Braided Door Pull

Maybe you've got some beautiful grape vine wreaths in your home, or have seen some really gorgeous braided-looking straight 'door pulls' that you thought would look great on your wall or front door (especially ones made from grape vines)....but could never figure out how in the world they're made to 'precisely', especially the braided ones.

It's A LOT easier than you think :) In fact, it only requires ONE material, and just a short bit of time :)

There's a secret these manufacturers are not telling you (nor do many of the crafters that make these items and then sell them at ridiculously high prices). Want the secret? USE SOFT WOOD. GREEN wood even. THAT is the secret. AND.. It can be done with ANY wood. It does not have to be just grape vines. :)

We all know that things like baskets, wreaths and pulls are usually made with very long pieces of familiar woods and vine (like wicker, grape vine, castle ivy, etc.).So the first step is to do a bit of looking around your yard (or even in a wooded area near your house - if you have that available to you).

Step 1 - Try to find longer pieces of wood material. Thin Willow branches, thick castle Ivy, grape vines, (be careful here, there is a false grape vine that is intensely poisonous, so if it does not have obvious grape flowers / berries on it... Don't touch it unless you know 100% it's a grape vine)...etc. The idea is to find a bendable type wood that's also slightly 'new' (or 'green').

Step 2 - Begin making your pull. It can be as thick or thin as you want. You simply braid the wood in the same way that you'd braid someone's hair.

Step 3 - Let the wood dry out totally in a cool, dry location. Keeping the wood in a sunlit area will make it 'sweat' (normally with that wood's form of sap), which keeps the wood moist for longer periods of time.

Step 4 - Once the wood is completely dried out, you can now decorate and hang your door pull anyplace you'd like (or, even give it as a nice gift to someone).