Every year after Valentine’s Day is over and all the pink, glitter decor is removed from my house, I start to get a little bit of seasonal depression. My thoughts are taken over by dreams of spring, and my garden, and margaritas on the patio. But, my favorite part of spring has to be being able to start projects around the house. Painting, sanding, and renovating this 100 year old house thrills me probably much more than it should.
In an attempt to keep my sanity until the tulips open, I’ve started to renovate my front entrance hallway. One of my favorite things to decorate in the front hallway is the door. But, I tend to have a hard time finding items to decorate the door in between holidays. After spending some time searching around, I found these moss covered letters on the Pottery Barn website and became obsessed. But, at a price of $79 a letter, there was no way that I could justify purchasing one. So, I took a good look at them, and headed off to the craft store to see what I could come up with. After poking around at some ideas, I decided to try and replicate the moss letter, and attach it to a wreath. This ended up being a ridiculously easy project, and coming in at under $10 total, it’s pretty budget friendly as well.
What You’ll Need
- Grapevine wreath
- Bag of moss
- Floral wire
- Wire cutters
- Hot glue gun/glue
- Wooden letter(s)
- Ribbon of your choice
1. Plug in your hot glue gun. Place your wooden letter in the center of your wreath and position it where desired. You could also place it off to the side or at the bottom of the wreath. After you have it positioned where you’re happy with it, cut a few lengths of floral wire with your wire cutters (I only had silver floral wire, but I’d suggest using green or brown so it hides better). Weave the wire through the wreath and wrap around your letter. Repeat this as many times as necessary until the letter feels sturdy and secure. Cut off any long ends of wire. This doesn’t need to look too pretty, as you’ll be covering the wire up with moss anyway.
2. After your wooden letter is secure and your hot glue gun has heated up, begin covering the letter with moss. Working in small sections, apply your hot glue generously, and press pieces of moss into it, fitting them together like a puzzle. Make sure to use enough glue to give the moss a good bind, but not enough that it squeezes through the moss and becomes visible. Use the handle of your pliers or something of the like to avoid burning your fingers. Moss is easy to work with, as it can be pulled apart, and has just enough moisture that it can be molded and formed into the shapes needed. Repeat this process until your letter is covered. If desired, cover the edges of the letter with small pieces of moss as well. It isn’t necessary to cover the edges, but it will make your final product look a lot better if you do.
3. After your letter is completely covered, let your glue dry for a few minutes. After dry, make sure to pull off any strings of hot glue, and add more moss to any spots that look bare. You can also trim any hanging pieces of moss on the edges of your letter with scissors if necessary.
4. Weave your choice of ribbon through your wreath, tie to the desired length, and hang! It’s that simple! This project took about 45 minutes to make, cost under $10 and looks fantastic. If I saw this wreath in someone else’s home, I’d be sure they spent a fortune having it custom made.
This could also be adapted to write out words, names, or skip the wreath and just hang the moss letter by itself, which would be great for wedding or party decor!
Note: the moss that I used smells bad. Very, very bad. I didn’t figure out where the smell was coming from until I spent a week blaming it on all of my pets/husband. I would suggest airing the wreath out for a bit outside before hanging it inside if your moss is as smelly as mine was!