Tall Poster Board Moss Covered Topiaries...

During Christmas, I posted a project using poster boards to make tall fabric covered tree cones. Here is a link to the project and a picture below:







After I posted the project, my Mother commented how great these poster board cones would look covered in moss for Spring. I couldn't agree more and couldn't wait until Spring rolled around to make a couple for my entry table.

This project is super inexpensive and easy, especially since the craft stores starting carrying moss on mat sheets instead of moss pieces. The other great thing about these topiaries is that they should last year to year if you cover them in plastic and store in a climate controlled spot. You could even use them at Christmas and wrap them with garland. So many possibilities!

Again this project is very easy and to get started on making your poster board cone, here are the instructions for making the cones:

Step 1- Making the Cone Templates:

1) Take a piece of standard poster board and cut out a two inch strip down the longest side of the poster board like this:





2) Take a tack and push through one end of your strip. On the other end poke a hole with a knife or ice pick and push through your pencil like this (it needs to be a tight enough fit for the pencil to stand up:




3) Push the tack and strip through corner of new poster board (not the poster board that you used to cut your strip) and keep the tack corner over the edge of a counter like this:







4) While holding your tack with your left hand, with your right hand, gently start your pencil at #1 as seen in the picture below and use your strip as your line guide but make sure you do not pull so hard that the tack and corner are raised up. Draw your line until you run out of board and reach #2 as seen below (click on diagram picture for close up):






5) Cut out your template and it should look like this when your done:




6) Cut several short strips of packing tape and have them ready to grab as you begin rolling your cone.

7) The best way to begin rolling your cone is to start at the tip (#3 on above diagram)) and sort of fold/arch it over gently halfway at your tip (see my red dashes of where to arch and tuck) until you get a good point and HOLD! Now, go to the base of the cone and tuck until #2 is on top of #1 or until you have only the rounded curve (black dashes on diagram) around your base and hold! Go back to your tip and tape it down at the point to secure. In order for your cone to stand level, you can only have the curved edge where you drew your line (black dashes on diagram) on the bottom like this:











8) Once you have a good point at the tip of your cone and point #4 is completely tucked in the roll, secure the cone with packing tape vertically from the tip down to the bottom over the board edge. It took me a couple tries before I got my cone rolling down pat and now I can do it in my sleep!




9) To make a middle size cone, repeat the above steps but cut 4 inches off of your measuring strip. To make a small size cone, cut off 4 more inches off of your middle size measuring strip. I made 3 templates and now all I have to do is pull out my template to trace and no longer have to use a measuring strip.

If you want to cover your cone topiary with fabric instead of moss, click here for instructions on rolling on the fabric.

Step 2- Covering the Cone with Sheet Moss


1) Unroll your moss mat sheet that can be purchased at craft stores (you will need two packages for the large cone and one and half packages for a medium cone):











2) Spray your cone heavily with an excellent spray adhesive. I use Tree House and I love it.

3) With the cone standing up, begin to roll your moss mat sheet at the top tip over your cone and roll around flush until you reach the other side of the moss and cut your sheet along the lines of where it meets the moss:





4) Continue rolling the moss around on your cone and cutting to fit as it meets the otherside of the moss. At this point, you may have to spray more adhesive:






5) When your done covering the cone in moss, trim the moss flush at the bottom.

The topiaries look great with or without the wood dowel stem that I use. For this cone, I just slid it into a garden planter and it looks great:

If you want to add the wood dowel stem, below are the instructions:

Step 3- Adding the Wood Dowel Topiary Stem

1) For the largest size cone, I purchased a thick unfinished wood dowel from Hobby Lobby for $2.00:





2) Depending on the depth of your planter/container, you may have to cut your dowel to size. I did not have to cut my dowel.

3) Paint the dowel a dark brown:

4) Fill your planter/container with floral bricks and fill in the sides of the bricks in the planter to make sure the dowel will stand securely.

5) Insert the dowel securely into the floral bricks in the planter

6) Heavily cover the top part of the dowel with hot glue and let it run down the sides of the dowel:






7) Immediately cover the dowel with the cone making sure the cone is straight and hold for at least 3 minutes.






8) Top the container with spanish moss or some kind of moss to cover the floral bricks.







I am so excited how fun these topiaries turned out to be and I may end up using them on my dinning room table for Easter brunch!

Well that's it for now. Thank you SO much for the sweet comments, emails and notes! I was blown away this last week, thank you!! I really appreciate the time you take to send me your feedback.

Stay tuned, I have been a craft maniac and have several fun projects ready to post in the next few days. Until then, have a great day!

Cheers!
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