Moss Bowl Topiaries with Miss Mustard Seed

I am more than ecstatic for you all to meet my new friend! Her site is full of fantastic ideas that I cannot get enough of! She is here today to show us a fun tutorial while I sit back and relax with my feet on the computer desk, in my PJ’s of course! (I’ve gotta enjoy this moment because Marian will soon be putting me to work in writing an article for her Workshop Series titled, “Making Organization Beautiful- watch for that one coming soon!)
So my blogging friends, please meet Marian:
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Greetings!  First of all, I am so honored to be a guest on Steph’s amazing blog!  What a treat.  I am known in the blog world as Miss Mustard Seed.  No, my parents weren’t unusually cruel; the name is from Mustard Seed Creations, my decorative painting and mural business.  I know it sounds impressive that I am a professional artist and business owner, but I’m actually a stay-at-home mom of two toddlers who needed a way to make money to pay off a student loan.  I am not a trained artist or a born entrepreneur.  I just love painting, sewing, decorating, and thrifting and I am blessed to be able to make money doing it.

The main focus in my business has become furniture makeovers.  I love a happy ending for a piece of furniture that has good bones.  Here are some of my recent projects…

This $1.00 antique store two-tiered table becomes…

an elegant blue/gray and dark walnut side table.

This Queen Anne yard sale vanity becomes…

a chalkboard desk with hand painted detail.
Steph asked if I could share a tutorial with you and, in keeping with her blog, I wanted to share a project that is fast, simple, cheap and elegant.  These moss bowl topiaries fit that description.

What you need:
Bowls of varying sizes
Sheet moss ($1.97 a bag from Wal-Mart)
A magazine or newspaper
A hot glue gun & glue sticks
About 10-15 minutes

1.)  Collect your bowls.  I happened to have some silver bowls, but you could use anything you have.

2.)  Wad up magazine pages (or plastic grocery bags, newspaper, tissue, whatever) to act as filler in the bowls. Squish them down and arrange them so they make a dome shape in the bowl. This will act as a form and gluing foundation for your moss.

 3.) Gently separate a piece of moss that is roughly the diameter of your bowl.

4.)  Apply some hot glue to the paper to hold the moss in place. Then add dabs of glue around the edges and tuck the moss in.
Aren’t these so lovely?

I do not have a green thumb when it comes to house plants, so moss is a great way to add greenery and a natural element without the stress of watering, perfect light, and fertilizer.

If you’re interested in creating your own hand painted furniture, but don’t know where to start, join me for the Decorative Painting 101 – Workshop Series every Wednesday.  Hope to see you there!

I told you she was fantastic!!!
Go check out her site right now!
Thanks again Miss Mustard Seed!
Have a great weekend everyone!

About Steph from Somewhat Simple

Stephanie Dulgarian is the creator of Somewhat Simple. She is married to her best friend and together they are raising their 4 kids in sunny Arizona, USA.

Comments

  1. 1
    Alex says:

    Thanks for featuring her! I love her blog! All ready locked & loaded in the reader :-)

  2. 2
    Julie says:

    Thank you for the feature. An amazing woman to say the least. I'm heading over to check out her blog. Thanks for sharing.
    Take care and have a great day. God Bless!!

  3. 3
    rebecca says:

    Miss Mustard Seed is already a favorite of mine! Always fun to see more of her!

  4. 4
    Lindsey says:

    Ok, I've been in the blogging world for a couple years now and I'm a little upset that I am JUST finding your blog! I have been missing out! Love it :)

  5. 5
    Anna See says:

    Great tutorial! I wish I had thought of this before I paid 12 for a styrofoam ball to put moss on.

  6. 6
    Lei says:

    Ditto, styrofoam is expensive! Love the cheap version!

  7. 7
    Kimm at Reinvented says:

    Oh my, I love these! Considering my history with real plants, these would be perfect for my house! I'll be sharing this idea in my Trash to Treasure round-up post, if that's okay with Miss M!

  8. 8
    Babs says:

    Love the moss bowls.Very upscale. Thanks for sharing the newspaper trick. Much less expensive than styrofoam and a good way to recycle.

  9. 9
    Brittany says:

    those first two furniture redos are incredible!

  10. 10
    Its So Very Cheri says:

    The renovations are AMAZING>

    FYI-I have a give-a-way starting tonight'
    Cheri

  11. 11
    Its So Very Cheri says:

    I forgot to type that these will be on my favs list.

    Cheri

  12. 12
    Carole says:

    Love the idea of the moss bowl.

    My parents had end tables very similar to that, two, one on either side of the sofa (or davenport as my mother called it) when I was a kid. Those pieces are long gone, but what a great update for some very sturdy pieces of furniture.

  13. 13
    Adena (aka cre82learn) says:

    That little end table would match my bedroom perfectly!! And I never thought of painting the desk with chalkboard paint, although I would paint everything else with it!! And sitting at the desk is where I am always looking for a scrap paper to write on! Clever.

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