DIY: Resurrection Garden (or Hobbit Home)

I was asked by my church's craft ministry to help out with this project to create Resurrection Gardens for Easter time. Doing a bit of research and experimenting, I came up with two methods - one moss and one with grass seed. Either method you choose will result in an easy, fun craft to do with kid's. If you are not religious, you can adapt this craft to be a simple Hobbit home, Toad hole, or use your imagination to create any scene you like.

Materials:
- large clay saucer with a lip around it
- potting mix
- small twigs
- twine
- peat pot
- decorative pebbles
- larger stone
- grass seed or sheet moss
- spray water bottle

Steps:
1. Place the pot on its side in about the middle of the saucer.
2. Carefully add moistened soil over the pot and to the back of it - forming a hill and slope.
3. Sprinkle the soil liberally with grass seed
OR take a piece of moistened sheet moss and press it on top of the soil - covering it all.
4. Break twigs into 2-4"pieces and tie to create with twine to create three small crosses - one slightly larger than the others.
5. Place the crosses.
6. Scatter small pebbles around the front of the pot entrance and then one large stone to represent the stone rolled back from the empty tomb.

Care:
- For moss gardens: keep the moss saturated and place it in a window with indirect sunlight.
- For grass gardens: keep the grass seed moist by spritzing it with water every few days and keeping the entire scene under a glass bowl in a sunny window. Once the grass seeds germinate, remove the glass bowl and spritz with water as needed. Give the grass a cut once it fills in and is a few inches tall.

Bonus: 
You can use chalkboard paint to create a band around the saucer's rim to write a Bible verse or "Happy Easter!" or "He is Risen!" in chalk.

This is a monthly blog series on DIY projects for the beginning home gardener. Look for the other installments in this DIY blog series by putting "DIY" in the search box here at washingtongardener.blogspot.com.