A Dressed Staircase

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven”.
Ecclesiastes 3:1

Every change of season feels a bit like the changing of the guard, ushering in its own personality and making home feel just a little different. Here in the South, it is still very warm, and the arrival of autumn is not quite as obvious as it may be elsewhere. But even with the lingering summer heat, there is a subtle sense of fall in the air. And with its anticipation comes the natural desire to make a few changes within the home.

I intended to grow enough flowers in my garden this year to make a dried garland for each arch on my main floor. With our summer heat and lack of rain, my plans went awry. I had about half of what I needed so I chose a garland for my staircase instead.

I began by cutting the remaining usable stems and collected several large buckets full. I laid out 3 pieces of twine tying the ends together after I measured how long I needed the garland in order to fit my staircase. I added stem after stem upon the twine until I felt it looked full enough before weaving it all together.

Each stem was tied onto the braided twine which was the most tedious part of the project. When I got about half way done I decided to move it onto the porch and realized it weighed way more then I was counting on, so I brought it inside and finished it while it was attached to the staircase.

Once I finished weaving/tying the celosia onto the staircase, I tied yellow velvet ribbons to secure each area where the garland was swaged.

I wasn’t necessarily worried about perfection as I knew once it dried it would change the way it looked. For anyone considering doing this note the celosia drops tons of tiny black seeds while drying. So if doing this for a certain event, it should be fresh. Once evening came, I added candles to my steps and enjoyed the preview of autumn colors to come.

Enjoy the video of the final product and check back soon for more fall inspired ideas!!