Tutorial -- A Cheerful Flower Topiary

I love ranuculous (the flower I used for this topiary). When I saw some on clearance at JoAnn's a couple months ago, I immediately purchased a handful of stems and stashed them in my craft closet. In the back of my mind, I knew I wanted to make a pretty floral topiary. And that's just what I did this week!

Do you want to make one too? I'll show you how!

Supplies:
*One foam ball of desired diameter.
*Flowers. Any kind that you love. I think smaller flowers would probably work best. I used 8 bunches, 15 flowers per bunch. I wish I would have had 9 bunches (I'll explain later.)
*A stick in your desired length. I cut mine from a tree in my yard.
*A pot.
*Floral foam.
*Old newspaper, magazines, or some kind of paper.
*Crafting moss.
*Glue gun.

I actually had all of these supplies on hand, except for the moss and the flowers.

To begin, grab your foam ball, your flowers, and maybe your glue gun. I pulled the flowers off their stems, put on a little dab of hot glue, and stuck the flower into the ball. Your flowers might have long enough stems to simply poke them into the ball without using glue.
I bunched the flowers close together so that you couldn't see any foam ball peeking though. P.S. My ball is red because in another life it served as part of the Pizza Planet sign for my twin boys 4th birthday party. The red color actually came in handy though since my topiary is red -- any parts of the ball that might have showed automatically blended right in.

This is how far I got with the flowers. Not quite enough. But, I didn't fret. You can't tell at all once the topiary is finished.
Next, head on outside and find a good stick to use as your stem/trunk. I just cut a branch off my front yard tree. You can cut it however long you like. Allow enough length for the stick to sit low in your pot (mine touched the bottom), and still be tall enough.

Next, burrow a hole a few inches deep into your foam ball. I just spun my stick around for a while (it's messy, maybe do it outside.) You could also use a Dremel. ACTUALLY, it might be smart to make the hole first -- that way you won't smash your flowers. See, always a work in progress! Then, insert the stick. Apply a whole lot of hot glue on the stick, in the hole and around the stick for extra reinforcement. Then, hold it in place until it dries. It won't take too long.
Don't mind the next couple pictures. I finished this craft up at night and the light wasn't superb. I used a terra cotta pot from Home Depot.

It was about $1.50. I previously used it when I grew my wheat grass. I grabbed one and some cream spray paint and got to work. Once dry, I took it back outside to distress. I was out of sand paper so I decided to actually "rough up" the pot. I rolled it down the street. I rubbed it on the sidewalk. I must have looked insane to any neighbors that saw me. I loved the way it turned out -- with some green paint from the previous spray job, and the terra cotta peeking out underneath. You can see some of the distressing in the picture below. I think I actually want to rough it up more because I like the effect so much. It was just so dark when I was outside doing it that I couldn't really tell how it looked.

Once your pot is ready, grab some floral foam (that super messy green stuff), and use a kitchen knife to cut some pieces you can use to wedge in your stick. I just sandwiched it between two. Grab that glue gun and glue the the foam to the pot and the stick to the foam.
Then, stuff some newspaper, or magazine pages into the space left in your pot to even out the surface.
Cover the magazine/floral foam jumble with crafting moss. I found mine at JoAnn's as well. It was less than $5.00 for the package. It was located next to the wreaths. I pulled off some larger pieces and, in puzzle fashion, arranged them around the pot. Once they were all in place, I used my hot glue gun and secured them.
All finished! And how easy was that? Let your creative juices flow. This topiary can be customized to any decor scheme, depending on the color, type of flower, and style of pot you choose. Go have fun and make a little craft! This could probably be completed in less than two hours.