I wanted a large patch of grass for the giant diorama I will make one day, to fill up the giant cage where all my piggies lived so happily, currently inhabited by a single pig who does not get along with any others. Instead of that cage becoming a gigantic sad empty gaping hole, it would be fun to move all dioramas and create one, as a tribute to te joy that the piggies brought us for many years.
I did several tryouts for miniature grass. I needed something which could be cleaned in soapy water every now and then, easy to be removed and installed again, due to our dust allergies. The first attempt, grass made from PVC, looked stunning, cleans perfectly, but the grass “leaves” are firm, so they make the Sylvanians topple over, so I hoped for something better. And so did the all year long journey of grass stress start, lol. The picture might not show too well that the grass has different colors of leaves, which makes it look realistic.
The second attempt, grass made from polyester, arrived in the wrong color: instead of bright luscious green grass, it was dark green and had black soil in between. It shed like crazy, which did improve much once it was bathed gently in soapy water. It looked dark and dingy, no way that could serve as jolly late summer grass at all. I made the Halloween diorama of it, before tossing it out the door. I had a second patch which shed so much, I had to toss it away before I could even use it for a single event. I got my money back, luckily.
The third attempt was horrible and completely nasty. Polyester fibers sprayed onto paper, which was not as advertised at all. It looked much more realistic on pics, it looked completely fake in reality. The color was far too bright, no variation in "leaves" color, not adhesive at all, folded instead of rolled, creased and wrinkled like a Shar Pei. I tried bathing it carefully, as it also tended to rip, at least that made the folds go flatter so it could be stored. I figured I could use it once before tossing it out the door, and had to think long and hard how, and it would include Photoshopping the creases. I got a refund too this time. More of the plans in a few weeks, keep you eyes peeled for new ideas. This is how it looks at best, still not acceptable.
So, I decided to do yet another attempt at ordering the polyester grass in the correct color, and not the paper version. It looked better, yet still a bit darker than I hoped for. It was shaken out well before entering the house, and there was only minimal shedding this time, but it did smell a lot, yuck. It got bathed in the tub in soapy water, and rinsed in clear water, to get that smell off as well. Unfortunately, the brown top soil color came off after bathing, so now I had dark green grass with black soil spots in between again, just like the one in the pic above. Sigh. Not usable for a cheerful setting unless it was for Halloween, and I did that one already. I did not ask for a refund, as I was to blame for bathing it.
I decided to paint the open black soil spots in multiple layers, with paint and resin color powder I already had lying around. And I added some dots of color, as if it's a meadow with tiny flowers. “We don't make mistakes, just happy little accidents.” said Bob Ross. I agree! But, the result was not suitable for usage in a cheerful diorama. It was OK to be used for some temp diorama one day, and be tossed after, I will store it meanwhile. No ideas for it yet. This is the result.
Next attempt: go back to the first grass I bought, made from PVC. I will make Sylvanians lean against stuff, as I use it now. If I even need a Sylvanian to stand alone somehow, I will find a solution for it depending on the individual circumstance of each Sylvanian which needs to stand on the grass. I hope it arrives well. I had enough of grass stress for now, lol!
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