Make a Dogwood Heart

You’ll need:

• 2 flexible dogwood or willow stems (length depends on the size of heart you want to make)
• secateurs
• wire cutters or scissors
• florist wire or string

For decoration you can use ribbon, birch twigs, alder cones, ivy fruit and hydrangea flowers.

Start by holding the two dogwood stems upside down, with the thin ends pointing downwards. Cross the stems a quarter of the length away from the thin end making an X-shape (see photo above). Tie the two stems tightly together with wire or string.

Carefully bend down one of the stems, from the top, creating one side of the heart.

Adjust the shape and secure the stem against the thin tip (see photo above) using florist wire or string.

Repeat the procedure with the second stem.

When you’re happy with the shape tie the two thick stems together at the bottom. Trim the ends if they’re too long.

Large dogwood hearts look great hanging in windows, whereas small ones are perfect for the Christmas tree.

A decorated heart makes a lovely festive gift. Here we’ve used small birch twigs, alder cones, hydrangea and abelia.