I absolutely love dreamcatchers! I have made several over the years, and I find myself going back and making more just because I find it quite meditative. The first time I ever made one, was for my eldest son years ago when he had a bad dream and so, to relieve him from his anxiety of going to sleep, I said we’d make a very special (magical) one with things we could find in the garden. And so we did. We found a twig from the woods and I made him one he kept by his bed for years…. until we moved back to Italy and got ruined in the move.

In our current home, with all the pruning we have to do, I have started using the twigs and branches for lots of different projects, and of course, dreamcatchers are one of them! And how lovely it is to know that everything comes from the land around us. It is a bit like establishing a connection with the nature that surrounds you. A spiritual connection, if you like. If you also would love to make a dreamcatcher out of things you find in your garden or on your walks or with anything really, you can follow the tutorial below. I hope you enjoy it!

Materials needed

• a few twigs/thin branches (just cut or still flexible – if they are old they will break) or a hoop you can find in any hobby store.
• some thread. I used some cotton thread that I had, but you could use ribbons, twine etc.
• anything of ornamental value that you find in your garden. It could be seed heads, feathers, pinecones, dried flowers, even stones. Or you could use beads if you have any etc.
• scissors

Directions

• Once you have gathered your materials, get the twigs and remove any leaves if they have any.
• Take the twigs and twist them in a hoop. You want them to make a lovely loop and intertwine them so that they stay together without coming undone. Don’t worry too much if some of the ends stick out, you can trim them later with your scissor, keep them in place with the thread later, or slip them back in.
• Once you have a nice hoop, take your thread and knot one side to what will be the top of the dreamcatcher. Then, loop the thread a few times around the ring, spacing them evenly except for the last one that should be somehow a little bit closer to the very first one. The thread should be going over the hoop and on the way back down go back inside the gap the thread forms to keep the loop into place once it it all tight. Please refer to my drawing and pictures for clarity.
• When you finish the first round, start by looping inside the segments you have made in the same manner. Keep going until you have either closed the whole dreamcatcher, or stop whenever it feels right.
• At the last loop, knot the thread and then you can start to decorate it with anything you wish.
• I have attached a few seedheads I found in the garden, like nigella sativa (love-in-a-mist), wheat, carrots seedheads and some wild oats. I have kept them in place with the same thread I used for the middle of the dreamcatcher and then I covered the whole thing with a bow. And that is it! You can now add a little bow to hang it somewhere.