Lava Lounge Grotto - need help finding finishing touches

Hey there,
One sore spot in my Lava Lounge has been the fireplace. The brick fireplace really didn't fit the motif very well as this picture illustrates:

So I went to work to build a grotto there. Mostly I used expanding insulation foam attached to various backing material (none of the foam touches brick) and a lot of black paint.

I installed a small fountain and put orange lights behind the foam and strategically cut through the foam so that the lights glow through making it look like hot lava. It's hard to photograph well, but perhaps this images give you an idea:

So now what I need is some nice little things to give it a little more color. I was hoping to find some artifical bromeliads, but I want SMALL ones, like the kind you find attached to seashells and magnets. That seems hard to find. If you have any tips on where to find them, that would be great.

I also might include some seashells, but I want to use ones I find on the beach ourselves instead of just buying some.

If you have any other ideas on how to bring some color into the grotto, it would be much appreciated.

and yes, I realize that it looks oddly square, but I did what I could do in the situation.

..sbim

That looks fantastic! Perhaps what you're looking for are Tillandsias? Here's an online nursery with a good selection:

http://www.teasnursery.com/page11.html

Perhaps you could also try creating a lava flow in the firepit area, to give it a little movement. I've never created one myself, but every time I go through the Primeval World scene on the Disneyland Railroad, I pay particular attention to how it was done there. If you create a series of wide rollers that stack onto each other, and cover them with a flexible black foam with splits in it (similar to how you did the sides of the fireplace), put lights inside and have the rollers all slowly rolling forward, it might look like lava flowing. It would take a bit of engineering to flesh the idea out, but it would look cool.

Thanks.
Yes, Tillandsias are what I am thinking of, but I need fake ones because this is in my basement and I have the lights off most of the time. If anyone knows where I can get some fake ones, please let me know.

I don't think I have enough room to do the moving lava trick. But it's a very intriguing idea. Thanks again!

..sbim

you can get some colorful plastic plants/flowers at local craft shops in the area....and for god's sake, why isn't that easter island head spitting water out of his mouth into the fountain??? I made a fountain yeras ago....sold it on ebay but i used that exact same moai..just drill a hole in the center of it's mouth, straight back about half way through the head, then drill a hole in the bottom, the same size as the plastic feed tube, so that it meets your first hole, forming and upside-down "L" configuration......set the tube in the bottom and seal all around it with hot glue/silicone caulk or what have you...let dry then fire it up....it's a cool. cheap, easy effect....maybe some dry ice in the pond to create mist....i used to have a fog machine in my tiki room for parties....that was always fun.

i noticed you may need a splitter in your line..it connects to the tube that runs from the pump and provides to connections -one to feed the main fountain and one connected to the moai from underneath the fountain where he now stands....this way water runs down like it is now but the moai will be spitting a nice arc of water into the main catch basin.....i wanna see pics when your done!!

remember -the smaller the hole, the better the water pressure to create the arc..if the hole in his mouth is too big, it will just dribble out like a senior citizen moai in the old moai retirement home... start with a 1/16" drill and if the arc overshoots the basin, drill bigger but not more than 1/8".......you can also play around with the placement of the moai too....

I haven't decided yet if I am going to keep the moai there or get a different tiki. That is one reason I don't think I will make it into a fountain. Cool idea though!

..sbim

SB, nice trick with the orange light. Very clever!

Great idea, looks wonderful..but livin' in Maine, don't you need a fireplace?? I like the idea of water shootin' out of a tiki..any tiki.

[ Edited by: IsleConch 2006-09-29 17:39 ]

I have another fireplace in the living room.
I'm just lousy with fireplaces!

..sbim

I found some fake grass and bromiliads today and put them in the foam. This in addition to a lei that I had from Oasis.

..sbim

Groovy! Great look!

today I found a couple of realistic looking flower shaped floating candles. They go well in the little pond.

I am keeping my eyes out for another nice fake tropical bush for on the left. and I want to find decent looking planters to sit them in.

Hmmm. I wonder if a trip to IKEA might be in order... :)

..sbim

Excellent work SBiM! One of these our butts are getting up to Maine. How can you not visit a place known as "Vacationland".

That's what I say!

Right now, the foliage is spectacular. and I would be more than happy to have you visit.

..sbim

Dig it!! Not sure if air plants will last that far up or how pricey they would be. The plants are relatively small.

They don't need dirt. Just glue it to a base and a spray of water every week or sonner. They, the people they, say to soak the plants once a week. I don't becuase I live at the beach.
The plants are between $3 and $6. For $8 Spanish mosh can be had. You just hang that off of anything.

I get the plants at Home Despot.

[ Edited by: Mr. NoNaMe 2006-10-03 16:15 ]

That fake grass looks great among the "lava rock" I say go with more of that. Ikea has some great indoor plants at reasonable prices and HOme DEPOT has the same ones for around the same prices but offers a one year replacement if they die (and you happento retain your reciept). But fake don't die. only collects dust. and looks real in the darkness of a tiki bar.

Great idea on the lava rock, looks great and hides your fireplace nicely!