I LOVE greenery. I would buy allllllll the real/faux plants if I thought spending money on them were more important than buying burritos from Qdoba (If you don’t have Qdoba where you live, I’d suggest moving to a different place that has one near…). I think adding greenery to a room instantly gives it a warm cozy feeling… and the best part, it goes with every season!
Moss balls have become a huge home trend within the last couple of years and I just love the way they look! They are so cute on top of candle holders, in decorative bowls, or inside of glass cloches. I definitely wanted some in my home but I wasn’t crazy about the price once I started doing my research. I looked around at Hobby Lobby, Homegoods, Ballard Designs, etc. and for the amount I needed to fill up my tray I wanted to put them in, it was going cost me around $60-$70…..for moss balls??? Um, no thanks. So I made my own! With this super easy DIY, you can make some for every room without breaking the bank!
The Materials You’ll Need:
- Newspaper or regular printer paper (I recommend newspaper)
- Green spray paint (not the tacky lime green… get a dark green or sage green)
- Spray adhesive
- Scotch tape
- Disposable Gloves
- Preserved Moss
I already had the tape, gloves, a bunch of newspaper, spray adhesive, and ironically, some green olive colored spray paint left over from a previous project, so the only thing I needed to purchase was the moss! They have preserved moss at almost any arts and craft store or craft section in the big retail stores. You can get yours at hobby lobby, JoAnn Fabrics, Etc., but I bought the brand “The Moss Collection” at Walmart for $4. UM WIN. It had really great green coloring. They had others you could choose from- some with twigs in them and some that looked super fake…..if that’s what you’re into. The moss comes in a really large bag, so one was plenty for me and I still had some left over! If you can’t find the large bag, two regular sized bags will do!
Take one sheet of newspaper and ball it up, layering a new sheet of newspaper on top of the ball, taping as you go, until you get the size you’d like for your moss ball. Taping the edges as you layer the newspaper ball helps create a better sphere shape without any weird or bumpy surfaces. Make as many as you’d like! You can make all of them really large, super small, or mix and match. I made all of mine different sizes.
Once you ball up the desired amount, start spray painting! I took them outside and placed them on a plastic drop cloth and went to town. If you’re super impatient like me, you can take a blow dryer and make them dry even faster. Once they were dried I spray painted the part that was missed the first time around while it was sitting on the ground. They should look something like this when they have finished drying (photo below).
Now comes the messy part. Wear the disposable gloves for this part, unless you want moss stuck to your hands. I’d recommend covering your entire work surface with a drop cloth or left over newspaper. Take a ball and spray the adhesive in sections. *DON’T spray the entire ball because your gloves will stick to it (I learned the hard way). Once you have your first section sprayed, start applying the moss like the photo below. Make sure to get all of the bare spots! It sticks really well.
Repeat those two steps until the entire ball is covered, and Voila!!! You’ve made your own moss balls! Stack them on your mantle, put them in your two tiered trays or use them for another project! You really can’t beat making 8+ moss balls for $5 (some are hidden in the photo because the bigger ones are covering them). I still have a few rolled newspaper balls left over so I’m sure I’ll find something else to do with them.
Share, Like & Comment below if you loved this tutorial & let me know how yours turned out! 🙂
-Katie Perri
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