How to make a simple magical plant display inspired by The Last Witch Hunter
I think another aspect of urban fantasy is to bend ordinary objects into things that look like they've been touched by magic and nature gone wild. This project was inspired by the aesthetic of nature-in-the-urban-landscape in The Last Witch Hunter (2015), in particular the character Cloe's apartment. I decided to adapt this wooden wine rack into an urban fantasy display complete with fairy lights, faux airplants, and crystals. Besides being a neat place to store wine and liquor bottles, this also provided me with another opportunity to display some of the odds and ends of stones and crystals collected from years of sifting through rock shops. So if you're curious how I put this together, read on!
And with LED lights on, ambient light dimmed:
Reference Images
These are all gorgeous set pieces in The Last Witch Hunter (2015). There's a great interview with production designer Julie Berghoff by Kirill Grouchnikov for the blog Pushing Pixels that explains how they decided on this blend of physical and CGI to create the look of the film (link here).
Materials
-Wooden wine rack
-String of battery-powered LED lights
-Bag of art moss
-Faux air plants
-Stones, crystals, etc.
-Bottles
1. Gather the materials
These were a mixture of things I already had, some craft store buys, and a thrift store find. The wine rack (or shoe rack?) I found for $7 at a thrift store, which had a few dings in it but I was able to scrape off the paint transfer from when it must have been stuck against a white wall. Originally I had though to use real airplants, but even in the subtropics it seems the colorful epiphytes cannot be found for a reasonable price (unless you plan to buy in the hundreds). But in retrospect it makes more sense for this indoor project to use faux airplants, which won't need sunlight or watering. But if you wanted to go the extra mile I'd recommend using an assortment of Tillandsia spp., which don't need much care aside from a little light and the occasional misting with water. I got these faux ones from a craft store with an excellent floral section (8 "plants" for about $10). Also from the craft store came the dried moss, which I had used also for the steampunk naturalist's bell jar project. The bottles and rocks I already had, I had just been looking for opportunities to display them. I used these neat apothecary style liquor bottles, but certainly you could use this to store bottles with actual wine and spirits in them. Finally I had a string of battery-powered LED lights, which you can get pretty easily and cheaply from a Five Below store or similar for somewhere between $5 and $10.
2. String the lights
First string the lights through the slats of the wine rack. It doesn't need to be a specific pattern, just try not to have the lights bunch up too forward or in one spot.
3. Add moss and rocks
Then arrange the mat of moss on the bottom tray. In the gaps where the moss did not extend I added chunks of stone, geodes, and crystals to round it out. I decided against gluing things down, as it's not going to be in a position of blowing away and the glue would be pretty obvious.
4. Add bottles and airplants
And last add those finishing touches. Put the bottles you plan to use in, and then arrange the airplants around in a haphazard way. Aim to have them more toward the front, but try to stagger them somewhat to make it look more organic. To keep the airplants in place you can use a little hot glue if desired.
Turn on the LEDs and enjoy the corner of magic you've created. Good luck and keep crafting!
These are all gorgeous set pieces in The Last Witch Hunter (2015). There's a great interview with production designer Julie Berghoff by Kirill Grouchnikov for the blog Pushing Pixels that explains how they decided on this blend of physical and CGI to create the look of the film (link here).
Materials
-Wooden wine rack
-String of battery-powered LED lights
-Bag of art moss
-Faux air plants
-Stones, crystals, etc.
-Bottles
1. Gather the materials
These were a mixture of things I already had, some craft store buys, and a thrift store find. The wine rack (or shoe rack?) I found for $7 at a thrift store, which had a few dings in it but I was able to scrape off the paint transfer from when it must have been stuck against a white wall. Originally I had though to use real airplants, but even in the subtropics it seems the colorful epiphytes cannot be found for a reasonable price (unless you plan to buy in the hundreds). But in retrospect it makes more sense for this indoor project to use faux airplants, which won't need sunlight or watering. But if you wanted to go the extra mile I'd recommend using an assortment of Tillandsia spp., which don't need much care aside from a little light and the occasional misting with water. I got these faux ones from a craft store with an excellent floral section (8 "plants" for about $10). Also from the craft store came the dried moss, which I had used also for the steampunk naturalist's bell jar project. The bottles and rocks I already had, I had just been looking for opportunities to display them. I used these neat apothecary style liquor bottles, but certainly you could use this to store bottles with actual wine and spirits in them. Finally I had a string of battery-powered LED lights, which you can get pretty easily and cheaply from a Five Below store or similar for somewhere between $5 and $10.
2. String the lights
First string the lights through the slats of the wine rack. It doesn't need to be a specific pattern, just try not to have the lights bunch up too forward or in one spot.
3. Add moss and rocks
Then arrange the mat of moss on the bottom tray. In the gaps where the moss did not extend I added chunks of stone, geodes, and crystals to round it out. I decided against gluing things down, as it's not going to be in a position of blowing away and the glue would be pretty obvious.
4. Add bottles and airplants
And last add those finishing touches. Put the bottles you plan to use in, and then arrange the airplants around in a haphazard way. Aim to have them more toward the front, but try to stagger them somewhat to make it look more organic. To keep the airplants in place you can use a little hot glue if desired.
Turn on the LEDs and enjoy the corner of magic you've created. Good luck and keep crafting!
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