Peppermint Topiaries

If you know me than you know I make and sell ribbon topiaries in my Etsy shop... Not So Plain Sophia Jane (shameless plug). So you know when I saw this pin, I HAD TO DO IT. And since I was hosting Christmas dinner at my house for the first time I thought they would make awesome centerpieces.

Peppermint Topiaries

Ok so since I have a good deal of topiary experience this project was pretty easy for me. I also had 90% of the materials I needed upstairs in my craft room already. But I found a great DYI tutorial that even I got some helpful tips from here. Since the pin shown above was just a link to someone else's blog showing stuff they like but not how to do anything ( I hate that). I also pinned the link I shared above here on Pinterest as well.

Now I am sure that the DIY tutorial works wonderfully but since I make topiaries a lot I did it primarily my way ;) 

My Materials:

2- 4" round white styrofoam balls (walmart 2 pack)

2 white dollar store metal buckets (small flower pot size)

2 - 12" dowel rods

2 bags of peppermints (also found at dollar store) 

1 roll red duct tape (as suggested in DIY tutorial)

Hot glue gun

Plaster of paris ( I always use this instead of styrofoam in the base)

red and white ribbon

Steps:

1. Cut small strips of red duct tape and cover each styrofoam ball. I had never done this before but will am going to start doing for several reasons. It covers the ball so if there are gaps you only see the color of the tape and it keeps the styrofam from getting all over you. 

half way

done

2. Start hot gluing the mints on the ball. Don't worry too much about them being perfect, it won't matter once they are all on. I do suggest putting glue on the mint then sticking them on instead of glue on the ball then stick. Worked better for me. Also I needed 3 bags of mints. Each bag had about 60 mints. Each 4 inch ball needed a few more than 60. 

            

Start at the top

Finished one 

3. Paint your dowel rods red or white. I went with red because I was using white pots.

4. Hot glue the rod so its standing straight up in the pot. 

5. Mix and pour in plaster of paris.

6. Let it set (30 minutes)

7. Secure ball on to the top of the dowel. I put glue on the dowel before inserting it into the hole I make in the ball with scissors. Just an opening, the dowel will slide in fine on its own.

8. Add a decorative ribbon to the pot. 

Here are the final products! I think they turned out great! I also sprayed them with a clear sealant spray so they can be stored and reused next year.

Merry Christmas :)

Happy Pinning!
Tiffany