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Making a Herb Swag

The How To on Making a Herb Swag is simple and easy, using everyday household products, fresh herbs, and a few craft supplies.

Making a Herb Swag

A week ago I went with my friends Janet and Nicole to an evening class where you were taught by a local florist in their shop how to make arrangements while incorporate fruits and vegetables.  We had a great time, learned a few tricks and afterward we went and celebrated our beautiful creations over sushi and wine.   A great girls night out!  It was a fun experience because you get exposed to a different way of thinking when arranging.  If your classes are offered in your area I would highly recommend attending, no matter if you are a newbie or a seasoned veteran, there was something to learn for everyone.

Here are my ladies creations, quite beautiful!

Making a Herb Swag | Fun flower arranging with friends

What I most wanted when I left the class was a role of this beautiful twig wire.  It was great stuff to work with and looked great.  I was hoping to use it to Make a Herb Swag.  I walked out without purchasing their stuff because of the price, thinking I could probably pick it up much cheaper at a Hobby Lobby or Michaels.  I was wrong, they had something similar but nothing as nice as the florist.   Live and Learn!!

Making a herb swag is a great way to use and showcase your dried herbs, with or without the great twig wire.  You can do this project right after you cut your herbs, you do not even need to wait until they are dry.  If you want to know how to harvest them and dry them check out my post-Drying Herbs.  This swag makes a great gift to give over the holidays to friends and family.  It costs you nothing more than a few dollars on floral wire and ribbon, and you may have some lying around that you could use.  Several high-end retailers like William Sonoma sell expensive herb swags, but having a homemade one as a gift is priceless.  Just think you would have some of your holiday gifts finished before fall even hits.

You will need:

  • A few dozen stems of culinary herbs cut at least 4-6 inches long.  I used Rosemary, Oregano, Thyme, Lavender and a pretty purple Sage.
  • 1 wire coat hanger
  • Floral wire (can be purchased at craft stores)
  • Wire cutter (hopefully you or your hubby have a pair lying around)
  • A pre-made 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. (Optional)

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.

Cut a piece of floral wire about 6″ long to secure your hangar together in the middle.  This is just an added precaution to keep secure.

I like to wrap the hanger in ribbon, this is not necessary I just prefer not to see the hanger at all.  Wrap the ribbon at the base and tie a knot, then loop it over the bottom of the hanger and just start wrapping your way up to the top, make sure that you overlap your ribbon enough because it will move and you may get gaps.

Making a Herb Swag

Once you reach the top again tie a tight knot and cut your ribbon.  Tuck your knot tail into the wrapped ribbon, or just cut as close to the knot as possible.  Your hook will be behind what you hang your swag on or you can bend it down to make a loop so that it will hang on a hanger.  Either way, this part will be hidden from display once hung.

Now you’re ready to start attaching your herbs.  I like the sturdiest and heaviest on the bottom.  I started with Rosemary, I also cut this a little longer knowing it would be able to hang past the length of the hanger.

Attach by using your floral wire, wrap around herb and hanger and secure in the back. I leave enough wire so that it can be tucked behind herbs. (Imagine the beautiful twig wire here) 🙂

Making a Herb Swag

Now continue layer your herbs, allowing your next addition to hanging over and hide where the wire is wrapped.  Hold up your different bundles to see which looks best.  I went by size, the next bulkier (which was Oregano) and so on, leaving the sage, which is smaller and more delicate for the last and top herb.

Making a Herb Swag

Once you have all your herbs attached you want to finish off with a ribbon or raffia to hide the last attachment.

Just wrap a ribbon around and tie in a knot.  I wanted the purple ribbon to hang down both sides to showcase the beautiful color of the lavender.  Nothing too fussy and simple to do.  You can buy ribbons tied with beautiful bows at the craft store, you could also just wrap raffia around several times to leave a more organic look.  No matter what you will love this, and I promise you give these out as gifts they will be a huge hit.

I spent less than 30 minutes sitting in the garden with the wonderful fall weather making this one up.  It was incredible relaxing and let me tell you I hung mine next to our pantry door, (which gets a lot of traffic) and everyone commented on how wonderful it smelled!

Now when winter is in full force I will have this beautiful herb swag that I can snip a herb from to throw in my favorite soups or stews.  Though I probably won’t I will just enjoy its beauty!

Making a Herb Swag

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