed herbs [like rosemary].)
1 wire coat hanger
Floral wire (can be purchased at craft stores)
Wire cutter

Photo Credit: Mary Moore

A bent wire coat hanger creates a strong backing for your herb swag.

A premade bow or 35 inches of decorative ribbon (This is enough ribbon to cover the hook and add a bow. If you decide to finish the swag with a simple tied bow, you’ll only need about 20 inches.)
An ornament of your choice to decorate the front.

In just five steps and 30 minutes, you can create your one-of-a-kind herb swag masterpiece:

Grab the coat hanger and bend the long wire along the bottom of it up toward the hook. Then fold down the sides (as shown in the picture).
Cut a piece of floral wire about 1 ½ feet long. (This is just an easy length to use, but feel free to make it longer or shorter as you prefer.) Attach it by twisting one end around the bottom of the hanger until it’s secure, so you’ll then have one long wire hanging from the bottom. This is the wire you’ll use to start attaching your herbs.

Tips

During the summer, lavender blooms profusely. If picked just before they start to open, the flowers can be used for both cooking and decorative crafts. Like the leaves, the blooms hold their fragrance when dried. So consider drying some lavender flowers in summer and using them for cooking or crafts to brighten up your home all winter!
If your herbs have already succumbed to winter weather, you can still make a beautiful swag – simply head to your local grocer and pick up some herbs from the produce section, or check with your local garden center to see if they’ve still got some in stock.

Faqs

Q: How do I dry herbs?
A: Traditionally, herbs are tied in a bunch and hung to dry from the ceiling of a cool, dry room with plenty of space for air to circulate. This swag is built on the same idea. But beware of heat and humidity, which can cause herbs to mildew instead of dry, and avoid direct sunlight, which can cause herbs to lose some of their flavor.

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