You may have noticed that we’ve been spending most of our summer at the cottage this year. Along the road leading into our little neighbourhood grow a row of cattails, also known as bulrushes, punks or corndog grass (they do look like corndogs actually!). I’ve always loved the look of these long green grasses with their chunky brown knobs. Apparently several parts of the bulrush are edible and we found a yummy recipe using young shoots with wildrice that we’ll have to try in the spring. Cattails, or Typha, can also be used as building materials, furniture seating, paper-making, as biofuel and other purposes.
So, on a little evening walk with the kids I ventured over to the side of the road to see if I could collect some of the long stalks. With the four of them looking on I crept as close to the edge as I dared. I couldn’t exactly see how deep the trench from which they grew was, but I was sure I didn’t want to end up in it. Without a knife or scissors on hand I managed to wrestle out a stalk. Then, of course, each of the kids wanted one. I’m not quite sure how, but we walked away with about five of the 3-4 foot tall stalks (which quickly turned into light sabres).
Tweet It: A nearly disastrous outing ended as a beautiful project: Drifting Cattails Porch #Decor
They did get me thinking about possible ways to use them in a project and the idea of a small privacy wall came to mind. But what would we stick them in to keep them standing up? The best we could come up with was the idea of some bricks with floral foam blocks in the middle. That was until we found this beautiful piece of white-washed driftwood on the beach. The piece had a natural groove along the center that just screamed bulrushes! So this is how the “Drifting Cattails Porch Decor” came to be.
A little note: although we were able to wedge the stalks into the groove of the driftwood, drilling ¾” diameter holes gave nicer pockets for the cattails to stand in. We were also able to add water inside to keep them fresh a little longer.
Do you have cattails growing near you?
Alayna
Very nice. I agree – the log is SO much better than bricks 😉 And I really like the detail of the moss coming out the other end.
It’s been fun co-hosting the #HomeMattersParty with you. September here we come!
Jane and Sonja
Thank you Alayna! It’s so great to have you stop by. Looking forward to another month of the #HomeMattersParty with you!
Michelle
This is so fun and creative. I am glad you found the log. It looks amazing with the cattails. Such a great idea!
Jane and Sonja
Thank you Michelle. It was one of those things that also could have ended up as a #craftfail as you mentioned in you recent post (http://michellejdesigns.com/guest-room-canvas-art/) but turned out really nicely instead.
Shann Eva
I love how this turned out. My son would love helping me make this. Now to find some cattails. Thank you for being such a great co-host at the #HomeMattersParty with me.
Jane and Sonja
I’m sure your son would have so much fun doing this with you! Be prepared to be bonked on the head with the cattails though 🙂
Thank you for stopping by and being such a great co-host at the #HomeMattersParty!
Sarena
This looks really cool and I couldn’t help but laugh at how the stalks immediately became light sabers on the way back haha! Thanks for sharing. I love co-hosting the #HomeMattersParty with you guys. 🙂
Jane and Sonja
😀 That’s my boy! All things become weapons!
Thank you for stopping by and being such a great co-host at the #HomeMattersParty.