100 Things 2 Do: DIY - Porch Planters for Christmas

I wanted to have an urn out front similar to the above - but I also wanted to string lights around the ball part so it would look just as pretty at night.

(Sorry, I would have linked back to the site "Trendytree.com" but the pin doesn't take you to this image)

These are the planters I bought this summer.

I love the height of them.

I loved that they were on sale.

So I bought 5.

It's one of those "you can't afford not to!" (or at least that's how I sold it to Hubby).

I found the grapevine balls at HomeSense, and the rest the ladies at Forest of Flowers set me up with.

Now, just so you know, you don't have to buy the grapevine balls...
My friend "Amazing Amy" made her own just last month using grapevine cut from the forest.

Amazing Amy will be teaching me her technique - even if I have to drag her kicking and screaming!

(or how about begging and bribing?)

Okay, first things first - soak your oasis for about 20 minutes.

While it's soaking, cut your foam pot to the height you want.

I wanted mine to be a bit higher than the lip of my planter so that if we get warmer days and the soil and snow melt a bit, the pot doesn't sink down too low.

Fill it with the wet oasis:

and then put another oasis on top for height:

From here, you start inserting your greens.

Once you have the perpendiculars in, continue filling with various winter greens until it looks lush and full.

I anchored the ball in place with a bit of wire set into the oasis, and then continued putting greens around it.

I haven't wrapped the lights around it yet because I haven't figured out where to plug all of them in.

So for now: