If you're lucky, making necklaces, anklets and crowns of strung flowers was once as much a part of your summer as skipping rope and sprinting through the sprinkler. Indulge in a daisy session today, and you can use the same tried-and-true technique to create enchantingly simple garlands for everything from table runners to decorations for your front door. Here's a refresher on twist

What you need:
Daisies (Other single-headed flowers that work well include pansies, poppies, buttercups, and wild clovers.)
Scissors
Florist's tape

What you do:
1. Cut your flowers so you have stems of about 6 inches (15.2 cm) to work with. If you want a tighter chain, cut the stems shorter. Just keep in mind you'll need a little more dexterity to work with them.
Take a look at the steps in this step-by-step guide.

2. Press the stems to flatten them, so they're more pliable. 

3. Begin by wrapping the stem of one flower behind its head, then twist the end around the stem several times. 

4. Wrap a small piece of florist's tape around the stem end to secure the twist. 

5. Thread the stem of a new flower through the loop of the first one, and continue until you have a chain the length you need. 

 

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Excerpted from  Summer Style by Paige Gilchrist. Copyright 2003 by Lark Books. Excerpted, with permission by Sterling Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.







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