How To Make Moss Ball Topiaries

DIY Topiary. Make a set of moss ball topiaries for a fraction of the cost of store-bought. I will also show you how to make new pots look old with a joint compound trick.

Now that all the winter stuff is packed away…I know, I know you’re saying “but Jen, it’s January”… I’m moving on to thinking (and dreaming) of Spring.

I just changed up my little entryway area and needed to decorate my new table. I wanted to make it feel Springy and had topiaries in mind…but all the ones I found were $40!

I knew I could make my own DIY topiaries and save a few dollars.

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Supplies Needed To Make Topiaries

• 4-inch clay pot
• 5 or 6-inch moss balls
• joint compound
• thin sticks
• floral wire
• floral foam
• paint
• grapevine garland
• moss

Making Terracotta Pots Look Aged

I wanted my pots to have that old world, been around forever aged look to them. You could go out and find pots that already look like that, but for a couple of minutes of work, you can transform a new $1 clay pot.

Using a plastic putty knife, I spread the joint compound onto my clay pot. It goes on like frosting…just pretend you are making a cake!

Don’t forget to spread some of the compound around the rim of the pot.

Let it dry overnight.

Next, I painted the pot with a coat of off-white chalk paint.

Once the white paint was dry, I dry brushed a light brown chalk paint over the pot. This picks up all the details on the pot.

I cut thin branches into 12-inch pieces and secured them together with floral wire at the top and near the bottom.

Add floral foam to your pots and stick in the branches.

Moss Balls

The moss balls that I’m using for my topiaries are from craftoutlet.com and were only $3.25 each. This place is my secret crafting weapon…they always have the best prices and I find so many cool things on their site! You have to hit it early in a season because they tend to sell out quickly.

You can also find moss balls to make a topiary at Michael’s, Hobby Lobby, & sometimes Amazon.

Just using the moss balls would look great but I wanted to add a little something extra!

I took out the leftover grapevine garland I had from making my heart-shaped wreath. By untwisting the floral wire you can remove individual pieces of the grapevine.

Hot glue one end of the grapevine to the bottom of the moss ball and wrap it around. Glue the other end to the bottom. Trim off the excess.

Putting The Moss Ball Topiary Together

After I had the moss ball wrapped with the grapevine it was time to put the topiary together. I centered the moss ball over the sticks and pushed the moss ball on.

To cover the floral foam I used a little sheet moss and Spanish moss to fill up the top of the pot.

Finished moss ball topiaries

How do you like them? It’s so fun to make your own decor! It’s relaxing and you can create something that is truly original to your home.

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