The Ribbon Topiary

Over the weekend I attended a baby shower and was so impressed with my sister, Danielle, and our friends, Jessica, Kelly and Mara who threw a fabulous event. They created a fun and colorful dessert table and I wanted to share one of the table decor elements... The ribbon topiary. This can be used for birthday parties, Christmas and many other holidays or occasions. Way to go girls!

Here are the instructions:

RIBBON TOPIARY

You need:

A styrofoam ball (she used one that was 8" in diameter)
1 Dowel rod
3 different types of ribbon (she recommend using ones that are the same width and color scheme (she went for pink and green with varying patterns)
Pot (she used a 6" clay pot and spray painted it white)
Styrofoam to put in the pot (in order to hold up the topiary... she had to use one that was a half circle and one that was cylindrical)
Spanish moss
Flathead pins
Glue

Directions:

Cut the ribbons into 3 inch pieces. Loop ribbons around to make a circle and secure with a flathead pin. Poke the pin into styrofoam ball. She didn't want it to look like there was a pattern, so she turned the ribbons different ways and tried to make it so that the same ribbons weren't next to each other too often. To make things easier on yourself, make sure to put a hole for the dowel in the bottom of the styrofoam ball before you've gotten too far with attaching the ribbons. Once you've covered the styrofoam ball with the ribbon pieces, place it on top of the dowel rod. Glue it so it stays on securely. If you want to paint the dowel rod and/or pot, make sure you do this before putting everything together. Make hole(s) in the styrofoam that fit into the pot (if the styrofoam isn't snug in the pot, surround it with newspaper for a tighter fit. Place the dowel rod, with the topiary fixed to it, into the holes. Glue anywhere else necessary (but hidden, of course) if things feel unsteady! Fill the top of pot with spanish moss, and VOILA! you have a ribbon topiary!