Moss Tablescape

When I last left you, I’d promised to walk you through my tablescape for the party (that party that isn’t, that is). So let’s just cut the chit-chat and get started.

Challenge Since the party was planned for 3 in the afternoon, and was going to be outside, I knew I’d have to have my umbrella up over my table to shield the food from the hot southern sun. But with the umbrella in full upright position, that meant there was no way I could have the beautiful centerpiece I’d been dreaming of. *sigh* Therefore, my table really had to be something spectacular. Thinking…Thinking….Thinking……

The Plan Originally I’d planned on literally sodding the entire table with fresh squares of sod, and casually laying fresh red roses and rose petals among the table. I had some beautiful horse head bookends to use, and was going to also float grass and red roses in hurricane’s and top them with serving plates to help me create the multiple levels I love to do so much. But the more I thought about the sod idea, the more risky it sounded to me. Sod is difficult to predict this time of year and what if I couldn’t get it green and pretty enough and I was just left with a table of dirt? That would just not be very “monogram momma,” would it? So flipping through my Southern Living last month I came across this picture. I know it’s a little hard to see, but they don’t have it online so I had to take a picture of the picture. Anyway, the basic concept is a table runner made out of crafting moss. It was perfect! Only I didn’t want to do a table runner, I wanted to cover my entire table.

Execution I checked out the materials list from Southern Living and just decided to triple the amount of moss they suggested (truthfully I had no idea, I was just estimating and I ended up filling an entire cart). My outdoor furniture is Teak, and as I mentioned, I really wanted this to cover my entire table. My plan was then to swag large amounts of ribbon around the table, to match the ribbons I was putting on the fence (the entire perimeter of the yard) and the torches along the back walkway.

You Will Need (for the runner only, not an entire table)
-Felt backed plastic tablecloth (I picked up a green one to blend in)
-2 bags chartreuse colored reindeer Moss-
1 box or 4 bags of decorative sheet moss
-glue gun and glue sticks

Instructions
1) Cut and 18” wide strip from the plastic tablecloth, and cut the length so it will overhang your table by about 7-9”.

2) Glue the chartreuse colored reindeer moss around the entire edge of the runner, then fill in the middle with the decorative sheet moss. It’s pretty much that easy.

A Few Things Since I was planning on covering my entire table, I laid my tablecloth over my table, then traced around the perimeter of my table with a Sharpie. Once I had my exact line drawn, I cut it to shape. Now, I also want to say a few things about the moss situation. There are some really cool different types of moss at the craft stores these days, and I even scored bags of full sheets of preserved moss, called SuperMoss, that is really green and beautiful. So when I picked up my moss, I bought 3 different types so I could make it really textured and colorful in different shades of green.

Another Variation I admit, all this was quite costly and time consuming. But if you like this idea of a more natural outdoorsy tablescape but don’t want to spend all the money on the moss, then here’s what I suggest. Go pick up a pretty floral tablecloth with lots of greens in it. Then buy just a few bags of the sheet moss. Break up the pieces and lay them on your table, both over and under the feet or pedestals of some of your dishes. For instance, lay a sheet under a fluted bowl of salad, then tear off smaller pieces to somewhat cover the bottom part of the bowl. Do this periodically around your tablescape, and the natural look of the moss will blend in beautifully with your tablecloth, but yet provide a more 3-D effect.