DIY Cornucopia

One of the most popular decorations for Thanksgiving is the DIY cornucopia, a horn-shaped basket filled with fruits, vegetables, and flowers.

A cornucopia symbolizes an abundant harvest for which the Pilgrims were giving thanks during the very first Thanksgiving.

I highly doubt there was a cornucopia at that dinner, so when did it become a part of our modern Thanksgiving holiday?

The cornucopia is an ancient symbol with origins in mythology.

The most often cited myth involves the Greek god Zeus, who was said to have been nursed by Amalthea, a goat. One day, he was playing too roughly with her and broke off one of her horns.  He filled the horn with the fruits of the harvest. It then became the Horn of Plenty.

Another myth attributed to the cornucopia’s origins told of the Greek demi-god Herakles (Hercules in Roman mythology) wrestling with the river God, Achelous, who was referred to as horned. Herakles, renowned for his strength, broke off one of Achelous’ horns. However, Herakles kept the horn and filled it with fruits and flowers as a wedding gift to Deianira, his betrothed.

Today,  the cornucopia is used purely for Thanksgiving decorations.

It continues to symbolize abundance and a  bountiful harvest.

Here is how I made my DIY Cornucopia

Start by cutting a basic square of chicken wire 30″ long.

Secondly, I rolled the chicken wire into the shape of a cone and attached the wire with the ends that I had cut.

Third, I cut off about 8″ on the end of the cone.

Step 4 is to bend the cone into a shape of a cornucopia.

Next,   to make this DIY Cornucopia, you want to cover the entire cone with burlap and wrap the ends inside the cone. Again, I used a hot glue gun to do this.

Next,  to make your DIY cornucopia, you want to cover the entire horn in sisel rope.

Start at the tip of the horn and work your way down.

The cornucopia rounds on the bottom. Therefore, you need to stop wrapping and then go back and add individual pieces of rope in this area.

Because the base rounds, it is hard to turn the rope, there is not enough room on the top.

Therefore, I stopped and then came back and added individual pieces of rope with 3″ ends on both sides so I could unravel them and make it look like

sisel on the top of the basket for decoration.

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