How to Use Moss as a Decorative Accent
How to use moss and Styrofoam balls make a decorative accent
It’s Labor Day. I hope you have had a safe weekend. Tomorrow really kicks off the fall season, although you can’t tell from our very warm weather. No more white sandals ~ I think white jeans are still O.K. Stores have had Halloween decorations on display for a couple of weeks. And, of course, football at all levels is lighting up the nights from Thursday to Monday. I’m happy to report that all our college teams won! (TCU, Texas A & M, Alabama and Baylor) My calendar is beginning to fill up with meetings, Bible study, volunteer commitments, cooking classes, and fall tennis league. In a few weeks, we’ll start pulling up the summer flowers and getting the beds ready for fall foliage. I’m bemoaning my list of things I didn’t get done this summer ~ wait, it’s never too late to start or finish a project or two.
Here is one quick DIY that adds an organic, natural-looking pop of color to your decor regardless of the season. I first saw this idea at from Cindy at Edith and Evelyn Vintage. Here was my inspiration:
Cindy needed really big balls so she used a ball:
Then I saw this picture on Pinterest.
I had been trying to find centerpiece for our dining room table (See how I re-invented it here.) I had used my mother’s silver tea service, but I wanted something with a little color. Since I had all the supplies on hand, I decided to try Cindy’s idea on a smaller scale.
Item #1: a stone planter
I bought this planter full of lovely plants at a charity luncheon last spring. I loved the natural stone and the carvings. After a few weeks the plants had run their course and had to be thrown out. I tried to use the planter outside, but it doesn’t have a drainage hole in the bottom, and we are afraid to drill a hole in the bottom in case the stone broke. So the pretty planter sat empty all summer on our patio table. I thought it would add a French, old-world touch to our table.
Item #2: Spray Adhesive -left from other projects
Item#3: Decorative grass/moss – I had decorative moss on hand from an earlier project. I bought it at Lowe’s.
I also had moss that I buy by the pound at one of our local garden stores. I decided to use both.
Item #4: Styrofoam balls – I had these left over from another project. The 4-inch balls are $1.99 at Jo-ann’s.
Now I was ready to make something beautiful.
After laying down some plastic on my kitchen counter (It’s still too hot to work outside.), I laid out my supplies.
I sprayed a small section of the ball and pressed small pieces of the moss around until I covered the entire ball.
This is a ball using the Super Moss, which comes in sheets that you have to cut.
This is the moss that you can pull apart.
I covered 5 balls, 2 in the sheet moss and 3 in the pull apart moss. I wanted to make sure that the moss adhered to the balls. I pulled out my plastic film and tightly wrapped each ball in the film.
I let them sit for a few hours, then took off the plastic wrap and it worked great.
Now to use them. I found I only needed 3 balls to fill the stone planter.
You can see the 2 greener balls are the sheet moss. I love the pop of color that the moss balls give to the table and the room.
I had 2 balls left over, so I found 2 other places to use them. I had a mercury glass vase needing a partner.
I think it looks great on one of the bookcase shelves as a bookend.
The last one went on top of a jar in our bathroom. I found this little table at an antique mall while we were remodeling our house and I knew it would be perfect by our bathtub.
I think the green of the moss ball gives a nice contrast to the blue, silver, and white of the bathroom.
This was a really easy, inexpensive project with a big pay-off. The only caveat: you will get green moss stuck to your fingers when you press it onto the spray adhesive. I used a scrubby to rub it off my fingers.
I hope you are enjoying a holiday Monday, remembering we are honoring all those who work to make our economy run and grow.
I love them Carol!! Now I want to do that in my house!
Yea crafty lady, you absolutely should. Easy with so much return on effort.
Great idea…………love how you used them to accessorize. and the lil table for your bathroom is
adorable and looks great there with your planter and moss ball. Nice contrast as you said.
Hope you had a nice labor day,
Blessings, Nellie
Thank you so much for your kind remarks. I love that little table too. And I didn’t have to do anything to it. A pop of green is always a nice decorative element.
What a cute and creative idea! Such a great project!! Love it!
Thanks. I just read in a Dallas home magazine that moss covered accents are a big trend. Who knew?