Is it crafty in here?

Ok!  So, first project!  It seems that Easter has kind of become our holiday.  For the second year in a row, both my parents and my in-laws are coming, and this year we will be joined by my grandma, my husband's brother, and my sister and brother-in-law, as well as my brother-in-law's parents.  For those keeping count at home, we're up to 12, which is CAPACITY for this little house.  Pray for good weather so we can send everyone out on the deck, mmkay?

Anyway, I really like setting a pretty table, and this year we have the new wedding china and crystal to use.  I know that I am the only one who will really pay attention to all of these little details, but they make me happy, so there you go.  I saw these little place card holders at Pottery Barn and promptly fell in love:

However, I definitely did not love the $32 price tag for a set of 4, seeing as I would need 3 sets of 4.  So?  I decided to do it myself.  I headed to Michael's and picked up the following:

-- Mini flower pots  (actually, these were from Home Depot -- $.99 each)
-- Floral oasis
-- Moss
-- Ribbon
-- Decorative thingies -- eggs, flowers, chicks, etc.
-- Place cards
-- Glue Gun!

Yesterday afternoon, I finally got to work.  I made a prototype, and it actually came out pretty cute.  Believe me, no one was more surprised than I.

So here is what I did; your experience/taste may vary.  First, I cut the oasis into cubes, which made it easier to smoosh into the little flower pots.

I stacked the cubes in the pots and cut smaller chunks to fill in the open spaces.  I did not glue the oasis into the pots, because I recently saw this and fully intend to reuse the pots later.  Yum.  Okay, where were we?  Right, they should look like this-ish:

Then it's time for the moss, which was the most unpleasant part of the process.  It's messy, it's stinky, and the hot glue makes it even stinkier, but the gross is relatively short lived.  I pulled off pieces of the moss and arranged it over the top of the oasis, then glued everything down with a good layer of hot glue.

It doesn't have to be totally perfect; you can decorate over gaps or stick more moss in later if you find a bald spot.  Then it's time to decorate.  I snipped the flowers off of the larger wire stems, then put a dab of glue on the base of the individual flower stem, then just kind of stuck them into the moss in the center of the pot, holding it in place until the glue firmed up.

I used 2-3 flowers, 2-3 eggs, and a chick for each pot.  I centered the flowers, just kind of tucked the eggs in where they fit, and put the chick in the front.

Next up is the actual name tag.  I found little Easter themed place cards at Michael's and figured they would work fine.  I folded them over, then glued a toothpick inside.

Take your place card and just stick it into the oasis in the back of the pot.  Last step is the finishing ribbon.  (I measured out one piece, then used it as a guide to cut the remaining 11, just to be sure I wouldn't run out of ribbon, which would so be my luck.)  I folded the ribbon in half to find the center, then put a little dab of glue in the center of the ribbon.

I took the bit of glued ribbon and attached it to the middle of the back of the pot.  From there, I wrapped the ribbon around to the front, and loosely tied it once.  I stuck another dab of glue right behind the tie, then finished it with a little bow.

DONE!!  It took about two hours, start to finish, to do all 12, and saved me over 50% from the Pottery Barn originals.  Perhaps there is something to this DIY stuff....