Introduction: Moss Art: the Anti-Garden

Let's face it, we all aren't green thumbs. Moss Art: The Anti-Garden is a great way to fool people, and maybe yourself, into thinking that you can keep plants alive all year! Best yet, you can put anything you want into it and NEVER have to water! How cool is that!?!

Step 1: Gather Materials

To start, you need to gather your materials.

1. Tray: If you search for serving trays, you are bound to find one that matches your home and is on sale!

2. Moss Mat: This can be sticky-backed or not. Make sure it is preserved moss and not alive

https://www.afloral.com/products/preserved-moss-ma...

3. Loose Moss: Again, make sure it is preserved and not alive! Any color will do. It's your masterpiece!

https://www.afloral.com/search?keywords=moss

4. Treasures!: Add fake succulents (that's what we will use), twigs, rocks, metal, plastic dinosaurs, anything that you would like! Make it personal by adding your touch and your small meaningful items!

You will also need a hot glue gun, hot glue sticks, scissors, and a pen.

Step 2: Perpare Tray's Bottom Layer

Start by making sure that there is no moss in the bottom of your tray to ensure a good stick later on. Keep this in mind throughout this whole step. Next you will cut down your moss mat to the size of your tray. In our case, we needed to piece together two moss mats to make a solid layer of moss on the bottom of our project. Before you glue the moss mat down, make sure that everything fits well and then get to gluing!

Step 3: Rearrange Layout and Glue

The last step is to rearrange your treasures! It is super important that you rearrange where you want everything to go before you glue, that way if you want to make a change you can. It is nearly impossible to un-glue anything from your bottom moss layer once it is down without damaging the bottom layer of moss. After your have everything where you want it, start to gently lift your moss and treasures and start gluing it all down.

PRO TIP: Make sure that you are adding depth to your Moss Art: The Anti-Garden. You can do this by building up objects with loose moss (our objects are the fake succulents). When you do this, you add different heights, therefore creating depth to your project! Make sure you glue down the loose moss and then glue down your object to make sure they both stick!

PRO TIP BONUS: Overlap. When you overlap the items, they look and feel more natural and not like they were placed specifically. Real world plants overlap their leaves with other plants, so make sure you keep the illusion alive by overlapping yours!

Step 4: Enjoy!

Enjoy your new Moss Art: The Anti-Garden!!! It looks absolutely beautiful on on coffee table as a centerpiece or anywhere else you may enjoy it! Just remember, no watering!

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