Thread: Faux moss question

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I received "How to Haunt your house" book one for Xmas and have a question maybe someone here can answer. In the section on faux moss it says to mix paint, dryer lint and "Craft glue". My question is on the glue part. It looks like white glue is used but white "Elmers" style glue is water solvable. I want to use this moss on tombstones which will be outside in the weather...my question is.. if it rains will the glue dissolve and destroy the moss?? Is there a better glue to use that will last the test of weather better?

Thanks for any help.

Just a thought, and I haven't tried it but I'm willing to try it as soon as I get to that point. Steel Wool and Monster mud... dip, shake, dry and paint.

Steel wool will rust.

Water soluble glue may work but would not be my first choice.

I think if whatever glue can dry semi clear it will work.

Another option would be using our moss sticks and forest sticks in you glue gun or glue pot letting it partially cool and then doing flat pull aways and embosses as it cools.

I just buy sheet moss and hot glue it on. But it will turn brown after a while. Thinking of painting it back to green for this year. Not sure though because the brown has a good look too:

Thanks for the replies everyone. You know I got everything I need to try this out so I think I will, I'll let yall know how it turns out. BTW Terra I like your moss and brown looks good but, the two tone green of the moss in this book looks really cool.

Well I gave it a shot and sure enough it adsorbed the water and because soft. What I did was make a batch, put it on a stone, let it dry a day, then put the stone in the shower for about 15 mins.

I really like this technique because you can put this stuff in the cracks and crevices and it forms very well. Terra I also like your moss, do you get it at a craft store? If you could use both I think it would look really cool so I think I will try it with rubber cement and see how that works.

Interesting, I didn't know anyone else had tried such a thing. In making my own style of faux moss, I used Titebond wood glue. Which is supposed to be very water resistant when cured. Not that it's a huge worry, being that I used acrylic paint in my version. Just follow the link in my sig if you'd like to get a better look at how I did it.

Aww, darn. Was afraid of that. Yes, I get the sheet moss at Hobby Lobby or Michael's (wherever I happen to be). One bag of it covers two or three stones so it's not crazy expensive. To keep it green - airbrush or spray paint it first using flat paint (water-based is fine). Here's a link to the type of moss but perhaps it's a smaller bag? I remember it being about $6 at the store: http://www.save-on-crafts.com/moss7.html

Raven, very nice moss but a little more work than I want to put into this project, I do love yours it looks so realistic. If my rubber cement idea doesn't work out I may try your wood glue.

Terra, thanks I'll look for it the next time I'm at the craft store.

I would try using GOOP brand glue, it's thicker than white glue, but is completely waterproof. If you can find Sportsman or Marine goop it will have more UV resistance than the other dozens of types (those are the only two with UV inhibitors). You could also try using 2-part epoxy, slow set, but remember that epoxy has very low UV resistance. Even the Goop with inhibitors still recommends to paint over it for outdoor use. It should be more than fine for 2-4 weeks a year though.