Sunday, May 30, 2010

Mossy Decor Balls

I wanted something fresh and natural looking for my living room and I knew I wanted to incorporate the bright green color of moss with weathered wood and stones. Unfortunately, the natural moss on our hillside is already turning brown and rusty, so I got to thinking how much I loved the color and texture of the Dollar Store moss rocks I had used before. I had looked at their sheet moss and it was too gray and drab for me. I want emerald mossy green!


I gathered the moss rocks I had on hand and 3 different sizes of plastic Christmas balls. After spray painting two a nice brown and leaving the other it's original silver, I planned to slice the curvy parts of the moss rocks off so I would have a bunch of moss covered shapes to hot glue to the balls. Eww, I did not like it! It looked dumb! So I was talking to my visiting teen age grandson about this and he suggested peeling the moss off the styrofoam "rocks." Who knew the moss peeled off???? He proceeded to show me.



I told him he was a genius and he had saved my project! As you can see the moss peels off in irregular pieces, but you want these shapes for the best results. I used a razor knife to start the process but the moss peels off surprising easily. And if a bit of the white styrofoam sticks to it, it is okay, because you do not want the balls to be totally smooth anyway.

I just used hot glue and started covering the balls. I put the glue on the ball a small area at a time and laid the moss on top, and also the other way, with the glue on the moss instead. It works equally well as long as you have your moss pieces handy because hot glue dries pretty quickly. If it does dry before you get the moss totally stuck it is okay, just add more glue. The extra layer of glue and some of the stuck on styrofoam makes the ball less "bally" and more like a natural shape you might actually find in nature. That is, not a perfect round and a bit lumpy.


Save even your smallest scraps of moss to fill in and cover the edges where they are too straight. You do not want this to look like a bad toupee, but a natural, moss covered surface. Be sure to glue any edges that are sticking up and smooth your joints down. Any hot glue strings that are left on the ball can be readily melted away with your hair dryer once you are done.


I arranged them in my wooden bowl which usually holds all our electronics remotes. (We have SIX!!!! What the heck??!? Ahem. The remotes are now in a basket to the side.) I added more Dollar Store finds, like the polished rocks and pretty gravel, plus a chunk of really interesting driftwood and my favorite feather and paper dragonfly. With just a few little mini spruce cones, this little display is perfect.


It now resides on my painted coffee table (which was a $7 auction find from 28 years ago!!! It is also another blog post!) and it just makes me happy to look at it. I love the brilliant green "moss" and the wood grain of the bowl and grey texture of the driftwood and the polished stones....it makes me smile. And the best thing? When I got done with it and was taking my pictures, our grandson took a look at it and said, "That looks cool, Gramma!" High praise indeed coming from a teenager!!

It took 3 bags of Dollar Store moss rocks to do this project so that is certainly affordable. I already had the 3 different Christmas balls on hand, plus the rocks and gravel. If you actually bought what you needed just to make the 3 balls you could certainly do them for under $6 and end up with a very fresh accent for your summertime home. How about some Dollar Store wiffle balls mossified and stacked in a cloche or glass hurricane? I am wondering how this would work on a couple of birdhouses for a bit of cool, mossy goodness? Hmmmm.

I'm linking up to the parties on my sidebar, please visit and see all the fantastic projects listed there! Thanks for coming by and leave a comment, if you will. I love and read them all. And check out my other posts, you never know what you will find!

45 comments:

  1. Hi Ann! Oh, these moss balls look fantastic. You're very creative!
    Be a sweetie,
    Shelia ;)

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  2. Hi Ann, this is genius! I adore the look of moss and even went as far as ordering moss on-line to try and grow a moss rock garden....failed project:( I am definitely going to try this out...thanks so much for the instructions! BTW, thanks for visiting my blog to meet my dress form Emma!

    Abby:)

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  3. Christmas bulbs. How neat! This turned out great!

    Laura @ along for the ride

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  4. Absolutely fantastic! I love the soft look and bright color of moss. I'm going to give this a try...

    Katy

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  5. Seriously. I can't believe that's where the moss for your balls came from! It looks great!

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  6. so pretty. I thought they were definitely real moss when I saw them! Great idea.
    Kathy

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  7. Thanks so much for stopping by! I would have never thought to just peel off the moss -- awesome idea! And I'm loving all of your vase ideas, especially using hot glue to make a design. Will definitely have to try that one!

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  8. Very nice! Kudos to you and to your grandson for his advice that saved the day!

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  9. I am ♥ing your mossy decorative balls!!! I made mossy stone eggs at Eastertime so moss holds a special place in my heart. The spherical shape + the soft velvet texture are quite a combo - great job! I'm giving away Sam Moon cuff bracelets if you're interested:
    www.sceneofthegrime.blogspot.com
    ♥Laurie

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  10. Looks great! Thanks for linking up to Mad Skills Monday!

    Ginger
    SSB

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  11. Your moss balls look outstanding! HAPPY NTT!

    Blessings,
    Linda

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  12. Hi Ann! Thanks for visiting my blog today and for your sweet comment about my coffee table planter!

    I came over to visit you and fell in love with the blue pictures at the top! I'm your newest follower.

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  13. Hi Ann, I love how you made the pretty moss balls, I've been seeing alot of these recently and your project turned out so beautiful! Thank you for visiting and leaving your sweet comment on my MEMORIAL DAY WREATH for Metamorphosis Monday! I really enjoyed designing this wreath!
    Hugz,
    Kim

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  14. looks great! i really love the bright green color. way to be creative :)

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  15. This looks wonderful and you're right, the bright green really makes the whole arrangement pop.

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  16. These are great!! I love the arrangement in your bowl. Just stunning!

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  17. Who knew you could recycle moss? LOL Great idea for doing so- I'm not crazy about those weird, irregularly shaped moss rocks! Your display looks really cool.
    :-) Sue

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  18. That turned out great!! Yeah for your grandson's brilliant idea!!

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  19. That is very clever! I would never have thought of pulling the moss off of the stones. They look great....it gets my creative juices flowing. Thanks! Lisa~

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  20. What a cool idea and I have those exact little moss rocks from the dollar store..off to work on them.
    tammy

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  21. What an awesome project! Woo Hoo! and a big Woo Hoo! to your grandson for his problem solving. Who knew moss peeled? Thanks for sharing this at Woo Hoo! Wednesday. I love all the natural elements in the decorative bowl.

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  22. Love the results you got — and actually, I'm glad you noted the state of your natural moss, since I have a bit of moss that's currently doing the same thing, and I thought it was me. Whew! Does it turn green again later? Or does it ... regrow...? You can tell I've never paid much attention to moss before this year. ;)

    And on another note, I swear I have that same wooden bowl. I kept yarn and fiber in it for a while. ;D

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  23. I too love that vibrant green! So clever and creatove to peel it off! These looks fabulous! Thanks so much for joining The Sunday Showcase. I greatly appreciate it! Hope you are enjoying your week! ~ Stephanie Lynn

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  24. Hi Ann! Just wanted to let you know I'll be featuring your moss balls today! Stop by and grab a featured button if you like! Thanks again for linking to The Sunday Showcase Party! ~ Stephanie Lynn

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  25. First of all, love all that vivid blue in your blog banner. Very eye catching. Second, these moss balls are great ... very organic and zen.
    Third, thanks for visitin me and my "functional art".
    Pam

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  26. i love these! i found your blog thru a blog of a blog of a blog! i am now a follower! cant wait to read more!!

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  27. Fantastic! I love everything about your display. What a clever grandson you have, as well.

    Thanks for joining in on the fun at the cottage. Those two new parties will be open for several days, if you care to link in with other wonderful ideas. And be sure to join in weekly.

    Liz @ the Brambleberry Cottage
    http://thebrambleberrycottage.blogspot.com/

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  28. Super cute! I am obsessed with moss - fake or real!

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  29. What a beautiful arrangement! I love this!!!

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  30. I can make that! This is cool!
    Happy new friend Friday!
    Following your blog, come follow mine and say hi!
    XOXO
    Frenchy

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  31. These are so cute! What a great idea to use ornaments as your base!

    Thanks for linking up! I hope to see you next week!

    Ashley
    www.simplydesigning.blogspot.com

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  32. I love moss covered things! This turned out great!

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  33. These look great! I have several boxes of this moss from Dollar Tree and now I know what to make with it. Thanks for sharing.
    xo, Sherry

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  34. Hi Ann! Thank you for visitng my blog and for your sweet comments on my beach balls! I'm here to return some Kind words on your moss balls! lol
    I love the way they turned out! I have some of those from $Tree, and I will have to try making some moss balls too!
    I am going to look at some of your other projects and vistit for a while! I'm signing on to follow too!
    I'd like to invite you back to my blog for my garden party at the end of June. I'm hoping for lots of outdoor/garden projects and will have some giveaways!
    Have a great weekend!
    Sharon@Keeninspirations

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  35. Ha!! LOVE it! Your story at the beginning made me laugh. :) What a cute little centerpiece you ended up with! Smart kiddo you have there.

    Thanks for linking up to SNS!
    Donna

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  36. This came out so great! Who would have thought to use christmas ornaments?... You of course!!
    You're so dang creative!!! Love it!

    Thanks for linking up at Socialize with me Monday til Sunday!
    Keep the ideas coming

    You're awesome!

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  37. Super cute!

    Thank you for linking up this week!

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  38. What perfect compliments the colors and stones are. Beautiful! Thanks for linking up @ Fabulous Friday, hope to see you back next week!
    Heather @ www.savingmoneylivinglife.com

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  39. Beautiful! Your grandson is just as smart and creative as you.

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  40. I came by last week to look at your project but was just looking through all of them. I don't see the use of any of our sponsor's products on your project? You are more than welcome to enter another project that has used at least one of the products. You do need to have your entries in by this evening.

    Cheri

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  41. What a nifty idea - thanks for sharing it!

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  42. Hi Ann-
    Out of the mouths of babes- your grandson must be smiling that he provided you with such awesome knowledge. I think the use of the ornaments is so clever. I have a few of this type of ball that I got at Pottery Barn. I need a few more to fill up the bowl they are in. These will work perfectly.
    Thanks for the great idea.
    My best- Diane

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I love your comments and read every one. They let me know if I'm on a good track with my blog. Thanks for stopping by!

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