Using Moss In Home Decorating

Using moss is an easy way to give color and life to your home decor.
 Using live moss is low maintenance but using preserved

 moss is NO maintenance. Preserved moss is readily available

in different forms in the floral section of craft stores. 

Here are some examples of preserved moss from my local stores...

...the largest bag (left of above picture) is $6 from Wal-Mart.

The top center bag is $9 from Michael's.

The bottom center bag is $6 from Hobby Lobby.

The top right bag is $9 from Jo Ann's.

The bottom two bags are $1 each from Dollar Tree. 

If you have a discount coupon the prices will be less. 

One trendy way folks are using moss in home decorating is

 to have moss bowls. They come in differing sizes but

the most popular ones are the larger ones. The moss

bowls can be expensive to buy but you can make your own

fairly inexpensively especially if you already have a container.

For the moss bowl pictured above I used about three different

bags of moss for the look of a variety of mosses.

Here is the tutorial on them...
How To Make Inexpensive Moss Bowls

Another way to use moss to add a natural texture to your decor

is to have moss balls. They are easy to find and not very 

expensive in the floral section of craft stores but you can make

your own even more inexpensively.

 Making your own moss balls is easy and saves money 

especially if you need a lot of them for bowl fillers or 

for party and wedding decorations. Here's a tutorial for you...
How To Make Inexpensive Moss Balls

 Close cousins of moss balls are moss rings and wreaths.

Moss rings and wreaths are also easy to make by gluing

moss on a foam (or even a home made) round form. Here is
a tutorial on moss rings How To Make Inexpensive Moss Rings.

Moss is a great way to cover up the top of soil or floral

 foam in arrangements and containers.

This almost sponge-like moss is called "reindeer moss".

Moss can line the inside of a container if you want to hide

what is on the inside of the container.

The moss used in the picture above is moss attached to a fabric-like grid (this is called

"mat moss" in the stores) but you can use regular moss in the same way. 

Artificial lilies of the valley are stuck through the moss and into the foam. 

Here are some ways I used moss to decorate my living room 

and dining room recently to transition the winter decor into

more of an early spring look.

It's probably too much moss but I had so much fun 

experimenting on inexpensive ways to make moss bowls, balls

 and rings that I just ended up with a lot of moss items.

 Check out the new tutorials if you want to see more details

 on how I made them and the approximate costs.
How To Make An Inexpensive Moss Bowl
and
How To Make Inexpensive Moss Balls

This is a good image to "pin" on Pinterest...

Orchids Under Glass

For a pretty display on my kitchen table, I decided to 

"kopy kat" an idea I saw in the January issue of  

"Better Homes and Gardens" magazine.

The article explains how to put orchids creatively in 

tall vases. An orchid expert tells how to keep the orchids'

roots healthy while they are in the vases.

I have been downsizing my vase collection so I don't have

the straight-sided vases that I used to. I did find three former

(spigots are broken) clear glass drink dispensers in the attic.

I turned the spigots towards the window so they are 

less obvious. 

I found three orchids on sale at the grocery store on sale 

for only $10 each. 

I had intentions of following the directions in the magazine

for keeping the roots moist while they are out of the pot

and under glass.

The problem was that when I got the orchids out of the pots

and into the glass containers, I loved seeing the twisted and

curly roots. I didn't want to cover them up with rocks, etc.

I did think that the jars needed more orchid medium to not

look so skimpy so I got some more at Home Depot.

To get the new orchid medium down in the bottom of the 

containers in the places that needed it, I used a technique

I learned when I was making terrariums. Making a funnel out

of paper and placing the narrow end where you want the 

medium (or soil) to land in the container, guides it without

getting stuff on the leaves, or places that you don't want it.

Another tip is to to use a cork on a wooden skewer to move 

the medium (or soil) around as needed without trying to get

your hands or fingers down in the glass (and perhaps 

breaking a leaf).

Here are the containers with more orchid medium in the

bottom and around the base of the roots.

The magazine's instructions say to disassemble the orchids, rocks,
etc. every 7-10 days and soak the roots in tepid water then
reassemble them. Because my roots are exposed, I give them about
ten spritzes of water everyday (trying to get to all the roots in the
 bottom of the container) to compensate for any lost moisture.

I move them to the kitchen area for their spritzing so I don't
get water on the wood table. 

So far the roots are staying green and look happy. The 
atmosphere inside the containers stays moist for an hour
or so everyday. 

When the flowers fall off I will re-pot the orchids.
For now I am enjoying not only the flowers but also
the roots of the orchids under glass.

This was a very easy project to copy...you might like to

try it also and give it your own spin!

Here's a good image to "pin" for Pinterest ...

Make Custom Serving Dishes

My granddaughter, Lilly, taught this old dog (me) a new trick that 

I think would be great in customizing serving dishes for holidays,

parties, weddings. You can could co-ordinate your table or 

food buffet to have whatever look or color you can imagine.

Lilly showed me a kid-friendly way to get the look. You can

also refine the process if you want to.

Lilly learned how to do these plates from her creative mom, Caroline.

The trick is to use Mod-Podge (or a similar product) to adhere

 the fabric or paper of your choice to the backside of clear 

plastic or glass serving pieces like trays, chargers, bowls, etc.

It is a really easy process, inexpensive and quick. The only 

downside is that it is not waterproof so this technique is best

used on pieces that don't need to be submerged in water

 or put in the dishwasher to clean them...just wiped off.

(There is a dishwasher-safe Mod-Podge available but it is about $30 for 8 ounces.)

Here's how Lilly makes her holiday plates to give as gifts or

take to parties...

Select one fabric or a combination of fabrics that you would like

to adhere to the back of a glass plate. Also have Mod-Podge and

a brush.

We got the Halloween fabrics on sale at JoAnn's. 

The plate and Mod-Podge came from Dollar Tree.

Cut the fabric into smaller, easy-to-work-with pieces.

Lilly is 9 years old and can use scissors safely. For smaller children doing this project, an

adult may need to the fabric cutting. Lilly and her mom use pinking shears for this project

to cut down on fabric fraying but regular scissors work fine too. 

The pattern that you see in the background is an old beach towel we used to cover the table.

Brush Mod-Podge on to a section of the BACK of the plate.

Place the cut fabric pieces ("good" side facing down...so it will

be seen on the front of the plate) on the wet Mod-Podge.

You can also brush more Mod-Podge on the fabric after you

have placed it on the plate to help with protection and adhesion.

After Lilly has done the base

of the plate, she brushes and sticks to another area.

The Mod-Podge dries pretty quickly so it helps to brush it on 

and place the fabric a section at a time. If the MP does dry out

 before the fabric is placed on it, just brush more wet MP on top.

It is fine to let the fabric pieces go past the edge of the plate.

Brush Mod-Podge on the over-hanging fabric so it will

not fray when it is cut (a later step).

After the fabric pieces are stuck on to your liking, place the plate

 upside down on a cup so it can dry and the overhanging pieces

 do not get bent. If you want to, brush another coat of MP on.

When the Mod-Podge has completely dried use scissors to cut

the over-hanging fabric pieces close to the edge of the plate.

Use your unique customized plate to serve your holiday guests...

...but mainly food that is not squishy and hard to clean up

..like spaghetti is.

Lilly loves her Halloween plate and plans on taking it to a 

party with goodies on it. The little blank spaces on the plate

 do not bother her...a good life lesson for me. 

We decided to use the same basic technique but try a plastic 

bowl and napkins from Dollar Tree to see what would happen.

(A random design in fabric or napkins is best for this project so you don't have

 to worry about lining up patterns. This pumpkin napkin has more linear design

 that is ideal but it's $1 per pack.)

We pulled the white layer of the napkins off to keep the color

bright. 

Lilly put a coat of Mod-Podge on the outside of the bowl.

Then she placed an unfolded napkin on top of the wet MP with 

the "good" side (brightest) down and smoothed it into the MP.

We cut some of the excess napkin off but you could also just

brush wet MP under the napkin folds, and press it down.

For a bowl this big we needed more than one napkin. Keep adding

napkins and MP as needed to cover the outside of the bowl.

The good thing about napkins is that they are cheap but they

are more wrinkly and tend to tear more than the fabric. 

Here is the bowl as seen from the inside with a layer of napkins.

Because the sides of this bowl are more visible (as opposed to a plate) we experimented with putting a second layer of napkins 

on the outside of the bowl but this time with  the "good" side 

facing out. 

More Mod-Podge...more smoothing...good thing MP is water-based and easy to clean off of brushes and fingers. It dries clear.

After drying and trimming the edges, here is the finished bowl...

The bowl, napkins, Mod-podge, brush all from Dollar Tree...so about $3-4.

Hmmm...I'm not sure the extra layer of napkins with the "good"

side facing out make much of a difference so you decide.

Yes, for Halloween you can find bowls similar to this already 

decorated and ready to go but think about other holidays, 

birthday parties, wedding receptions when you might want 

serving dishes in a particular color or pattern.

OK by now Lilly (old pro at Mod-Podging fabric on dishes)

has gone out to play but I am like a kid with a new toy and 

want to keep trying this technique in more ways.

Here is another fabric that I got at JoAnn's. I liked the print just

like it was so I did not cut it in pieces like the kid-friendly version.

Another glass plate from Dollar Tree

Before adding any Mod-Podge I moved the clear plate over the 

fabric to see what part of the design I wanted in the center of 

the plate.

To up my chances of actually getting the center of the plate on

a certain part of the fabric, I put MP on the outside plate base

 and then hovered it over the face up print. 

Yikes! At first I could not see through the wet MP to place the

base of the plate but when I got about an inch away, I could see

the print well enough to land the plate. 

I placed one hand under the plate to keep the fabric in place

and flipped it over to smooth the fabric down on the wet MP

and add more MP on top of the fabric. 

After I got the base of plate and the fabric snug together I pulled

the excess fabric to the center so I could put MP on the edge 

of the glass plate. 

Working from the area of fabric that was already adhered, I 

smoothed the fabric down on the wet MP and to the edge of the plate.

I brushed more MP over the top of the fabric being sure to get

MP on at least an inch of fabric beyond the edge. This makes the

 fabric stiff as it dries. The stiffness makes the fabric easier to cut 

cleanly and the glue in MP helps prevents fabric fraying.

I thought that the cutting of the fabric close to the edge of the

plate would be hard to make it look nice and even but it was not. 

When I was purchasing other supplies at the Dollar Tree I 

saw this three-compartment serving dish. I wanted to see if it

 was too difficult to adhere fabric to such a curvy shape.

(The light above the table is reflecting in the dish and making creepy "eyes" in this photo.)

I applied Mod-Podge to half of the bottom of the dish.

Then I smoothed part of the fabric (which had been cut to

the approximate shape of the dish with room for curves) 

face side down on to the section of the dish with wet MP.

I used a regular dinner knife to push the fabric on to the 

divider sections which were too deep for my fingers. 

Then I repeated that process with the other half. 

It is hard to tell from this photo but the Mod-Podge is on the bottom outside of the dish.

I used scissors to cut the fabric where it got too thick from

being folded to adhere to the plastic dish. 

Be generous with the Mod-Podge in these awkward corners, etc.

Like the regular plates, use Mod-Podge even on the excess

fabric hanging of the edge after you have smoothed the fabric.

Allow the MP to dry then cut off the excess fabric close to

the edge of the dish. 

This piece actually was easier and turned out better than I

thought it would. The only problem was that it took the MP

that was on the deep part of the divider sections a few days 

to dry completely (probably did not have good air flow) .

So that issue lead me to my very last experiment dish...I 

promise. This large plastic serving plate had grooves cut 

into the design on the back. I wondered if putting the Mod-

Podge on the back of the fabric only could eliminate having 

the long dry time for the MP (which stays white until it dries).

Plastic serving platter and Mod-Podge from Dollar Tree. Fabric from JoAnn's.

This time I put the plate face down and laid the fabric on top

with no Mod-Podge on the plate initially. Then I brushed on

a generous coat of MP hoping it would soak through the fabric

and make it adhere to the plastic but without excessive MP.

Here is a close-up photo of brushing Mod-Podge on the

back of the fabric only and pressing it down to cling to curves...

After drying time and cutting off the excess material, here is

 what the platter looked like...

I wonder if this size dish also be a charger?

That would be a pretty way to add pizzazz to your dinner table!

I am happy to report that the Mod-Podge did not seep down into

the cut grooves of the platter (and sit there for days being white

until it dried) but it did sufficiently adhere the fabric to the piece.

Hopefully you will be excited to try this technique like I was

and find even more ways to use it.