Front Door Cornucopia From Tomato Cage- NOT KIDDING!!

GeorgiaBulldogsFan
by GeorgiaBulldogsFan
7 Materials
$8
1 Week
Medium

It seems I’m always in creating mode. I’m constantly looking at things to be used in a different way. Sometimes it is “maddening”! So many ideas and not enough time to do them all. Which is why I usually have multiple projects going simultaneously. No joke! This idea came to me when I saw a unused tomato cage in my hubby’s shop when I was looking for something else entirely 🤪! But inspiration struck like a bolt of lightning ⚡️. Got the tomato cage out of the shop and brought it into my house. I began gathering the loose wires together and bending them to look like the curly back of a cornucopia. Before I began decorating it, I took it to the front door to see if I needed to trim it. Well, I did. I took my trusty Dremel multipurpose tool and sawed off the smallest ring and prongs.

So now I began bending the next 3 prongs to form the curly portion of a cornucopia. I wrapped three prongs together with picture hanging wire and then covered the wire with duct tape. I took some pliers to form a curve.

It was time to cover the wire piece. I admit, I went through several methods covering it only to remove it and start over. I remembered having a roll of fiberfil and wrapped it around the wire frame to smooth the finish. I then took strips of brown cotton fabric and pulled it inside the frame and outside as well beginning at the bottom and pulled it taunt and pinned it at the back of the frame. I hand stitched the fabric and fiberfill around the “mouth” of the cornucopia. Also hand stitched the side seams on the outside of the piece. This is how it looked so far.

I then decided that I would try my hand at macrame and use some of my “fav”, jute rope. I pulled out my rug frame and put it together. I measure off horizontal and vertical tick mark and started making my grid to begin the macrame process. I spent two days tying rope. It looked horrible and I refused to continue! I was furious that it looked so bad and I had wasted two days working on it 🤯😤🤯😤! I immediately took all the rope off my rug frame. And, it just about took two days to get everything untied. I was really was frustrated to the max. With the longest pieces of jute I began bringing rope inside and outside of the frame to make a grid for my weaving.

Next I started “weaving” my basket. I went to my local Dollar Tree to buy more jute rope. Well, I was met with yet another hurdle. My Dollar Tree was out of jute rope. I was ready to lose it for sure 🤬🤬. The next closest Dollar Tree was 32 miles away ONE WAY. Trying not to get too discouraged, I decided to improvise and use what I had. The jute rope I use has fours “cords” that make up the rope. Each cord has 4 or 5 thin strands that make up one cord. I partially unrolled the cords and used them to begin using cord by cord to weave the basket.

I began at the larger end of the frame and worked my way toward the back of the frame. I was weaving using the over and under method to give it the basketry look. I forgot to take a photo of the basket weaving but you will be able to see it in the final photos. Yes, you can see where I knotted the cords. I stuck the raw edges under the weaving as best as I could. You can also see some of the dark fabric peeking through the weaving but it just gives the piece some “character” and variation in color.

FYI. I completely disassembled my door arrangement from last year and recycled the fall pieces so there was no additional cost to me. I hot glued my fruits and vegetables inside the framework arranging them as I went. Everything except for the actual tomato cage had been used before. Here is a side view of the basket. Hope you can see the basket weaving clearly.

Here is how the completed cornucopia looks from the front as it hangs on our front door. I went through some trying times in getting this finished look but I am thoroughly pleased with the final product! Having jumped the hurdles for you, maybe it won’t take you nearly as long to accomplish one for yourself. TIP: If you want a smaller version, you could cut the largest metal circle off and work with the remaining tomato cage. Also, I will be using the portion of the tomato cage I cut off mine in another project. I won’t be tossing it. Lol. To be continued.........

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4 of 26 comments
  • Nancy Nancy on Nov 25, 2022

    I made one similar but I used burlap fabric that I bought at Walmart. I absolutely love your look, I think it looks great!

    • GeorgiaBulldogsFan GeorgiaBulldogsFan on Nov 25, 2022

      Thank you, Nancy. Your kind response has made my day! I appreciate when my “found” things in hubby’s shop turn out to look better than I have anticipated! 😳


  • Erika Erika on Nov 28, 2023

    Very talented! Love how it turned it out! It’s Beautiful 🤩

    • GeorgiaBulldogsFan GeorgiaBulldogsFan on Dec 01, 2023

      Hi, Erika. Thank you for your sweet comment. I had my doubts with all the hurdles I had to jump to get it completed! But those hurdles made me more determined to finish it. I’m stubborn that way. Lol. Thanks again.

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