The Magic of Moss: Bringing the Boreal Forest Into Your Home
If you’ve ever wandered through the Boreal Forest around Cold Lake, Alberta, you’ve likely felt the quiet, soft green carpet beneath your feet. This humble plant—moss—is the unsung hero of our northern landscape.
At Dragonfly Treasures, we believe moss is more than just ground cover; it is a piece of living art that tells the story of the forest floor.
The Heart of the Forest: Why Moss Matters
In the wild, moss plays a vital role in our ecosystem. It acts as nature's sponge, retaining moisture and preventing soil erosion. It also creates a microscopic world, providing a lush habitat for countless tiny forest creatures.
Explore More: You can learn more about the different types of moss found in our region through the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s guide to mosses.
Preserving the Serenity: My Studio Process
To bring that forest feeling into your home, I use two distinct preservation methods that maintain the moss's beauty year-round:
-
Natural Air-Drying: For the classic mosses found near Cold Lake, I use a gentle air-drying process. This maintains the earthy tones and soft, organic textures that look stunning in my handcrafted floral birds and botanical frames.
-
Glycerin-Preserved Reindeer Moss: Reindeer moss thrives in the sandy soils beneath our Northern Alberta Jack Pines. To keep this hardy moss soft and vibrant, I preserve it using vegetable glycerin. This process keeps the moss "plump" and allows me to add rich, natural colors for variety in my resin art.
DIY: How to Preserve Your Own Moss
Want to try your hand at botanical crafting? Preserving moss at home is a wonderful way to start your own nature-inspired projects. Whether you are building a terrarium or creating wall art, the key is patience.
I’ve put together a step-by-step guide for you here:
DIY: How to Preserve Your Own Reindeer Moss
If you want to bring a touch of the Northern Alberta woods into your own craft room, preserving reindeer moss is a rewarding project. Using a glycerin bath replaces the natural water in the plant, keeping it soft and pliable for years rather than letting it become brittle and dry.
What You’ll Need:
-
Vegetable Glycerin (available at most craft or drug stores)
-
Warm Water
-
Rit Liquid Clothing Dye (in your choice of forest colors)
-
A Plastic Tub and a Weight (like a heavy plate or mesh screen)
The Step-by-Step Process:
-
Prepare the Mixture: Create a solution using a ratio of 1 part vegetable glycerin to 2 parts warm water. The warmth helps the glycerin and dye mix thoroughly.
-
Add Your Color: Stir in your Rit Clothing Dye. Start with a small amount and add more until you reach your desired shade (I have coloured mine green, purple, blue...the colours are endless)
-
Submerge the Moss: Place your cleaned reindeer moss into the tub. Because moss is naturally airy, it will want to float!
-
Weigh it Down: Place a weight (like a plastic lid with a rock on top) over the moss to ensure every strand is completely submerged in the liquid.
-
The Wait: Let the moss soak for at least 3 weeks. This gives the glycerin enough time to fully penetrate the cellular structure of the plant.
-
Dry: Remove the moss from the bath, gently squeeze out any excess liquid, and lay it out on a drying rack or paper towels to air dry.
Once dry, your moss will stay soft and vibrant indefinitely!
Pro Tip: If you want to see this process in action, there are many wonderful tutorials on YouTube. I highly recommend searching for "Glycerin Moss Preservation" to watch different artists' techniques and see the beautiful color variations they achieve.
Experience the Magic in Person
If you prefer a hands-on experience, I invite you to join me at one of my UV Resin Workshops. It’s a space where we explore the quiet magic of the Boreal Forest together, using preserved moss and local botanicals to create something uniquely yours.
UV Resin Workshops Cold Lake Alberta - How to Join:
https://dragonflytreasuresresinartshop.ca/pages/uv-resin-workshops
Meet the Boreal Birds:
Alberta Parks:
