April 19, 2014

DIY Faux Moss Terrariums


You can mix real greenery with some faux moss shapes
 and flowers to achieve a "fool the eye" terrarium. 

These terrariums won't last as long as a real one but
they do look good in vignettes or even as centerpieces.

The moss shapes (they look kind of like rocks covered 
with moss) are actually styrofoam covered with a 
green fuzzy product.  They can be used as vase fillers.
The ones I bought came from Dollar Tree...you get
about five moss shapes per pack there.

To keep the real greenery looking fresh you will need 
floral foam to stick it in.  Be sure to get the floral foam
that says for "Fresh" flowers not the silk flower foam.
The foam in the photo above also came from Dollar Tree.

You can also find floral foam for fresh flowers in 
the craft stores.  You only need a small amount for this 
project (unless you are making a lot of terrariums).

Soak the floral foam in water until it is 
fully saturated with water.

Gather some greenery.  Greenery from bushes is usually
pretty hardy.  The hardier your greenery, the longer your
terrarium will look nice and fresh.  This is pittisporum. 

You could use faux greenery too but real greenery is what
gives the terrariums their authentic look. 

You can use different types of containers for this project.
I have glass jars and some lids left over from the candy
table at my daughter's wedding so I am using some of those.

Cut the greenery so it will fit inside of your container.
Cut a piece of wet floral foam.  You want it to be large 
enough to support and keep the cut end of the greenery
wet but small enough to hide under the moss rocks. 
Push the cut end of the stem into but not through
the piece of wet floral foam. 

If the stem goes through the foam, either try pushing the
stem in another place on the foam or get a new piece.
If the cut end of the stem is not totally surrounded by
the wet foam it will dry out quickly.  These faux
terrariums should look nice for a week or so if your
greenery is hardy and you have it in the foam correctly.

Depending on the size of the bottom of your container,
you may be able to hide the floral foam with whole 
moss rocks.  On most of mine I had to cut the moss 
rock in half with a steak knife.  Well, also cutting the
moss rocks makes them go further in hiding the foam.

Beware of the white foam inside of the moss rock that is
exposed from cutting...it is a "giveaway" of the not real-ness.

One trick that I discovered in trying to hide the floral foam
is that you can use toothpicks to push through the moss 
rocks and into the wet foam.  That keeps the moss rock in
contact with the foam and gives you more control in hiding. 

You don't have to add flowers to your faux terrarium
but I think it adds some variety and interest.   I found 
a couple of stems that had small white flowers at Jo Ann's.

I cut the individual flower branches off the main stem
 leaving as much stem on them as possible. 

To save money I only used one little flower stem per
terrarium except in the Wardian box...it was long instead
of high.  I thought three little flower arrangements looked
cute in there.  The box had a bottom that hid the foam so
I did not use the moss rocks in it. 



This pretty "thing" (not sure what to call it) came from
Hobby Lobby.  I was running out of my favorite flowers
so I used some from the attic to save another trip to the store.


This plastic container looks more upscale with a fancy top.


You can add extra moss rocks if you have a taller
container...

Some of the apothecary jar tops that I wanted to 
use on the wider jars were too narrow so I got
a clear glass plate at Dollar Tree, put it over the 
opening, then put the nice topper on the plate. 

All together now...here are the  faux terrariums on the mantle...

The whites and greens in the terrariums go well with the 





Staying with the moss rock theme in that room (and using
faux florals with real greenery) is the coffee table arrangement.

A couple of months ago a strange sprout shot up out of a pot
within the "step-child" collection of houseplants that are not
really good enough to come back into the house (except when
the temperatures get below freezing the lot of them comes in.)

It turns out it was a fabulous orchid that I had forgotten about!
Well, THAT got to come back in the house.  
We enjoyed the flowers but then they "bloomed out".
  The leaves were still fine.  I added moss rocks to the pot
and faux orchids to the stems so the orchid lives on. 

On the end tables in that room tiny arrangements were made 
using only the moss rocks and the flowers...the containers
were too small to add floral foam and real greenery.



These are a quick and easy way to add some greenery and
freshness in your decor without a lot of time and money.

I'm sharing this post over at 
Sundays at Home @ Thoughts From Alice
Sunday Showcase @ Under The Table and Dreaming
Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps On the Porch

5 comments

  1. What a great idea, Gayle. I love the way it looks. My granddaughters will love playing with one of these for their table. I need to go to the $ Store! xo Diana

    ReplyDelete
  2. These vignettes are really inspiring! I'm ready to make a moss terrarium now. I can actually grow moss here, and I just transplanted a bunch to grow for a week or two before I "harvest" it to put in a container.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love these! They look perfect on your mantel! I will be sharing at Sundays at Home this week!

    ReplyDelete
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