Moss Initial Tutorial

Once upon a time when Cute Husband and I were a-courtin’ back in the Dark Ages, he used to tease me about all of my craft supplies neatly organized and labeled in clear shoe boxes.  One box in particular especially tickled his funny bone; it was marked “Moss.”  This box was a source of much amusement and was often brought up through the years.  Who would have a box labeled Moss?  WHY would one have enough moss to merit its own box, let alone a labeled box?  I have no defense for my organizing & crafting insanity other than to simply say it was the 90s and I was going through a topiary phase.

Fast forward about 15 years.

I was randomly searching on Etsy and came across some moss-covered initials and thought $40 each?  Surely I can figure out how to do those myself.  And then I opened up my Pottery Barn catalog and saw these and almost fainted at the $79 price tag ~

Suddenly Cute Husband seemed VERY interested in the contents of my Moss box.  As well he should be, I made one just like it for about $7!

I started with a wooden initial I found on clearance at Marshalls that I have around my house.  I traced it on some 1″ styrofoam with a Sharpie and then began to cut it out with a utility knife {if you don’t have an initial to use you can just sketch one out}.

When you’re cutting the “inside” spaces, it’s best to do it in small pieces and break them off as you go so that you don’t break your initial form.  {If you’re one of those lucky ducks with an easy letter like ‘I’ or ‘L’ well then good for you; I’m going to just go sulk in the corner about the challenges of my “Gness.”}.

Don’t stress about this part too much.  It does NOT need to be perfect, I promise!  Just get the idea of your letter and be close to your lines and it will be good enough.

The next step is to trace your letter onto some colored cardstock.  I like to use moss colored so it will blend in with my moss {duh!}.  It’s OK if you don’t have cardstock that’s big enough; you can patch it together.  This will enable you to hang your letter on a mirror if you wish and not have a reflection of an ugly styrofoam back!

Onto the moss!  I buy the moss for my moss box at Michael’s.  They sell several different kinds, but this is what I prefer.  It looks the most “natural” in my opinion and works great for a project like this {they sell a similar looking version in “sheets” but then you’d have to cut it which wouldn’t give you natural edges}.

I start adding moss in small pieces on the top of the letter with my hot glue gun.  Please be warned, hot glue and styrofoam react quickly and it’s very easy to burn yourself doing this.  I recommend using the end of pliers or tweezers to push the moss pieces into the styrofoam and not your fingers.  I say this as someone who no longer has fingerprints, so please trust me and use caution!

You then want to prop your letter against something so you can add moss to the external and internal sides, completely covering your styrofoam.

Then flip it over and “clean it up.”  This entails pulling off all your hot glue tendrils and covering up any last exposed bits of styrofoam.  Now it will look great against a mirror or hanging on a glass French door!

Flip it back over and add a ribbon and figure out where to display your DIY bargain!  {it will give your ribbon a bit of stability if you stick a floral pin through the ribbon into the back of the styrofoam}.

After all this snow I am very happy to see a bit of bright green in my house.  I know real Spring isn’t quite here in New England but I know it’s coming!

{Many of you had asked about the moss ‘G’ hanging from the fireplace screen in my living room.  While recently experimenting with different locations around the house it met an untimely fate when an unamed Cutie made a mad dash through the Dining Room.  So I took this opportunity to create a tutorial while making a new one!}

LINKED TO:

Hope Studios, Coastal Charm, All Thingz Related, Sugar Bee, Today’s Creative Blog, Not Just a Housewife, The Stories of A 2 Z, Blue Cricket Design, My Backyard Eden, Someday Crafts, Sew Much Ado, Creations by Kara, Women Who Do It All, Somewhat Simple, The Shabby Chic Cottage, Night Owl Crafting, Beyond the Picket Fence, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Paisley Passions, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Fun to Craft, A Few of My Favorite Things, Finding Fabulous, Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, My Romantic Home, The Shabby Nest, Yesterday on Tuesday, It’s a Hodgepodge Life, Serenity Now, Tatertots and Jello, Along for the Ride, Be Different Act Normal, Craft Envy, Creative Jewish Mom, I Heart Naptime, C.R.A.F.T., The Girl Creative, Craftomaniac, The DIY Showoff, Keeping it Simple, Between Naps on the Porch, Mad in Crafts, Making the World Cuter, Sew Chatty, The Stories of A to Z, Skip to My Lou, Domestically Speaking, The CSI Project, Centsational Girl