Welcome to my dining room!  I’ve finally photographed my favorite wall of dioramas and botanical fantasies for you to see.  Mind you, there’s much to be done in the new house, but sometimes I can’t believe we’ve only lived here a month!

Eric has always snuffed my obsession with little fake birds, but graciously sucked it up when I used them as a central theme for our wedding four years ago.  He must have been kidding himself if he thought that I’d get rid of all of those little birds after the wedding was over.  And indeed, I’ve held on to those birds ever since, without any real idea of what to do with them.

When we moved into our new house most of the walls were painted truly disgusting colors, but the living room was a shade of green that we could work with.  It has turned out to be a fantastic backdrop for our botanical/library/harry potter decor, which by the way we had no idea our furnishings could support.  The flora and fauna theme was strengthened by the fact that we live in a beautiful small, rural town with natural elements all around us.  Our morning walks around the park are the perfect opportunity to collect luscious tufts of moss that fall from the hundred year old oak trees.  It didn’t take me long to put my love of birds, glassware,  and moss covered twigs together to create a diorama heaven.  I love living here.

I think the birds look quite happy, don’t you?

As for the wet moss, I just give it a squirt of water every so often to liven it up.  Eventually it will dry out, in which case I can either replace it with a quick trip to the park ( I LOVE it here!) or leave it brown.  While I’ve used live moss, this look is just as easy to re-create with supplies from your local craft store and I encourage you to give it a try!