Craft a Floral Wall Hanging: Paisley and Sparrow’s Jen Biswas Tells You How

Add texture and color to your home with a DIY floral wall hanging, courtesy of Paisley and Sparrow’s Jen Biswas

Photos provided by Jen Biswas

Jen Biswas, the busy blogger and professional DIYer we spoke with last week about stenciling her powder bath, might be “a crazy plant lady and mom of three who loves cookie dough, removable wallpaper, and balloon garlands,” as she writes on her website, Paisley and Sparrow. But she’s also very fond of floral wall hangings, which she creates not only for the holidays but also year round.

So, after talking shop on stenciling, we asked her for a personal tutorial on this DIY project, too. She happily obliged!

“This is my third round of creating floral wall hangings,” she says. “The biggest and most important thing I’ve learned is to start with chicken wire.” After cutting out the size she wants, she lays the chicken wire on the floor. It’s her base for the wall hanging.

Biswas loves following wedding florists and event planners on Instagram for ideas. Then, she selects materials from Etsy, Hobby Lobby, and JoAnn Fabrics. “I use a mix of real dried and fake flowers,” she says. “I’m the crazy person who gathers a whole bunch of stuff together and starts putting the hanging together on the floor of the store, trying different colors and textures. I mix and match until it feels right.”

For each wall hanging, she selects two or four “of each kind of flower to give the piece a cohesive look and feel.” After laying the pieces on the chicken wire on the floor, and confirming the design, you can either weave the pieces through then hang the piece, or hang the chicken wire and weave the pieces through while it’s on the wall.

“Start with the outside pieces and move your way in,” she instructs. “You’ll want to place a few florals in and then step back and look at it. I’ve done these with my sister, and it was really helpful to have someone else look at it from further back.” She adds that she uses “six small nails to nail the chicken wire to the wall.”

The craziest materials she has ever used, Biswas says, include glittery sticks and construction paper folded into accordion shapes. “Once you’ve created a based, you can change out the wall hanging through the seasons.”

Personally, Biswas adds, she prefers “something big, bold, and colorful. That’s the aesthetic in our home. But you could also work with neutrals, whites, tans, and browns and create something quite elegant.”

Consider making a wall hanging as a gift this season. You can even ask Biswas to help. “People do pay me, yes, to create and install wall hangings. But if you can create it yourself, and it’s easy, then give it a try!”

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