Besom brooms are traditionally an old British custom made with pieces of their local indigenous trees hazelwood, asch and birch seem to be the most used (from my research). When the practice was more common it was also popular to tie flowers like heather or herbs into the bunch for scent and luck. Most of the best things in life come locally. It’s one of the best things about living in New England. You are never far from nature or a farm. My broom is made from maple and pine.

For my broom I will be using the sticks in my backyard. First step is collecting. I gathered about 25 small diameter sticks. Between 20 and 30 will work. As you can see we have fairly substantial stick pile so, I had choices.

If you don’t have a yard or fancy stick pile this is the perfect time to go for a walk in the woods. It’s very important to keep your eyes peeled for the actual broomstick. You’ll know it when you see it. It will be just the right size and length and shape. Trust your eyes. Mine is just a hair shy of 2 1/2 feet long. Exact precise measurements will take away from the real charm of this craft, just get close. That will really make it yours.

The best plan with this is to head outside with a towel. I grabbed a dish towel that I use for craft clean up. Nothing fancy. Just something to place the sticks on top of for easy transport.

The first thing is to hold a few sticks up next to the handle. Look for the one with the perfect visual length. This will be your guide stick. Mine measures 20 inches. This way you’ll have an easy time making sure they’re all about the same size. It will save you a lot of work later and that way when it’s time for assembly things will be well set up. Good prep is key. Make sure the bristles all are not perfectly straight and exactly the same length just close.When you are choosing sticks clean them up as you go. Take the small branches off the main sticks. This will make your broom come together rather than turn into a tangled mess.

As with pretty much all my craft projects I use my go to scissors. They were Christmas present from DB a couple years ago they are Leatherman Raptors. Originally made for paramedics so, when they hop on the scene they are ready to cut seat belts or break through car windows. They’re pretty serious. I like them because they can basically cut through anything and the grip is really good, big and substantial so you’re not having them slip around on you while you’re trying to make cuts.

This photo is my broom handle being groomed. Just a few simple cuts.

My pile of sticks (bristles). About 25 and all the same length.

The towel in action for the easy commute to my work area.

These are the things you will need. On the left is my broomstick measuring approximately 2 1/2 feet. My magic scissors. Twine. I used conventional cotton kitchen twine. Since it’s generally use for trusting chickens I figured it’s perfect for the job. A white candle and matches to light it. Nothing fancy. Just things I had around the house.

Once everything is gathered dig through your broom bristle pile and pick out the sticks that are the very thickest. Set everything else aside. Cut a 15 inch piece of twine.

Lay down the twine. 3 inches then place the first big stick.

Wrap the twine over.

Then around.

Place the next stick about 2 1/2 inches over from the now wrapped stick and do the same. Then the third sick and so on and so forth until all of them are wrapped. Like so.

Pull slightly tight. Place the broom stick handle in the middle on top of the bristles. 1 foot deep past the twine line. So only 21 inches of the handle sticks out. Putting this much of the handle inside the broom makes it very sturdy.

The next step is to tie it as tight as you can. Wiggle and pull the string so it will get as tight as possible. Double knot. This is the base of the bristles so it needs to be very strong and very tight.

Place on craft mat for ease of cleanup then, cut the strings. This will alleviate some of the underneath bulk and give a tighter grip on the broom stick.

Next light the candle and drip wax all over all of the twine. This will seal and secure it. Start with the knot first.

Go all the way around over the twine and let cool while you are assembling the next step.

Gather about 1/2 of the sticks you have in the set aside pile.

Divide into fourths.

Cut 7 inches of twine and tie each quarter.

Now cut 15 inches of twine and lay out on your mat. Place the first bunch in the middle of your craft mat. Then place broom on top of that centered. Lining up the twine.

Place two more bunches, one on each side of the establishing broomstick.

Put the last one on top and tighten. Before tying off it might make sure to adjust one or all of the new bunches so they are together in a broom-like shape. The shape of the sticks and how they lay together really make this project. Wrap around the twine as tight as you can and give one final pull. Then tie it off with a double knot.

It will look like this.

Next, wax the twine as before. This time some of the wax will drop through the cracks and make the inside wax warm again so it’s good after this step to leave it for a minute to cool down. Otherwise the sticks might shift.

Take the rest of the sticks you have set aside, dividing the four and tie as before but the twine binding these (being the more outside sections) need to be waxed for tightness.

Cut another section of cut another 15 inch section of the twine place. Place on your craft mat.This next part is similar to the other procedure except we are going to place these for in between the last four. Imagine the bundles the four cardinal directions. The first four are north, south, east and west. This new four need to be placed between then at northeast, southeast, southwest and northwest. They go right in that gap I’m pointing out. Then wrap the twine around crisscross a couple times and tie as tight as possible.

Next cut a 12 foot piece of twine and fold it into quarters. This is our outermost top layer. Wrap this crisscross around over all of the previous layers of twine then tie as absolutely tight as you can. Yank, pull, then pull tighter to get the outside of the broom together.

Next is a double layer of wax. The first one I put on super thick and let it sit for 5 minutes then went over it again with a second thick layer to make sure it’s secure.