Come On In

Build a mini highland habitat for some sweet little sheep.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

Quart mason jar with vintage lid Floral moss variety pack 2½-in.-wide roll green sheet moss

Small rocks

Toothpicks

Green permanent marker

Black and white wool roving Green paper

24-gauge floral wire

Scrap piece of floral foam Matte decoupage glue

Craft paint in two shades of brown

Long tweezers or pliers

Hot glue gun

Felting needle

Felting mat

Cutting machine or craft knife Wire cutters

Small paintbrush

Fan paintbrush

DIRECTIONS

1.Place a layer of floral moss in bottom of jar. Cut a circle of sheet moss the diameter of the jar. Layer on floral moss. 2. Add floral moss to one side for hill. Cut a semicircle of sheet moss to cover hill. 3. Cut a few toothpicks into thirds. Discard the middle sections. Color points green with a marker. Dry thoroughly. 4. Hot-glue cut end of each pick to a rock. Anchor rocks in moss using tweezers. 5. For sheep, start with a cotton ball-sized piece of white wool. Push felting needle about halfway through the ball repeatedly, all around, until the fibers hold together in an oval about 1 in. long. 6. Repeat with a smaller piece of black wool for the head, working on felting mat if needed. 7. Arrange head on body and push felting needle into both repeatedly to adhere. 8. Place small amount of black wool on mat to work into ears. Trace a pointed oval shape into wool with needle; fold outer fibers over into the oval, pushing them through with the needle, to make desired size and shape. Trim any excess. 9. Attach ears to sheep’s head, repeatedly pushing needle into the head to attach. Fill any indentations in the head with black wool. 10. For legs, repeat the process, but trace a rectangle instead of an oval into the wool before folding stray fibers over and repeatedly poking them through the mass with the needle. Trim with scissors if needed. Attach by poking needle repeatedly through leg and body. 11. For tail, use a tiny piece of white wool; felt it into a ball on mat. Attach to body. Trim stray strands as needed. 12. Make second sheep. Arrange sheep in jar with tweezers. 13. Cut 3- and 4-leaf clovers from paper with craft knife or cutting machine. Place around rocks. 14. Cut fifteen 13-in. pieces of floral wire with wire cutters. Gather and fold in half together. Twist the bunch 3 turns to create 1 in. of twisted wire, leaving a quarter-sized loop at bottom. At the end of the twist, divide wires in half and twist half together to create branches. Continue dividing and twisting until tree is finished. Arrange and trim branches as desired. 15. Cut loop at bottom into 2 or 3 groups of wire. Twist and trim groups for roots, leaving 2 wires pointed straight down to anchor tree into moss. 16. Anchor tree into floral foam. With paintbrush, apply 2 coats of decoupage glue to tree, filling in spaces between wires. Dry thoroughly between coats, about 4 hours. 17. Paint tree light brown. Dry thoroughly. With a fan brush, lightly apply dark brown paint for bark. Allow to dry thoroughly. Remove tree from floral foam. 18. Stretch floral moss across ends of branches to make leaves. Place tree in jar, using untwisted wires to anchor it in the moss. Arrange branches. Top jar with lid.