Fall Topiary's Tutorial

I was on a creative kick one day, and since I've been "holding on" to this idea for some time, I decided that today was the day to 'get 'er done'!
I love the colors of fall, and the beauty of the earth as it prepares to slumber until spring, so I wanted to bring a bit of that indoors...
(My tutorial is linked to It's A Blog Party Fall Get Together hop on over there for fabulous fall idea's, recipes, inspirations and more!)

*My Fall Topiary's*

 

It's a very simple project, so first gather your supplies together. You will need:

• 1- 36" wood dowel
• 2- Styrofoam balls, about 6" in diameter
• 2- terracotta pots
• Crafting foam to place inside pots
• Assorted leaves
• A glue Gun
• Some moss
• Spray paint if desired (I used oil rub bronze that I purchased at my local Lowe's store)

The first thing I did was to spray paint my terracotta pots and the wood dowel.  I then cut the dowel to measure a 12"  piece and a 16" piece.
I had a square piece of crafters foam that I purchased at the dollar store, so I simply took a kitchen knife and cut it to fit inside the 2 pots very snugly.  I then placed the Styrofoam balls on 1 end of a dowel, and then pushed the other end into the foam.  I secured that with a little hot glue.

From there it is just a matter of cutting placing your leaves on the Styrofoam balls, by either gluing them in place or by pushing the wire stems into the foam.  I did a bit of both.

Keep working until you are satisfied with the coverage of the Styrofoam, then go to work on the base.  I simply placed some glue on the Styrofoam and pressed moss onto it (be very careful doing this so that you don't burn you fingers-my lesson learned- I cut a piece from a paper plate and used it to press the moss down).

Then I added a few more leaves and tiny cat tails to the base, and I was finished!!

EASY PEASY!

It took me about an hour to assemble these (not counting spray painting/drying time), and because I had some extra leaves left over from past projects, these cost me approximately $16.00 for the set.
YAY!

 Here are a few pictures of my competed topiary's, and where I've placed them in my home.  The picture hanging above them was taken by my little brother!