Curly Willow Easter Nest Centerpiece

Spring renewal is in the air and I love using my foraged curly willow in floral arrangements and structures for the garden. The unseasonable cold has kept my stock of curly willow supple and ready to turn into projects. The first tiny leaves have appeared but are easy to pull off. Most of my curly willow was harvested in February when the ground was still frozen and I left the branches lay in my meadow until they are ready to use.

Supple and bendable, I have grown curly willow for many years and lop off all the branches in February to use. Useful all year long, especially the spring, I like to use it weaving birds nests to use for my Easter baskets and centerpieces.

It is easy to use curly willow to make a simple handled basket by creating a handle only and sticking it into a container. Basket in 5 minutes!

CURLY WILLOW CENTERPIECE DIY:

1. Cut some large branches and select some thinner side branches to create a circle.
2. Fasten with wire and make sure it will lay flat in your bowl or base.

3. Continue to weave in branches by inserting an end in between 2 branches and weaving the additional branches in and out of the circle.

4. Cut some short pieces of pussy willow and insert them in a spoke pattern all around the circle.

5. Place moss in the center of the nest.

6.  Hot glue succulent rosettes, terra cotta mini pots, sisal carrots, butterflies, dried flowers, and eggs. 

Here are some different examples from my workshop: