Moss Covered Letter Monogram- A Tutorial of Sorts

For years, I have been wanting one of those awesomely expensive moss covered letters that they sell at Pottery Barn and Ballard Designs.   Ballard Designs even sells one around the Christmas season that is made out of Spruce.... I might try that this year as well!  At $79 and up, I would never ever be able to justify such a ridiculous purchase, so I decided to make my own out of items I happened to have sitting in my craft space.

Here is the finished product and keep reading if you want to see how I did it!  (By the way, see that pretty mirror the letter is hanging on?  Got that baby at Lowe's yesterday for $19.  Marked down from $98.  That's how I roll, yo )

(Another thing this post taught me.... it is impossible to get a good photo of a mirror without showing all the junk sitting around my house!)

MOSS COVERED LETTER TUTORIAL

Materials Needed:

*Large sheet of thick styrofoam 

*2 bags of preserved moss sheets

*Glue Gun/Glue Sticks

*Serated Knife

*Burlap or Burlap Ribbon

*Scissors

*Fingers made of steel because you WILL burn your hands with the hot glue.  Ouch.

(I only used styrofoam because I happened to have it on hand.  A MUCH easier and quicker way would be to buy a large wooden or cardboard letter from a craft/hobby store!  You would be able to skip the entire first part of this tutorial:)

Here I am modeling my thick sheet of styrofoam

I freehanded a large "C" with a pencil.   

Grab a serated knife and start sawing away.  Yes, they sell specific styrofoam cutters, but I am too cheap to buy something like that.

You will be left with quite a mess.  This is when you let the husband know it is his turn to clean up.

Here are my materials all laid out.  Notice the Mod Podge?  Pretend that isn't there.  I realized shortly after starting this project that I hate Mod Podge and I switched to my trusty Hot Glue Gun.

Hot glue all of your moss onto the letter, wrapping it around the sides and making sure to cover all the empty space.  I just pieced it together as I went.  Get ready to burn the skin off your fingers and curse a few times.

***note to self:  Time to buy a newer, nicer Hot Glue Gun next time I am at the store.  It is circa 1998 and it is time for an upgrade.

Here is the finished product before I added the burlap ribbon to the back.  To add the ribbon, simply hot glue it in the appropriate spot.  I also added a few staples for an extra secure hold.

Close up of the moss.  LOVE how it turned out!


Let me know if you end up making one.  I would love to see pictures!