To be sure, I wasn’t not at all sure this project was going to work out when I began, because I didn’t have the supplies I thought I needed. I was wrong, and this misadventure turned into a happy mistake because what came about was even better than I had planned, and a new lover a Decoupage medium has been gained! Can I say that I haven’t decoupaged anything in years, truly… years… So I definitely fumbled about a bit before finding my footing with this project (even more so with my next project but that is a whole other story)! But what fabulous stuff this stuff is…I know you all already know this so amuse me while I share my newfound friend in Decoupage medium!
Materials:
6” Styrofoam Egg (any other shape will work, particularly round shapes)
Mossy Stuff – I purchased mine at the dollar store a while back, but this can be found at most craft stores as well
DecoArt Decoupage Medium
Skewer or Long Toothpick – this is helpful for holding your item while you moss it up
Foam Brush – I actually used this as more of a flattening tool rather than a brush so you might use a spatula or your hands…
I skewered my egg with these odd little bamboo toothpicks I found in my random drawer of party and entertaining supplies, and it actually worked nicely because of that crazy little knot at the end of it that provided a bit of extra hand hold! who knew…
I like to spread out my mossy goodness and fluff it a bit so that it isn’t so clumped up. This makes for easier and more uniform application when you are ready to begin sticking it on.
I drizzled a moderate amount of the DecoArt Decoupage medium on my Styrofoam Egg and used my finger to smear it around a bit more evenly. I have found that the foam brushes actually absorb more of my mediums than they spread it, so I tend to defer to the old finger paining technique when I am working on a project like this.
Then I actually rolled the egg in the shreddy pile of moss and then drizzled crumbles of it in the areas that didn’t pick enough up. The thing about decoupage medium, is that even though it’s fast drying, you do have a bit of wait time when you use it as I did in a manner that isn’t typical, because you need to medium to dry enough to hold the weight of the moss. Once I let it set a bit, I drizzled a bit more of the Decoupage medium over the top of the mossy layer, as you can see below, and then used my foam brush to smash it down a bit. I wanted to be sure that all of the moss was going to stay where I wanted it to, and so I need to be sure the top layer was equally as decoupaged as the bottom layer was.
I continue in the manner around the entire egg, drizzling the decoupage medium, rolling and sprinkling the moss then drizzling the medium again over the top and smooshing it down until the entire egg was well covered. I let it dry overnight, because frankly It was late, but I doubt it would have required that amount of drying time to be completed.
What was surprising was my ultimate result which was a fluffy looking yet well secured Mossy Egg! Because the medium dries in a clear Matte Finish, it’s invisible and when used with moss it did not make it appear glued down (those of you who have done mossy glue projects know what I am referring to!) and yet it is fully glued in place and not going to fall off all over the world as you move it around! It’s pretty incredible actually! Definitely not a typical use for this product, and yet it worked so beautifully that I will forever use it for this sort of thing! Yahoo for happy accidents, am I right?
