A Tisket, a Tasket, Make a Lavendar Basket

This has been an incredible year in the flower gardens in New York. Normally hot and dry, August has had rain just about every other day. If you trimmed your Lavandula (lavendar) back after the early summer bloom, the plants are blooming again. Here is a fun craft to turn 12 long-stem lavendar stems into a lovely basket. I used a half-inch velvet ribbon and wove a self-contained basket out of the turned-up stems.

Step 1: Choose at least 12 long stem stalks of lavendar. Ideally, you should cut them the day you plan to weave your basket, to keep the stalks supple when you bend them.

Step 2: Bend the stalks about 4 inches below the flower heads. The distance from the flower head to the bend will be the size of your basket. You will tie a piece of your ribbon at the base of the bend.

Step 3: Weave.

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Try to keep your spacing even as you go.

Step 4: Wrap the ribbon around the "top" of your basket one last time to create the top. Tuck the ribbon into the existing weave or secure with a stitch or a drop of hot glue.

Step 5: The last step is to make the basket handle. Divide your stalks into two groups of six(6) stalks. Begin braiding the stalks. This is when you will know if you have cut your stalks long enough. Much easier to work with too much than tool little stalk length.

For a final touch, tie a ribbon around the two ends of the braided 'handles.'

This is a lovely way to preserve or gift your long-stemmed lavendar.

P.S. This month, I will be walking the El Camino. I hope to offer the paperback and e-book version of my new book, Dare to Be an American, when I return.

Buen Camino,

Cynthia