Herb Filled Moss Basket (DIY Gift Idea)

 

 

I made a big herb filled moss basket for an event that I wanted to share with you. A few weeks ago, The Museum of East Texas asked me to participate in their annual “Easter on Parade” exhibit and auction. The Museum asks artists to create any kind of Easter interpretation and they can use any  type of medium.   I originally thought about doing a contemporary painting but since this was an auction to raise money for the museum, I wanted to create something that would actually sell!

 

 

This project can also be done for Mother’s Day:

The event was this last weekend and I created a huge moss covered basket filled with pots of herbs and all kinds of garden goodies. I wanted to share the various projects with you because this could be done on a much smaller scale and would be an easy DIY hostess/friend gift to give anytime of the year.

For the moss basket itself, I used a package of sheet moss that I picked up at Hobby Lobby:

 

 

Because the moss was on a sheet with a plastic baking, I was able to cut it into long strips, sprayed with adhesive and attached to the wicker around the basket:

 

 

This was so easy to do and would be so pretty on a much smaller basket as well.  It’s even easier if you can find a wire basket and push the moss up against the wire in the inside.  I did this last exact technique last year on a project I shared for creating a moss basket for the front door:

 

For the pots, I purchased some elegant ceramic pots from Hobby Lobby but I also purchased some small terracotta pots and aged them by doing a quick paint treatment on them:

 

The first layer I lightly brushed the pots with watered down white paint:

 

 

after the first layer dried, I mixed 1/4 paint to 3/4 lightweight spackle to give a chunky old cement look:

 

 

 

I then let them completely dry and harden (about two hours) and I lightly sanded them with fine grit paper.  I only sanded and blended in brush marks and very slightly on the cement chunks to take the sandy edge off from the spackle:

 

If I had more time, I would have added a little green moss to these pots as well.

For the DIY chalkboard garden pics, I picked up this package of thin unfinished wood tags and a bag of these narrow wood dowels:

 

I used a combination of hot glue and E6000 to attach the dowel to the wood square and I painted the square with three coats of chalkboard paint:

I also painted a bag of 12 plastic garden label stakes with chalkboard paint as well.  I did not prime them and I just did three coats and they turned out perfect:

 

 

I also gold leafed a few garden rocks with inspiring words and I used the same gold leaf technique that I used for my frame revamps that you can find here.

 

 

 

I filled the pots with various herbs that I picked up at Home Depot and I also added a seed starter kit, packages of more herb seeds and a zinc watering can.

 

I was thrilled with how the basket turned out and this would be an inexpensive gift to do on a smaller scale to give to teachers, neighbors or friends.  Even better if you have your own herb garden and you are using what you have.  I so wish I had an herb garden.  I have the sweetest neighbors that let us run over and clip what we need but someday, I would love to have my own.

I would love to hear what Easter projects you’ve been working on!   Please share with us in the comment section and if you have a blog and would like to share a link to any Easter ideas or projects, we would love it!

I’ll be back on Friday for Friday Favorites.  If you missed last week’s “Favorite Transitional Paint Colors”, you can go to that post by clicking the image directly below:

 

 

Cheers!

 

Cyndy