My Green Thumb

This is not the color of my thumb. I don’t have the natural ability to make plants thrive under my care and I gave up trying a long time ago.  I love plants and flowers and don’t mind using fake ones as long as they look natural. Some people are not fans of fake flowers – only because I think they envision the words “fake flowers” with the dried flower arrangements from the past. Now- a- days beautiful blooms can be purchased at Michaels and craft stores as well as Pottery Barn –yes Pottery Barn- the epitome of what is popular in decorating says it is A-OK to use FAKE – they even have a special sign displayed in their fake garden section in the store to remind you of the fact.

Seeing this just re-enforces my choice to use” fake” in my home.   I still love real flowers and buy them from time to time to add a seasonal color pop to brighten my day.

Years ago  I made two topiaries for my kitchen using  fake ivy. Last summer I tossed them as they looked dated to me – to0 perfect, stiff, stuffy, green, tired, and yes dusty.

I like the look I see more of now – Topiary that have very thin, tall stems with wispy tops.  They look light and airy – alive not staid and stuffy.

I got an idea after seeing Trax my cat ripping apart some fake greenery I had placed on the floor.  You should see what he does to anything real – another reason I don’t have living plants around.  Trax is always trying to help me – usually by getting in my way, but he actually helped me figure out a way I could make an updated fake, but natural looking topiary using the greenery from the flower pot on the floor.   I like this greenery as it is soft and wispy, plus it’s not perfect looking.  Some of the branches have a yellow cast which makes it look real.

Here is the tute on how I turned-

Supplies Needed:

1. Cut tree branch to height desired. Mine is 20-inches. I also cut the buds off.

2. Put in foam or oasis block in a flower pot and cover with damp sheet moss.

3.  Cut each stem away from the bouquet with wire cutters.

4.  On each branch remove the top piece of greenery. It should come right off.

5.  Bend wire.  This will create a “stop” and keep the greenery from coming off the stem in the next step.

6. Using your fingers – push all the branches on each stem up to the stop.

7. Pick one stem to be your main stem, then one by one wrap the other stems around the main one two times and cut the excess off.

8.  It will end up looking like this.

9.  Using florist’s wire attach stem to branch. Use a dab of hot glue if needed.

10.  To hide the twisted wire and fill in the bottom a bit-

11.  Put a bit of hot glue on the end of the pulled off top pieces and stick them into the bottom center of the ball.

12. It will then look like this.

13.  Tie one or two more pieces of florist’s wire along the branch to secure the stem.

Optional:  I wanted to have the main stem go along the branch and down to the pot to resemble a living topiary, but  the stems from my greenery were not long enough, so I pieced it and secure it with some more florist’s wire.  The stem is what makes it look like it is real and living.

14.  Shape the top into a rounder shape using scissors.

Now I have updated, natural looking topiaries for my kitchen that I won’t kill. It would be nice if they could smell like fresh herbs, but they do look real.     Just have to make sure Trax the cat doesn’t like them as much as I do now.

I am linking this post to:

Centsational Girl

Tagged as: Decorating with Topiaries, How to make a natural looking topiary from fake greenery, Using fake flowers and greenery in decorating