Spring Monograms-Moss Gardens

Monograms are everywhere these days, paper monograms, diecut monograms, painted and hand-lettered monograms, even lighted monograms are showing up in craft and decor, on every kind of project imaginable...I had a flash of a wild idea...to create a moss garden monogram.  They look very fresh, very springy and will make a cool Easter gift for my nieces and nephew. They're teens and tweens so it has to have some "cool" factor.

Making this project was a snap.  I got monogram letters from Micheal's, along with a bag of sphagnum moss from the floral department. 



Then painted them with Americana Multi-Surface Satin Paints from DecoArt...I used pastel colors since it's spring. 

I applied two coats of paint to each monogram.

 And, when they were dry, glued Sphagnum moss to the front of each monogram.

They turned out so cool! I had a pack of lichens too, so I added a few lichens, just for visual interest and texture. 

I really love how these turned out!  They're perfect for spring and let you bring a little nature indoors. 

Thank you for stopping by today, I hope you'll try this project for yourself because it's fun and it looks great in any room!

Happy Easter, 

Ken

Spring Terrariums to Brighten These Cold Winter Days

OK, so Punxsutawawney Phil saw his shadow this week and predicted 6 more weeks of winter. And, so far his prediction seems to be accurate. It's snowing almost everywhere in the United States tonight. It's just about this time of year that I really start longing for spring. So, to help with the winter doldrums, I thought it would be cool to create a little spring indoors by creating some spring table top terrariums. 

This is fun little project and I guarantee, it will help brighten these long cold days of winter.  

I started with a few things I had around the house, mismatched white plates and saucers, 

and antique linen table runner, 

a collection of jars, cake plates and cloches, don't worry if you don't have cloches...you can repurpose candy jars or mayonnaise jars.  

Make sure to wash them and dry them with a linen dish cloth...you'll want them to reflect as much light as possible...when the jars are sparkling clean, they will  make your room seem brighter.  

Over the winter, I've been buying little spring flowers and bird nests when I see them at the craft store.  I found grape hyacinths and paper whites wrapped in twigs. I knew I'd use them for something. 

And I found a bag of sheet moss, it's green and looks like spring.

I even dragged out a nest I found in my driveway last spring, I'd been saving it for something.  

After I'd gathered all my materials, I started arranging my terrarium tablescape by placing the linen table runner on the table, then by arranging the plates and jars on the table. 

It looks great if you can stack a jar on a tiny glass stand.  

Then, it was pretty simple, I arranged my floral pieces on plates with sheet moss, and pieces of lichens, then covered them with cloches. 

And repeated with all the jars, and cloches until I was satisfied with the arrangement.  You could use live plants, I chose to use silk florals as my dining room doesn't get a lot of natural light and I think the moss and silk florals look pretty good under glass. Plus, they will be really low maintenance for me.   

I placed a small sphagnum lined nest on the table next to the terrariums...it looks great! A nest with eggs under a cake plate is beautiful and makes me think of spring.  

A few small pieces of lichens and moss look great under a tiny cloche and gives the illusion of a green growing plants in a terrarium.  

A nest of "robin's eggs" are one of the harbingers of spring and look brilliant under a cloche. 

I love the effect the terrariums give in my dining room...they really help to remind me that spring is only a few weeks away, in the meantime, I have a springy looking tablescape that will brighten these long cold, snowy days of winter.  

Thank you for stopping by today, I hope you'll find some inspiration here to bring some spring into your home while it's still snowy outside!  

til next time,

Ken