Creating or crafting an inexpensive zen vibe for positivity

We were creating or crafting an inexpensive zen vibe for positivity. That isn’t how it started. We were going to use our display space at work for an April showers brings May flowers display. Someone said I have an umbrella to bring in. Ultimately, I thought great. Expecting to see an ordinary kid’s umbrella for our display but it was not. It was a cute paper umbrella. That was delightful. However, It changed the whole plan.

Focusing our inexpensive zen vibe display

It was time to swing in another direction from the first plan and focus everything around this umbrella. In the previous plan, we were going for some water collection type of thing to incorporate Earth Day as well. Immediately when I saw this umbrella I thought of bamboo. I had an old bamboo rod that I had used for a curtain rod for a display at one time. Perhaps I could make that into some type of fountain. Despite it being simple in design it looks like the zen vibe.

Bamboo foundation for the zen vibe

Ultimately, I used a square piece of styrofoam to push the bamboo rod piece. As well as gluing it into the styrofoam. Additionally, Jute rope was glued around the styrofoam to add weight and still have a natural element to the bamboo fountain. On top of the styrofoam, I glued some tiny round wood pieces from the hobby Lobby.

Surprisingly, the fountain was glued together with wood glue and hot glue. It doesn’t need the ribbon rope for structure but it was needed to make the display look more realistic.

Bamboo fountain supplies

Finally, The Decorative Trim (I called it ribbon rope) that I used for the bamboo fountain. It was delicate but still completed the zen vibe display. Raindrops were made from clear hot glue. The hot glue gun was held on the side and dropped down. I was fairly impressed that they looked so much like raindrops.

The rock quarry pond

I used little pebbles out of my window wells (they are from the garden area at your local home big box store). By using hot glue and clear school glue to glue the pebbles down on a piece of cardboard, they didn’t move. I also added pieces of a fake plant that I thought looked like it fit into the Zen display. Also added a jewelry piece for a wish-well type thing to the quarry zen vibe pond.

The dirt

A long view of the rock quarry pond with the rock glued down but not the small water stream on top. At the end of the pond, I added some dirt to the rocks and glued those down. Thinking this would go with when a stream ends and there is mud or dried dirt at the end. The last photo shows a view of the cardboard that was used. It came from the packaging of a new dishwasher for my work. This part was very easy.

Pictures of some of the items used for the dirt

The dirt and the rock quarry

The first picture is of the end of the quarry pond after it had dried. I wanted to curl it over so it would hopefully look good with the fake grass runners (these are available at Target, Hobby Lobby, and Michaels). The middle is the glue that was used for the project which I call clear glue or clear school glue. I also used hot glue and a bit of wood glue. The last picture is the coffee beans ground up for use in the dirt portion of the zen vibe display.

The first picture is of the coffee grounds mixed with potting soil. Why mix it with coffee grounds? It keeps the dirt looking a bit wet because it is darker.

That dirt mixture was then mixed with the clear school glue above and applied to the cardboard. In doing this project I learned that the dirt mixture moves around and doesn’t stay as solid as I thought it would. Although, I don’t mind that. The cardboard shows through added some dimension.

Barely wet dripping water on the rock quarry

The pictures above of the rocks also show the ‘wet’ glue applied on the top of the rocks. You probably can barely see it. After all the drops from the fountain aren’t large.

You may surprised at the amount of clear glue that was used for this portion of the Zen Vibes display. It will also be 8 hours or more drying time depending on the amount of “water” you want for your project.

Clear glue was poured into a dixie cup and one drop of the paint was shown in the 3rd picture. That is a very tiny drop. I didn’t want the blue to take over the color of the rocks or be thick on the rocks. The fountain has one drop of water coming from it. So I didn’t want the rock pond to be a river.

The glue mixture after it was mixed. It took 3 Dixie cups of the same amount for the small amount of water that is shown on these rocks. The glue dries down to a small amount of water. Of course, you can always use more if that is your preference.

Water drips from the bamboo fountain for a zen-vibe display

You can see the drop of water coming down from the bamboo fountain. The drop is made from a small piece of fishing line with clear hot glue dropped down on it. It is very strong. I drove the fountain to work with it and plenty of people have touched the droplet to try and figure out what it is. It is still holding strong.

As you can see the fountain piece used for the spout is glued to the back for stabilizing the spout to the shaft of the bamboo fountain.

The spout of the bamboo fountain with the clear hot glue and a different view of the water drip. The middle picture shows the bottom of the fountain with a bit of greenery. I had cut down some branches and I cut a small piece off those branches. Those pieces were added to add more wood that is bigger to the display so it little round wood pieces look as if they all go together or for cohesiveness.

Overall pictures of the zen vibe display – simple by fun

In addition to the Zen Vibe Display, the other side of the display has tulips in clear hurricane vases. This created more color but still was simple to not overpower the Zen Vibe Display.

I hope this helps with some creative images for whatever display or project you planning on creating. Fairy garden? Backyard display?