Do you like to decorate your kitchen with items found in nature? Do you have your own vegetable garden or access to a great farmer’s market? If so, you may want to mull over the idea of creating a dried okra garland. Based on my experience, the garland looks great hanging over a kitchen window or placed in the center of a door. It is also simple and quick to put together. Here’s how:
Supplies Needed
In order to complete this craft project, you will need okra pods (stems on), a roll of floral tape (brown), florist’s wire (22 gauge), a can of spray polyurethane (clear), and a roll of natural twine. You may also want to invest in 2.5 inch wide ribbon. That way, you can gussy up the dried okra garland with a few big bows. Ribbon colors that tend to work well with a dried okra garland include chocolate brown, tan, green, and red.
Dry the Okra
Begin by obtaining and drying your okra pods. You can get fresh okra pods from your own garden, the farmer’s market, or sometimes at your local store. I usually harvest the okra pods with the stems on. In my opinion, it makes the drying process easier. I like to dry them by hanging each by their stems, upside down, in a warm, dry place for several weeks. Of course, you could also opt to dry the okra pods with the aid of a desiccant or buy ready-made, dried okra. Personally, I prefer to dry my own because it makes the finished result more personal.
Assemble the Garland
When they’ve finished drying, the okra pods should have a striated, wispy appearance. At that point, you’ll want to place a piece of florist’s wire up against each okra pod stem. Then affix the wires to the stems with the aid of floral tape. I would recommend using brown floral tape so it matches the dried pods’ stems.
Proceed by liberally coating each of the wrapped, dried okra pods with two to four coats of clear polyurethane to help preserve them. Just make sure that you let the pods dry completely between each coat. Otherwise, you could end up with streaks or cloudy spots.
Next, separate the individually wrapped okra pods into clusters of four or five. Then use the floral wire and tape to secure the okra pods’ stems to each other permanently.
Keep going by cutting a piece of natural twine that is long enough to accommodate all of your dried okra pods as well as two hanging loops. Once that is done, systematically attach the dried okra clusters to the piece of natural twine with florist’s wire. Afterward, your dried okra garland will be ready for use.
Source: Personal Experience
More from this contributor:
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Best 5 Ways to Use Pomegranate Powder
