It all started for me in Middle School. My Grandma Rose took time one December morning to show my mom and I how to make a Grave Blanket. From that time on, it became a tradition for us to make Grave Blankets each winter.
If you don’t know, Grave Blankets are a winter decoration, typically made out of pine, that are used to adorn a cemetery plot in the winter. From what was told to me, the idea was that the ‘blanket’ would keep the loved one warm and is supposed to be on the grave before the first snow arrives.
Gathering Your Branches
The first step for when I make Grave Blankets, and the most time consuming piece of the whole process, is to gather the branches.
I live on a 4 acre piece of property in the country that has multiple pine trees around the area. I have been using these trees the majority of the time to supply my branches for the Grave Blankets. Occasionally I will go to a tree farm and purchase ends that they sell in bundles, or even a large pine tree, and use those branches as well.
I begin with finding what I call ‘ends.’ I need two ends for each blanket. End branches are cut at a longer length and appear sturdy, not flimsy. Each end branch measures approximately 2 1/2 to 3 feet in length.
After I pile ‘ends’ in one section of the pole barn, I then walk around our property and cut the filler branches.
The filler branches are approximately anywhere from 12 -18 inches. I need a lot of these, usually a wheelbarrow or two full if I’m working on a couple of Grave Blankets at the same time. Usually I enlist help from my husband and kids for this step so they can help me gather the branches and then place them in my work area in the pole barn.
An important piece to this step is that I try really hard to make sure I have different types of pine to add to my arrangements. I especially look for branches from Blue Spruce trees so that the blue branches can show up in the blankets.
The branches don’t need to be perfect. I typically trim them as I go and decide which branches I need in different spots.
** Side Note: I will be adding short, poorly created videos to this post to help demonstrate how to make the Grave Blankets. I’m still learning technology pieces and am only able to send short clips. I know the videos cut off, but thanks in advance for having patience with me. (I just learned how to edit the size of the videos so that I could get them from my phone to my computer.)
Chicken Wire Frame
A chicken wire frame will hold the entire blanket together. My chicken wire section is usually around 12″x18″ section with either 3 to 4 layers.
While the frame is not large, you can still have a 4 foot – 6 foot blanket. The size of the blanket really depends on the length of your ends in the next step.
Start with End Branches & Work Around the Perimeter
My workspace is typically an old door, thrown across a couple of saw horses.
I start with choosing 2 ends, poking the ends through the chicken wire, one on each side.
The ends shape the rest of your blanket.
Fill Your Middle, Using Different Types of Pine
After the end branches are placed in the wire, I then usually place the first layer of pine between the ends directly across from where I am standing.
I weave the small branches in between the layers of chicken wire. I don’t want to choose long branches for this section because, at the end of the project, I want to make sure that the shape of the blanket is noticeable as more of a rectangle.
Make sure that you are not placing the branches into the wire upside down. There’s a distinct difference between the top and the underside of a branch.
Once you have the outer layer done, you go around and add more, moving into the blanket. My grandma always said to twist the next layer a little so that it would add some bulk. I don’t generally do that, but some people may have better luck with that method than I have had.
When you get to the middle, you are going to cover much of the chicken wire by skipping much of the wire and inserting the branch into the arrangement across the middle.
I’ll try to place a video into the blog to explain better.
Look for Holes & Add Fullness
As you continue to add branches, you will realize that you can no longer thread the ends through the chicken wire. Instead, you will ‘feel’ the branches push through other branches and take hold. You will know as you push the branches in how this feels and whether or not your branch will lock in.
Remember, no one is going to be tugging on the branches at the cemetery. In all the years that I’ve been making them, I’ve never had any branches come out.
When you are finishing the middle, try and add a branch that has some height. This will most likely be the branch that you add your bow to.
As I’m finishing the branches on any Grave Blanket, I like to take the time towards the end to add some thin branches of shrubbery or holly if I have any. They can be good fillers and also add some variety to your blanket.
Decorate
When I used to work with my mom on Grave Blankets, I would generally do the pine piece and she would then decorate it with a bow, fake berries, pinecones, etc…
When you choose your colors, you are going to want to pick a color scheme that will stand out in the snow. Sometimes I feel like adding poinsettias makes the overall decoration ‘gawdy,’ but generally the flowers do stand out well when placed on the grave.
The green wire is essential to the decorating. You will use it to add it to your flowers and your ribbons, and will then carefully wrap the wire around the branches.
I really like working with ribbon that has wire at the edges. It’s easier to maneuver and shape as you make your bow.
The berries are my favorite to add. I usually add about 7-10 berries per blanket. They pull apart from the bunches that you buy in the store and have their own wire already attached. Grandma always said to make sure you added the berries to the tips of the branches so that it draws a person’s eye outward and makes the arrangement look bigger.
I add 3-4 pinecones, depending on the size of the blanket. It’s best if they ‘sit’ on a sturdy branch, kind of nestled down into the pine.
Another way to add color to your blanket is to cut strips of the red ribbon (or whatever color is your primary ribbon color) and then bunch it up, add wire, and then place a few of the ribbon strips around the outside.
The very last thing I do, is add some spots of fake snow to the Grave Blanket. I spray near at least one of the pine cones and sometimes near a flower or two if I added poinsettias. I really think that the snow adds an overall beautiful feature to the blanket.
More Than Just a Tradition
The above video clips were taken three years ago, as I was making my first Grave Blanket for my mother.
A fellow teacher had asked me about the process and I took the videos for her.
The image at the beginning of the blog, with the decorated Grave Blanket, was the first one that I had created for my Mom.
That first Grave Blanket for Mom was so difficult to complete. I felt like she was going to be there with me as I worked on it, talking into my ear as I cried my way through.
It wasn’t Mom’s presence that I felt as I added my branches, but instead it was Grandma.
I could hear Grandma, plain as day, telling me to stop being sad and fill the hole with another branch.
“Add more color.”
“Where are the flowers?”
“What’s wrong, girl? Your Mom is in a good place now and isn’t in pain anymore.”
Grandma’s memory helped me power through as I finished the first Grave Blanket for my mom, her daughter.
If I talked to her and asked her to please let Mom know that I loved her and missed her more than any words could say, well, that was just between the two of us.
Goals for Today:
- Finish Some Christmas Shopping
- Go out to eat with my Husband
- Dry my Eyes, and Count my Blessings