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Moss newborn swing photography prop-DIY

Having versatility of props is important in photography so that you can attract a wide range of clients. Since I made this moss covered newborn swing prop a couple weeks ago I've already gotten many compliments on it and have been asked by a few people how I made it so I decided to make a tutorial on how to make it with step by step instructions and lots of pictures! Excuse the quality and lighting in my pics, for my home has absolutely horrible lighting.

Here we go.

What you'll need:

-Scissors

-2 Small hula hoops about 2 1/2'

-Twine (I purchased mine at Hobby Lobby)

-Artificial flowers in the color of your choosing (Hobby Lobby)

-Thick foam poster board (Walmart)

-2 packages of moss mats (only 1 pictured) 1 package of loose moss (you could just use another package of a moss matt, just depends on what you want to spend and what look you want). (All from Hobby Lobby)

-Hot glue gun and glue sticks (not pictured)

-Duck tape (not pictured)

1.Cut the moss mat into strips about 2" wide. Then cut each strip into small squares measuring to fit around the hoop, (roughly 2" x 2"). Take your hot glue and glue along the back of each square. Place the square on the hoop so that both ends meet in the back of the hoop so that they're out of site. I'm sorry I forgot to take a pic of this step so I hope this is making sense. Feel free to email me if it doesn't under the contact me page.

Complete all the way around for both hoops and once finished they should look like this.

2.Place both hoops one on top of the other. Take both your hot glue and the twine and hot glue the end of the twine to the back of the hoop. With the roll of twine tightly wrap the twine around both hoops securing them together. Once you've wrapped the twine tightly creating a 3"-4" width, cut the twine and hot glue the end once again to the back of the hoops. To make the part you'll stick something from to hang it, you're just going to glue the end of the twine at the bottom and wrap it loosely around the top 3 times to that there is about a 4" gap in-between the top of the twine and the top of the hoops. Cut the twine and glue the end to the bottom of the hoops.

3.Cut your foam poster board into eight 1 1/2" X 9" strips. (I accidentally broke one do I only used 7, but you should use 8)

4.On the opposite side of the hoops as the twine you're going to separate the hoops and glue the poster board strips in-between them spacing each one roughly 1" apart from each other. Make sure to have the middle of the poster boards line up with the middle of the twine up top. You may need lots of hot glue on both ends since the moss can become loose.

5.To help secure the poster board in place and to create a platform for the baby to lay on you're going to wrap

the duck tape around the two hoops to cover the area where you added the poster board.

6.Cut some more of the moss mat into the same squares as you did above and glue along both the front and back rim of the hoops to cover up the outside of the duck tape.

7.Step number 7 may vary depending on if you bought loose moss or an additional moss mat. If you bought an additional moss mat you'll just cut and glue the mat to fit and cover the top of the duck tape covering it completely. The moss mat method is easier, but like I said in the beginning it just depends on what look you want. If you're using the loose moss like I did you're going to break the moss into pieces and glue each piece down in sections until all of the duck tape is covered. Make sure no twigs are in there and sticking out to where it can poke the baby.

8.Last step, and its my favorite part, decorating! You can get creative here and place your flowers any place you like. If you want them like how I did mine, I placed the largest flower on the right hand side, just slightly higher than in the middle. From there I glued a "dangle flower" (sorry I'm not flower savvy and don't know the names of flowers lol), on both the top and bottom of the large flower. On the opposite side I glued together 3 small/medium flowers together and added some of the leafs that were on the stem to add different texture and colors.

That's it, you're all done! Please take note that this prop is for composite shots only, and the baby should never be suspended in the air while in this prop! I don't write many tutorials so I hope my steps were easy to follow and if you have any questions please don't hesitate to email me. Once I get a baby girl in my studio (I swear I only ever get boys lol), I'll post an image :)

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