Once again (with Pinterest as my inspiration), I went on another treasure hunt at my local thrift stores. I found this Christmas Topiary Decor for 50% off (making it $3.75). I couldn't pass up the deal lol!!! I saw the vase and knew I wanted to use my Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (ASCP) and create a shabby decor piece for my home. I wanted to add a nice punch of lush green to give my space a bit of an organic feel.
So, to start my makeover mission, the first thing I needed to do was pull out those terrible brown and gold sparkled leaves and shrubs.
I cut the leaves off the top of the stem and twisted wire around the end to bundle the branch stubs and make a point (it made it easier to poke it into the Styrofoam ball). I left the moss that was originally in the vase because I knew I was going to be adding more moss over top of it.
Then I pulled out my ASCP in the color Old White. I LOVE this paint because you can paint almost anything with it and not have to prep your surface. I was going to do just one coat of paint, but then decided I wanted a bit more coverage.
Here is the 2nd coat of paint.
I then took some fine grit sandpaper (120) and sanded/distressed the raised areas...to give it an aged look.
Next, I gave it a coat of Annie Sloan Clear Wax and wiped it down really good to seal in the wax. I love the slightly dull sheen the wax gives.
To finish off the distressed look on the vase, I added some Annie Sloan Dark Wax. I applied it on fairly thick, then wiped it down with a rag. It was still pretty dark, so I took some ULTRA FINE steel wool and rubbed off the wax a bit more. The pics don't really do it justice, but you can really see the difference the dark wax makes.
Next, I went to my local dollar store and picked up a 6 inch Styrofoam ball, moss and greenery (these were called "mini Eucalyptus branches"). There are 5 branches showing in this pic, but I ended up going back and buying the last 3 they had in stock.
I painted the foam ball with a mixture of green and dark brown (which I created by adding a bit of black to the brown I already had). I just used some cheap dollar store acrylic paints from my stash. Painting the ball helped to camouflage the ball underneath the branches.
Then I cut the little branches off the main branch and bent the wire stems at a 90 degree angle and pressed them into the ball.
I added a bit of hot glue for reinforcement. If you're not careful, the hot glue can melt the plastic branches and sometimes the foam ball...but I still like to use it because it's quick drying (I'm on a major time crunch being a mommy of two lol). I just blew cool air on the glue, after it was applied, to avoid a major meltdown. It worked just fine :-)
Ok, so after adding all the mini Eucalyptus branches I had...I still wanted more coverage...and since I bought out all the branches at my one dollar store nearest to me, I went hunting for more. I couldn't find the exact ones...but I did find these ones (shown in the pic above) at a different dollar store. The leaves are a bit smaller...but fuller...I really like the contrast it gave to the finished product.
I gave the ball of greenery a bit of a trim...and presto!!! It looks so real!!!
Finally, I added some glue over top of the moss that was already on the vase, then added more moss to give it a fuller look.
Finished product!!! An awesome topiary decor piece for my home. Super quick and easy...and CHEAP! You can bet I'll be making more of these (in different sizes and some without the branches/stems...just the ball and vase). I love these!!!
Thanks for stopping by everyone!!! Happy creating!!!
Hugz :-)
