Easy Halloween Decor DIY - Black Ribbon Topiary

The RIP Black Ribbon Topiary is easy to create and adds a whimsical decoration to your Halloween mantel display or party. Mine is currently sitting on the mantel in my living room.

I created this project out of some simple dollar store craft supplies; though, I did pick up the ribbon at Michaels for a minimal cost. This craft project is inexpensive but will look creepy among your Halloween decorations.

Images are the property of mypotlpeople.

The above picture is of the finished topiary minus the crow accessory which was added later.

Before you begin your Black RIP Topiary you will need to gather a few supplies either from around the house or at your local craft store.

Materials Needed

Black Ribbon

Wooden Dowel

Styrofoam ball

Pins

Black Glitter

Styrofoam block

Box or pot

tombstone decoration

To begin you will need your Styrofoam ball, black ribbon, scissors, and pins.

First thing I did was to insert by wooden down to create a hole in the ball that I could use later. I removed the wooden dowel and went to work on creating the ribbon ball.

I cut my ribbon has I went but you can precut your ribbon to a similar size. I kept my pieces fairly small. I wrapped the ribbon around on of fingers and cut it to that length. I started by making a loop and pinning the ribbon to the Styrofoam ball. Eventually, I ran out of pins so I started adhering the ribbon with my high temp glue gun, which worked out ok, but I recommend using pins if you can, It will save you from burning your fingers and having to remove glue strings that like to attach to the topiary.

I found a ribbon I like that was a black sparkle mesh. It was not very wide. Using a wider ribbon will allow you to cover more space and take less time to finish. Keep this in mind when choosing your ribbon size.

The next thing I did was to paint my dowel black. I sprinkled it with glitter to give it a more glamorous look. When I dry I reinserted the dowel back into the ball adding a bit of hot glue to the top of the rod to help secure it in place. The bottom end I inserted into the Styrofoam block I would be placing inside my container.

For this Halloween craft you need a base for to stick your ribbon ball with dowel into. There are many options from fancy tins, clay pots or cute shaped containers. I found a box, I received from Christmas that was the right shape. The design, however, was lacking in a Halloween vibe so I decided I would have give it a new look. I choose to decoupage it with some Halloween inspired scrapbook paper.

You can skip this step if you found a box already in a suitable design or color combination. After, I completed the box. I went to work on my foam tombstone to finish off the look. I added black sparkles to the bat design and RIP label to bring out the details.

Instead of using glitter to embellish your tombstone you could use paint, rhinestones or anything that will give you the look you want.

If you will be deco paging your container you may want to choose the best product for the materials you select to use. This video talks about the eight different mod podge versions available.

After finishing the bottom of the topiary I placed the Styrofoam block into the decorated box with the attached dowel and ribbon ball. I covered the block with some glue and added some black shredded paper and black jewels to finish off the project.

The project will anchor my Halloween display.