Decorative elements provided with a curled or crimped configuration at point of sale or point of use

Abstract

Decorative grass and methods of providing same are disclosed wherein the decorative grass is either maintained in flattened configuration until restraint is removed and/or the decorative grass is curled and/or crimp at the point of use and/or sale.

1 . A method of providing a curled or crimped decorative grass at a point of use or a point of sale, the method comprising: 
 providing at least one sheet or web of material at a point of sale or use, the at least one sheet or web of material capable of having a curl or a crimp imparted thereto;    forming a curl or crimp in the at least one sheet or web of material at the point of sale or use to form a distortion in the at least one sheet or web of material; and    cutting the sheet or web of material having the distortion formed therein into strands of decorative grass at the point of sale or use of the decorative grass.    
     
     
         2 . A method of providing a curled decorative grass at a point of use or a point of sale, the method comprising: 
 providing at least one curled sheet or web of material at a point of sale or use;    maintaining pressure on the at least one curled sheet or web of material to maintain the curled sheet or web of material in a substantially flat configuration; and    cutting the curled sheet or web of material into strands of decorative grass at the point of sale or use of the decorative grass while the curled sheet or web of material is maintained in the substantially flat configuration.    
     
     
         3 . A method of providing a curled decorative grass at a point of use or a point of sale, the method comprising: 
 providing at least one curled sheet or web of material at a point of sale or use; and    cutting the curled sheet or web of material into strands of decorative grass at the point of sale or use of the decorative grass.    
     
     
         4 . A method of providing a curled decorative grass at a point of use or a point of sale, the method comprising: 
 providing at least one sheet or web of material at a point of sale or use, the at least one sheet of web of material having a preset distortion therein; and    cutting the curled sheet or web of material having the preset distortion therein into strands to provide decorative grass at the point of sale or use of the decorative grass wherein at least a portion of the strands have the preset distortion.    
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4  wherein the preset distortion is selected from the group consisting of curls, crimps and combinations thereof.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4  wherein, in the step of providing at least one sheet or web of material at a point of sale or use, the at least one sheet of material comprises a header having a plurality a strips of material connected thereto and wherein the preset distortion is at least one curl imparted to at least the plurality of strips of material and wherein in the step of cutting the curled sheet or web of material having the preset distortion, the header is removed from the plurality of strips of material to provide curled segments of decorative grass at the point of sale or use of the decorative grass.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 4  wherein, in the step of providing at least one sheet or web of material at a point of sale or use, the at least one sheet or web of material is a laminated material having a preset curl formed therein.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 4  wherein, in the step of providing at least one sheet or web of material at a point of sale or use, the at least one sheet or web of material is a laminated material having a preset curl formed therein, and wherein the laminated material is prepared by the steps of: 
 providing a first sheet or web of material;    providing a second sheet or web of material, one of the first and second sheets or webs of material having a size less than the other sheet of material;    stretching the sheet or web of material having a size less than the other sheet or web of material to provide a stretched sheet or web of material; and    laminating the stretched sheet or web of material to the other sheet or web of material to form the laminated material having a preset curl formed therein.    
     
     
         9 . A method for providing curled decorative grass at a point of sale or use of the curled decorative grass, the method comprising: 
 providing a plurality of sheets or a web of material capable of having a curl imparted thereto at a point of sale or use of the curled decorative grass;    providing curling tool capable of imparting a curl to the sheets or web of material when the sheets or web of material is brought into contact with the curling tool;    contacting the sheets or web of material with the curling tool so as to impart a curl to the sheets or webs of material and provide curled sheets or a curled web of material at the point of sale or use; and    cutting the curled sheets or web of material to provide curled decorative grass at the point of sale or use of the curled decorative grass.    
     
     
         10 . The method for providing curled decorative grass at a point of sale or use of the curled decorative grass of  claim 9  wherein, in the step of cutting the curled sheets or web of material to provide curled decorative grass at the point of sale or use of the curled decorative grass, strands of curled decorative grass are held together via a header.  
     
     
         11 . An assembly for producing curled decorative grass at a point of use or sale, the assembly comprising: 
 an enclosure containing a plurality of sheets or web of material capable of having a curl imparted thereto, the enclosure having an opening therein for permitting removal of at least one sheet at a time or at least a portion of the web of material from the enclosure, the enclosure being located at or near a point of sale or point of use of curled decorative grass; and    a curling tool for imparting a curl to the sheets or at least a portion of the web of material to provide curled sheets of a curled web material when at least one of the sheets or at least a portion of the web of material are withdrawn from the enclosure and brought into contact with curling tool at or near the point of sale or use of decorative grass; and    a cutting tool for cutting the curled sheets or the curled web material to provide curled decorative grass at or near the point of sale or use of the curled decorative grass.