DIY Spring Topiary

We found the cutest idea for an easy spring decoration on the DIY craft website www.twotwenty-one.com. This table top topiary is the perfect finishing touch for a seasonal refresh of the living room mantle or a dash of color for the brunch table. Best of all, its easy, inexpensive and very customizable to your own decor. Here's how to craft one - and for more ideas with great how-to photos, check out her site.

Tools you'll need:

• 6 inch foam ball
• small flower pot
• Silk flowers, she used peonies
• Floral foam
• Spanish Moss
• Bundle of branches, she used twisted willow branches
• Hot glue gun
• Tape measure
• Knife and hedge clippers

Start by clipping flowers, leaving short stems to stab into foam ball. Once you poke a few in to gage spacing, start stabbing and hot glueing flowers around the ball, filling it with blossoms.

In the flower pot, place floral foam in the bottom, using the knife to carve pieces to custom fit. Measure the branch and clip ends to achieve the desired height of your topiary - she used a 16 inch stem and ended up with a 27 inch finished product. Insert stem into foam.

To attach top to stem, pre-cut a 1" deep round hole on the bottom of the flower ball for the branch/stem. Dab hot glue at the end of the branch and stab the branches into the ball. Hold for a few seconds for glue to dry.

Finish it off by covering the foam base with a layer of spanish moss, and you've done it!