DIY Topiary

Excuse the terrible iphone pics here.  I wanted to share a little project I recently did.  I love color, but like to keep furniture and wall colors fairly neutral.  I recently wanted something with a little pop of color to replace some photos in our entry while we try to sell our house.  I also tried to go with something versatile that I'll use again when we move.

Supplies I used:  a stick from the woods (free), a round styrofoam ball (can't remember the cost so I'll estimate $3), flowers (I used $12 worth), a small pot ($3 clearance at Michaels), some green styrofoam I already had (free), and a little moss from the dollar store ($1).

I took the flowers off the stems and then pushed them into the styrofoam a little to make the hole.  Then I filled the hole with hot glue and put the flower in.  I just continued that until all the ball except the bottom was covered.  I put the stick in the bottom and glued around the stick.  After that dried, I covered any remaining space around the ball and filled in any holes I saw.

Then I put the squares of styrofoam into the little pot and put my stick in.  I covered the top of the pot with a tiny little bit of moss.  And there it is, in my entryway.

And from a little further back.  (I still need to put something in the center of that frame).  For less than $20, I thought it was a nice addition.  You could do it for much less if you had several Michael's 40% off coupons and went back a few times. The yellow candlesticks were really cheap looking and old, so I decided instead of throwing them away I would cover them with some yellow spray paint.  Then I used a brown color craft paint, thinned out a little with water, and painted that over top. I wiped it off while it was still wet, just allowing it to settle in the crevices and give some more dimension to the paint job.  I may get sick of the yellow, but that's the beauty of spray paint!  Just pick another color.