The following projects, though, will get you started and can take on even pioneer-level quantities of dirt and debris.Ī straw broom is easy to make, and the project is one that would be fun to do with the kids or a as a great back-to-nature project that would be ideal for a group activity at a craft fair or other special event. You can also order broom corn online from broom-making suppliers, where other supplies for crafting your own brooms can also be found, along with plans for more challenging broom designs. (And remember, if you master the art of broom making and grow enough broom corn, you will have gifts friends and family will love or that you can sell at craft shows, farmer’s markets, or fairs, where people are sure to fall for a hand-crafted broom’s old-time appeal.) The stalks grow like sweet corn and look the same, although it has no cobs, just the tassels on top, and that is the material you’ll use to make your broom. Dickenson’s resulting broom was so successful (his wife told all her friends, and word around town quickly spread) that the sorghum variety he used is now called broom corn. If you’re feeling particularly adventurous, you can grow your own broom corn, paying tribute as you do to early broom designer Levi Dickenson, a Massachusetts farmer who crafted a broom for his wife using tassels from a variety of sorghum.

Straw should be easy to find if you live on or near a farm, and you can easily gather twigs and branches from the woods to tackle a birch broom. You’ll just need a little bit of patience, along with the necessary materials, and you’ll soon have your own straw broom, birch-branch broom, or broom-corn broom, the last being the sturdiest of these rustic, hand-crafted tools. Making your own broom is a fairly easy craft, and one that will leave family and friends in awe at your survivalist skills.Īnd although the term “flying off the handle” was born from the use of handmade brooms, which had – and still do have – a tendency to lose their heads when they’re used too forcefully, it doesn’t mean you yourself will fly off the handle when you attempt to make your own broom. And imagine how satisfying it would be using materials from your own garden to create those brooms? Certainly, these would be brooms that would be pretty enough to display on a wall or tucked into a corner so they will always be close at hand. A cottage in the woods or a farmhouse kitchen wouldn’t really be complete without a broom in the closet to clear away dust, with another near the hearth for sweeping up ashes from the previous night’s blazing fire.

Michaels craft straw broom