Merry meet all,
Samhain is right around the corner. I was busy today crafting a witch’s besom!! I’m going to tell you how I did it so you can make your own!
I found a long dead branch outside in my backyard. I measured five feet and sawed it to the length I wanted. I put that on the lawn chair. Then I left to gather twigs and branches for the bristles. I headed over to the backyard where I found several 30-60 cm twigs. I gathered as many as I could and put them where I left the staff. I set them on the ground beside the chair. Now came for the part to polish the wood of the staff.
I used a paring knife to scrape off all the bark. Once that was done (with effort), I sanded the entire staff. Then I coated the staff with my wood polishing salve. When I was satisfied with how smooth the staff was, I had to leave. I went to my Mom’s for a pair of secateurs and jute string. I had a quick visit with my Mom and returned home. Then I bundled the long twigs together and arranged them around the staff. I trimmed the twigs/ branches to ensure they were an even length. It became dark outside so I brought my project indoors. I wound the string as tight as humanly possible around the staff and bristles. Then I hammered a nail in. It needs to go into the wood deeper but it is my preference. I trimmed the ends of the wood again to make them even. Then I doused the bristles with bleach and hot soapy water (outside) to kill off any germs or bugs since it did just come from outdoors. After, I rinsed it with clean water and wiped down the bristles with damp paper towel. I hope that helped clean it. Then I brought the saw inside ( a good idea to have a saw nearby just in case), and the hammer, string, secateurs, scissors and my boline. Knot the ends of the string tightly and securely. If you choose, you can even use glue to secure the string ends.
Make sure if you are crafting the besom that you have permission to use the wood, that you are respectful of the wood and the area you took it from, and that you tie the string as tightly as you can. My broom is not perfect – the staff is not in the centre of the twigs but I could care less. She is perfect to me. I will paint the staff tomorrow. I am so happy with it. It is just beautiful and truly magical to me. All in time for Samhain.
I love my new broom. I can’t wait to paint it. I may have to wait to get to spray paint the bristles. But it will be worth it. I want to spray paint them deep brown. I am painting the staff a lighter brown. My other besom that I made is purple. I want this broom to still appear natural. Also, spray painting it eliminates bugs or dirt. It makes it last longer and appear “polished”. I don’t have the patience to sand and smooth every bristle but spray paint does that for me in a way. Yeah I can’t wait for that. I will post another photo once it’s done.
Does this inspire you to try crafting your own tools? The even better part of all this is it didn’t cost me a dime. I am tired now but I can paint it tomorrow. I can’t wait. There is something about bringing out the beauty in wood that I truly enjoy. I own a smaller besom I bought at a witch shop. The wood has a natural look too. That besom is smaller than the one I crafted today.
Let me know what you craft for Samhain. I want to hear all about it in the comments. I’ve updated this post to show you the finished witch’s broom!!!
Blessings, Spiderwitch
