Every holiday are seasons seems to have its symbol. We have Jack-O-Lanterns for Halloween and hearts for Valentine’s Day and for the harvest season or the season of plenty. We have the Horn of Plenty or the Cornucopia and I always thought this big horns with lots of things spilling out of them were pretty neat and more than one. But thought they were a little bit too complicated to make until I‘ve came up with an idea that’s really easy to put together and doesn’t take much time and it starts with some unlikely materials like chicken wire, some grape vine and moss.
I’ve started by cutting a 2-foot by 2-foot piece of one inch mesh chicken wire then I roll it diagonally from one corner to the other creating a cone. To hold it together, I’ve bent the ends of the wire into the body and curve the closed in into the classic cornucopia shape.
For the opening, I’ve just roll back the edges to form a lift. I’ve made the opening large enough to hold an 8-inch container and since this is going to be a door hanging, I wanted to make sure that the container was lightweight and water proof so I chose a paper mache liner.
Now with the frame made, I’m ready to cover it. I’m using sheet moss and attaching it with hot glue and I found that smaller pieces of moss are easier to handle.
As a final touch, I wrapped the entire horn in grape vine. This gives it a nice accent and helps to secure the moss and I’ve just use some hair spray to keep the moss from shattering.
Now, I’m ready to really get creative and fill this with all sorts of things that symbolize the harvest season like dried fruits and vegetables, as well as living things like kale, mums and ivy.
This particular cornucopia is going to be a door hanging but before I feel it to give myself maximum flexibility, I’m using a waterproof paper mache line. So later, if I want to use fresh flowers in here, it’s not a problem but in this case, I’m using dried materials so it’s really not necessary and for the living things, I’ll put them in little plastic bags.
Let’s get started. Have again, by placing floral foam in the container and I’ve push it toward the back to leave room in the front for other things then I secure it with floral tape. I’ve build the arrangement from the back toward the front using tall spiky things like silver and Russian sage.
For the larger living things, I’ve moistened the roots, slipped within a plastic bag and this will help them last longer and they’ll fit easier into the arrangement. Now, I filled in with gourds, corn, dried flowers and Ivy across the front to cascade. Now, it's ready to hang on the front door. It’ll be fresh and beautiful until I’m ready to hang that Christmas tree.
From the garden, I’m Allen Smith.
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