DYI Spanish Moss Topiary

I have wanted some nice topiaries for my dining room for awhile and when I looked at the price tag on most pre-made ones I decided I could make some for a much more reasonable price. I bought all of my materials from Michael's except for the bamboo sticks and the thinner branches, which came from my yard. 

Here are my finished topiaries.

Here is a step by step tutorial...

Supplies Needed:

Terracotta pot

paint if you want to paint your pot as I did

Styrofoam square

Styrofoam ball

Spanish moss

hot glue gun and glue sticks

dowel rod or straight branch from your yard

thin "bendable" branches from your yard

sheet moss

Paint terracotta pots and let dry.

Cut Styrofoam square to fit tightly into your terracotta pot.

Place Styrofoam square into pot. You want it to fit firmly so cut it so that it barely fits into the pot, then push it down until it is a little below the rim of the pot.

Cover your Styrofoam ball with Spanish moss. Dealing with the moss made quite a mess, but it was easy to clean up afterward. Just cover a small portion at a time with hot glue, then press a bunch of moss onto the glue and hold. Leave a tiny portion uncovered at the bottom so you can insert your branch. Once you are finished gluing you can use scissors to cut off any long strands that stick out too far. Glue the moss together tightly so you cannot see the green Styrofoam underneath.

Before you insert your dowel rod or branch into your pot drill a pilot hole (see picture below). This will help the branch to go down straight.

Also, drill a pilot hole into the ball so the branch will go in a bit easier and stay straight. 

Once you have the holes correct take your branches back out and put hot glue onto the branch at the bottom (around the bottom couple of inches) and stuck it into your Styrofoam square. I also put a thick blob of glue around the edges of the branch and onto the Styrofoam...this way the branch didn't have any wiggle room. Make sure that you are holding your branch completely straight and that it is at the height you want so that once that thick glue around the bottom sets it is holding your branch exactly the way you want it to stand. Also put glue onto the top of your branch before you put the moss ball onto it. This way it will be held tightly together from the top and the bottom.

I took some very thin wispy branches and cut them to the right length. Then I hot glued it at the top (had to hold firmly against the thicker branch until the glue set. Then I wound it around the branch until the bottom. Then I hot glued it to the thick branch at the bottom. If you don't want to use hot glue for this step you could also use some thin floral wire to attach the thin branches.

Once the thin branches were set, I wanted to cover up the place where I glued them into place. So, on the ball I just added a little more moss around the base of the ball and glued it around to cover all the glue I had used. I did the same at the bottom with some sheet moss. This moss worked great in the pot to cover the Styrofoam square. You would never guess that under that moss was just Styrofoam!

Finished topiary!

I'm very happy with the way they turned out.

I would say the total cost for supplies was about $15 per topiary.

not bad compared to other retail prices!

"Special Dates" Painted Pillow

I've been wanting to revamp/update/freshen up the throw pillows on the couch for awhile. I think I'm finally happy with what I have, especially the newest addition which I worked on yesterday and today. I'm very pleased with the way it turned out.

These "old world map" pillows have sat on our couch since we first got married. Kane really liked this fabric and I liked them fine too, but after almost 8 years I was really ready for a change!

This fabric was a hand me down from my mother in law's scrap fabric stash (total cost to me, $0). I liked it because it was neutral and light. I simply sewed a basic "sham" pillow case I could easily slip the old pillow inside. Here is the back of the sham.

Here is the front. At first I wasn't sure what I wanted to do to "liven it up", so I looked on Pinterest for some ideas. I saw that people had painted on fabric before, so once I got the idea that I could paint on the fabric, my creative juices started flowing. My mother in law had also mentioned stencils, but I just didn't know what I would stencil.

I finally decided to implement another Pinterest idea I had seen where people printed out "special dates" and framed it as art on wall. I decided to put our "special dates" on the pillow instead. Step 1: I laid out my sham flat on the table. I might also want to put a layer of paper behind the fabric you will be painting on. I taped the edges down so the fabric wouldn't "scoot" around while I was trying to paint.

I bought my stencils for really cheap at Home Depot. I had looked for stencils at Michael's but they didn't have the size/font combination I was looking for. Home Depot only had one option, but it was exactly what I was looking for. (Stencils are 3" tall and my pillow is about 22" tall). I liked the more "industrial" looking font. All the ones at Michale's were too frilly/pretty. These stencils gave me exactly the look I was going for.

I used random numbers to map out my spacing/measurements. It really helped that almost all of the numbers were on cards the exact same height and width as the others. That made the spacing really easy.

First date done. I worked from the left to right, from the top row down. The first date by the way is the date of our "first date".

Mid effort. Coming along well. I used regular (cheap) acrylic paint I already had on hand and a regular paintbrush with fairly short/small bristles.

Lastly, I free-handed a little heart in the center (which happens to be in the middle of our anniversary date).

All my updated throw pillows (all except the maroon one---already had it).

The "special" dates I used were. First Date, Date we got engaged, anniversary/wedding, birthdate of baby #1 and birthdate of baby #2. 

I also read somewhere that it is good to iron the backside of the fabric you painted once it is completely dry and this will help "set" the paint.

World of Pinterest

A while back I got an invitation to join the website Pinterest. Pinterest is basically a site where you can have your own virtual "pin boards" to keep track of online ideas you see or other items that you like or that inspire you.

I went ahead and joined, but my boards sat empty for months. I didn't really understand the point and didn't really want to take the time to get too involved with it. After some prompting from friends I decided to log in again and just browse. There was a idea/project I had in mind that I wanted to do and I pretty much knew what I wanted it to look like, but I did want some help with inspiration and direction. I didn't know at first that you can search Pinterest for specific ideas--not only see the popular pins among your friends. This was cool.

I wanted to make some sort of small, pretty wreath, so I searched for that and many fun and pretty ideas popped up. Many of them were actual tutorials on how to make the wreaths myself (even better). I pinned a few to remember what I saw and which ones I liked. This was fun!

Once I decided on which tutorial I wanted to follow, I bought the supplies and got to work....

 1 yard of fabric (the tutorial said you needed on yard. I should have bought a little more, but it worked out in the end).

 Foam wreath form wrapped with strips of fabric and secured with a bit of hot glue.

 The beginnings of my flowerets...made simply from strips of fabric I cut, folded and pinned directly onto the wreath, one right next to the other (to cover the pins).

 Finished wreath.

 Awhile ago a friend gave me an old window pane that was just sitting in her garage and it's been sitting in our shed for months...probably over a year actually and I had just never decided what to do with it. Kane helped me by tacking the ribbon to the back of the window before hanging it on the wall.

 My dear husband always makes sure everything he hangs is perfectly centered and leveled. This is one of the many reasons I love him. His accuracy in math helps to make our home beautiful! Thanks, Babe!

 Finished result---it's simple, but I'm very pleased with how it turned out.

And now that empty spot on the wall is no longer empty....thank you Pinterest!

 (If anyone would like an invitation to Pinterest, I'm happy to send you one. Just let me know!)

Mom & Me Painting Class

There is this really cool gal here in Rome has her own art/painting business. She holds classes all over North Georgia. She hosts private parties for children, adults---really anything you want to do, if it involves painting on a canvas, she's probably open to it!

Well, for several months I've been wanting to sign up for her "Mom and Me Painting Class". We finally found a date that would work and we were excited about the picture she would be painting so Mara Kate and I signed up to go.

In the meantime we have also decided that this is what we wanted to do for Mara Kate's 6th b-day party and after our painting experience with Crissy, I'm even more excited now. Here are some pictures of our morning together. It turned out that we were the only participants signed up for this particular class, so we sort of got to have a private lesson, which was really fun!

As part of the "package" the painter gets their own free drink from the coffee shop the classes are held in. Mara Kate chose a cherry frappe. :)

Getting started on our pumpkins. Mara Kate was really excited to be painting with a "real artist" since she wants to be an artist herself when she grows up.

We were both really happy with how our picture turned out.

In action!

Almost finished.

Already has a prominent place on our wall...if you look closely you can see our initials in the bottom right hand corner.

This was definitely a great way for me to get some one on one time with Mara Kate. She had a blast and came came home with a really nice piece of art too. We hope to do it again sometime and Mara Kate can't wait to paint along with a few of her friends to celebrate her 6th b-day too!

Fall & the Pumpkin Patch

It's finally Fall and the leaves here in Georgia are changing colors. I love this time of year (who doesn't--it's just so glorious!) in spite of the fact that the temperature still feels like Summer most afternoons. The 30 degree temperature shifts are a bit crazy and we literally have to change clothes part way through the day so we don't roast!

Yesterday we went for a walk and I wore shorts, a tank top and flip flops!! It is late October and it was warm enough to wear a tank top! That's just wrong.

Last weekend we went to a nearby pumpkin patch and had a great time. Mara Kate got a small pumpkin, we rode on a hayride, Mara Kate ran through a kid's sized "hay maze", went in the petting zoo area and thought that was great. I ate some boiled peanuts while Kane and MK shared some cotton candy and I got some cute pictures of the girls. Mara Kate also got her face painted. It was a lovely outing all the way around!

Below are some of my favorite photos from our time. To see the rest of the pictures I took check out my Facebook album here.

Sweet Evelyn

Mara Kate

Daddy and his girls

Sistas!

All the girls

My pumpkin.
I stole this decorating idea from a friend.
I love initials and this was SO easy...yes, it's a sharpie marker!

Tuie's visit

Our week began differently than usual----and it was a welcomed change from our normal Monday routine.

Sunday evening Kane's mom arrived for a little visit. A few weeks ago Kane's Dad came down, but his mom was not able to come then, due to other things on her schedule---so she made the trip down on her own as soon as she could!

That evening the weather was wonderful, so we decided to sit out on the back patio and visit and eat. I made homemade salsa and guacamole and on Sunday evenings we normally don't eat a big meal, so this snack with chips was just the perfect thing.

Monday we had a relaxing morning at home and even though Kane had to go into work as usual the girls and I enjoyed a slower paced morning with Tuie here. She read books and played games with Mara Kate, had some snuggle time with Evelyn and she brainstormed with me about Mara Kate's upcoming birthday party & theme (Fancy Nancy!). She also helped Mara Kate draw and design the perfect "Fancy Nancy" birthday cake! If it turns out half as good as the design it'll still be perfect for a fancy 5 year old birthday party!

Tuie told me that she would watch the girls some that day if I wanted to work or run errands, so it was extra nice having an extra pair of helping hands and the gift of running errands kid-free. Definitely a treat!

I was able to go several places and browse---mostly gathering ideas and getting started buying a few supplies for the birthday party while Mara Kate wasn't with me.

After a couple errands I met the girls and Tuie downtown at Harvest Moon Cafe for lunch, which was really fun. Evelyn got lots of attention---especially from one mom who brought her 2 year old over to "see the baby" at least 5+ times. Tuie & I both agreed that the mom clearly had baby fever as she seemed the most interested in Evelyn while the little girl barely paid her any attention. ha!

After lunch I attempted to feed Evelyn in the car (although she doesn't like to nurse in weird places and didn't cooperate at all) and handed her back to Tuie so she could take the girls out to Berry College's mountain campus and enjoy the pretty weather while I ran a couple more errands. We eventually met back at home and had a low key afternoon together.

That evening she babysat once again so Kane and I could go out on a real date! We went to eat supper and then went out for coffee. It was so nice not having to lug a carseat, deal with a possible fussy baby or deal with kids meals and making sure everyone ate their supper the way they should. Uninterrupted. Conversation.--that's all I've got to say! An extra bonus was that both girls were bathed and clean when we got home. So nice!

Tuie headed home Tuesday mid-morning after another morning of visiting and play time. The girls had a blast with their Tuie here and didn't want to see her go!

Thanks Tuie for coming and for helping out so much. Even just a little more than 24 hours of help makes such a difference in my week! :)

The only picture I managed to take during her visit. I tried to take one at lunch, but could not find my camera in the abyss that my diaper bag has become.

Tuie also brought me some bittersweet branches and I made the above arrangement with them. I made a couple other smaller arrangements as well.
I think these branches just scream Fall to me. I love having them help bring the feel of Fall inside the walls of our home.

Tuie, how do you think the arrangement turned out?!

Another Project

Now that I've pretty much finished all the projects I wanted to do before Evelyn arrives, I have been trying to think of things to do just to stay busy so the remaining time until she is here will continue to pass at a good pace, rather than creep by which tends to be the way it feels once you near the end of pregnancy.

So, last weekend I bought the stuff needed to make a Spring/Summer wreath for our front door. I have one for Christmas and also one for the Fall, but didn't have anything on my door now and really wanted something pretty to hang for the warmer seasons.

Here's what I came up with...

The ribbon I found in my craft box and I think it adds a good touch.
Also, Mara Kate wanted to help with putting it together, so some of the flowers and leaves were attached by my little helper. :)

Recent Projects

If you have read my blog for awhile then you already know that I make these little door signs on occasion. I recently made one for Evelyn and when my friend Andria found out, she commissioned 2 for her children. A couple years ago I had made one for her oldest for his birthday and she wanted more for her daughter and youngest son who is due to be born in June.

So I worked on them here and there this past week and I'm really happy with how they turned out. The other one I made was for a friend's baby shower. It was fun to get my paints back out and make something creative. It's been awhile since I've painted and I know it may be awhile before I feel up to it again, once Evelyn is here.

I thought they all turned out really cute!