Time + burnt fingers = a whole lotta $ saved

I've been lusting after some Ballard Designs topiaries for years now. I've mentioned before that I love looking through their catalogs for inspiration, but their prices are prohibitive. One of my favorite bloggers just recently bought two gorgeous topiaries. I think she paid $40 for the two of them, and said that she couldn't make them that cheaply. I was bummed. Really? I'd have to pay that much for two topiaries? I don't mind paying my babysitter for two nights out with that much money, but I just couldn't see paying that much. Ugh! then the Young Women's organization had a garage sale to raise money for girl's camp and I saw two Christmas topiaries made of silver balls in some really cute urns. I liked the urns, but not the trees. Off came the trees, and the urns were painted off white. Now what? While grocery shopping, I picked up a couple of Styrofoam balls and a dowel rod. The rod was sawn in two, and put into the urns and the balls poked on top. They sat on a bookshelf like that for a few days. And then one night I decided to run away from home. I have five kids. Every once in a while I NEED to run away from home and get a little retail therapy! My favorite place to run to is Hobby Lobby. On that night they happened to have their bushes on sale. Can I get a great big hallelujah? I bought two plastic bushes that resembled boxwood (I think), and some moss matt stuff. So, I ended up spending about $17. I came home, and cut a circle of the moss matt to cover the foam in the urns, and then covered the balls with it. Next came the disassembling of the bushes. They were made of plastic, so a pair of scissors did the job. Then all of the little leaves were hot glued to the ball until it was completely covered. I even has a sorry excuse for a topiary that I redid. So I got 3 topiaries for about 22 bucks! Oh, and two burnt fingers on my left hand. I never follow that wonderful advice to keep a bowl of ice water handy. I guess I'm a glutton for punishment.

-
-Paulette