Now THAT'S a Swag!

Day 251
The Daily DuBrule

This week has been very busy in our holiday design department. I am asked to do some crazy things at this time of year but I have only myself to blame for the giant swag project that I decided to tackle for one of my clients. In the past I have simply swagged pine roping around her porch post and tied on cones, berries, and sparkling and ornaments. This year I had a creative brainstorm and set about to create a swag that turned out to be over six feet tall! 

I gathered large branches of fraser fir, douglas fir, white pine, cryptomeria, blue juniper, and upright 'Hetzii' juniper. I carefully layered the greens in a long line spanning three wooden pallets. I then set about, a spool of 22 gauge green florist wire in hand, to wire this swag together. For the better part of an hour I wove in and out of the evergreens, securing them to each other. I added a horizontal piece to go across the top of the porch. When I was done and picked it up, I couldn't believe how heavy it was!

When I got to my client's home, I climbed a very tall ladder and proceeded to secure wire to the top of the post and along the roof of the porch. My helper handed me up the swag and then climbed a second ladder and help hold up the horizontal arm while I wired it in place. When we were done, we couldn't believe our eyes. It fit perfectly and framed the doorway in a way that roping could never do. Of course, a great big bow made with three different ribbons and the addition of gold birch branches and pine cones helped to bring it to the next dimension.