Green on Green Tablescape...With Succulents and MORE

I've been dinking around today with green on green table decor, possibly for my sister's wedding. While she is deciding on all her details, I started gathering what I have to accent the green and cream colors she has chosen.

The succulent arrangements are from my Etsy shop, so that is a good start. And then I just kept FINDING things in shades of green and with lovely natural textures around my house. Since I am of the "more is more" design school, I had a blast arranging everything this way and that way. 

Come take a look and have fun with me!

 You might recognize the faux moss decor balls I blogged about here.

 http://makethebestofthings.blogspot.com/2012/03/faux-moss-decor-balls.html

Everything is fair game when I'm putting things together...including driftwood, vine balls, Dollar Store moss rocks and pretty little thrift store urns. Love the vivid greens and wonderful textures!

I added green glassware which I use for display in our guest bath, including bright green ashtrays! Remember those heavy square ashtrays from way back when?

 Is that a vintage green Avon bubble bath bottle? I do believe it is!

Okay, okay, I'm done for the day. Did you see the very last green additions to this photo? How about the pretty green hair flowers I dropped in here and there? They are flippin' PERFECT for this arrangement, don't you agree?

Well, whatever my sis decides, this was fun to do and I've gotten a couple of neat design ideas, too. How about those pretty melty flowers sewn to the top of a pillow? That would be beautiful! And drill bigger holes in bigger driftwood for more succulent arrangements.....hmmm.

Now I'm going to sketch an idea I have for using my succulent wreath and some fern garlands for the cake table. I do believe it will be beautiful, but we shall see!

House Plant Fanatic

My name is Ann, and I am a Plantaholic!

 Yup, no matter what else is going on in my house decor-wise, I always have LOTS of house plants. Back in the 70s I had a window full of hearty Purple Queen/Wandering Jew growing in water filled mason jars. I made macrame plant hangers and I was hooked!

Note to self - Get more Wandering Jew plants and make some macrame hangers. Hey, macrame is so retro it is due for a rebirth, doncha think?

My dining room window is very plant friendly and this low bookshelf has half a dozen plants. Love that colorful begonia! It is only a year old and looks great. The bright green schefflera plants are super easy to grow from cuttings.

 I love ferns in any way, shape or form. Boston ferns can be persnickety but these airy Asparagus Emerald ferns grow well for me. This one was a 3" Walmart starter from last spring. This plant looks fragile but it is really tough. And it has thorns! The stems look like mini bamboo. Feed it well during spring and summer and it will get more lush and beautiful. Prune it for thicker growth. The stems look wonderful in flower arrangements. 

We haven't yet redone our master bath, but the great light and tall cabinets are very houseplant friendly. The Pothos and Sprengerii fern are totally happy on top. On the counter is a planter that started out on the patio and will go back out for the summer. The very happy mama Spider plant has loads of babies and shares the pot with a nice heart leaf  Philodendron. Reflected in the mirror is a healthy Peace Lily (aka Spathiphyllum) whose white flowers resemble Calla Lilies. 

 Ah, heart leaf Philodendron, one of my favorites. Easy to grow, easy to start from cuttings, beautiful dark green, shiny leaves and  beautiful trailing stems. I have half a dozen of these growing inside. Love them!

 Another outside plant brought in for the winter, this Peace Lily in a pretty urn LOVES it on the bathroom counter. Above hangs another Philodendron. Beside it is a Maidenhair fern and another, small Peace Lily.

Hard to see in the octagonal window is a pink striped Prayer Plant ( aka Maranta) which folds up its leaves at night, hence the popular name. The smaller plant is a pretty Croton. The big planter holds yet another happy Spider Plant mama with lots of happy babies. On the back side of this planter is a Croton, Philodendron and Lady fern.

My mom used to grow beautiful sweet potato plants this way when I was little and now I'm trying for one of my own. Can an avocado pit tree be far off? Lol!

Houseplants give me my gardening fix while I'm waiting to work outside. What about you, how do your houseplants grow? What are your favorites?

I am so ready for warm, sunny spring weather. It has been so rainy and cold here in Oregon that NO yard work has been accomplished. A recent bout of the flu and a new prescription have conspired against me. Curses! Or should I say, Rat Damn Fink! That was my "mom cussing" when the kids were little and they still tease me about it. :o)

Join me at the blog parties listed on my sidebar. There is LOTS of great, creative stuff for springtime out there in blogland. Enjoy!

Mossy Decor Balls

Sorry I've been AWOL for these many weeks. Finishing chemo, starting radiation, selling our house and moving have totally wiped me out! The good news is that in the next couple of weeks our life will settle down once more and I can start posting all the great ideas I've got piled up in my brain.

For now, here is one of my favorite springtime projects which I posted last year. I plan on making more of these mossy balls, and soon. Enjoy!




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!