I'm guessing the snake and gator are artificial?

For critters you can add coons, crawfish, frogs, kingfishers, pelicans, beavers, and ducks.

For plants, cat tails, lily pads, black gum, tupelo, cyrilla, palmetto, sweey bay magnolia, swamp willow, red maple.

What will this be made out of....how will it be presented/used?

What will this be made out of....how will it be presented/used?

There is an end table my mom wants to get rid of, and I thought, wow, I can make a Swamp themed, for lack of a better word, "topper". I have gotten some plywood from our new craft store, it';s a Micheals crafts store. I got it cheap there. My mom got me a $50.00 gift card for my birthday, in October. That on top of a 40% coupon in our local paper add-ins and a 50% coupon later, attached to my store receipt. I purchased me a top layer of plywood to top the end table. I may not like a bayou or swamp area if I lived there, but TV has made it appealing. I would think it's okay, if not for the snakes, the gators are big enough to see, the snakes "cottonmouths" seem to chase people, so no thanks, I would rather avoid them.. I have already gotten the needs to make the swamp water, a yes "fake " gator. I still need a "cottonmouth" fake, of the right size. The previously mentioned raccoons, we have in Pa. They come on our porch and try to eat the cat food before our cats get it, only 2 cats don't come in and eat. We get skunks sometimes, but nobody (cats) come to challenge them.Anyhoo, I still need crawfish, frogs,Pelicans and ducks in miniature. That should be easy.. We have bullfrogs in a pond about 400 ft downhill from my house. In summer they are always croaking. There are ducks I n this pond sometimes in summer. Never pelicans. I THINK crawfish are ocean living beings I think I have one in miniature already, but it may be too big.. As far as plants go, this may be hard to get in miniature. I may need to get creative. We have real cattails here, I may have to make them out of some native plants. I can make lily plant fakes out of some Creeping Jenny. Just cut and paint green, (mine are yellow) The others mentioned are not recognizable to me except for Palmetto. I have a Saw Palmetto in my yard, but it is wrapped in burlap because it is colder here than there native area. I have 2 in small pots from seed. They will always need protection here, unless global warming goes crazy. The beavers are surely active in a bigger river area. My area hasn't got the BIG area of waterflow. For lack of the right words. We don't have large flowing rivers near me. I will be going to see if I can find these swamp natives in miniature. I still have money on my craft store "Micheals" card. I have money on my "Jo ann fabrics" card yet also. There is a store about 40 miles from me that is big enough to have crafts as well as fabrics. I am hoping to find a miniature snake that could pass for a cottonmouith, and a pelican or duck. I am clueless what a kingfisher is, I am guessing a bird. I know a quick websearch can solve this. The trees are not really specific when you buy fake trees in a hobby/crafts store. I haven't found any trees yet for the mini swamp. Cypress trees will be easy to spot. I am sure I can sort of fashion a tree to look like a Cypress, it would be nice to locate a already real looking DOZEN or so examples of them to add to the fake water.

Sounds like you want to make a diorama. Woodland Scenics is a good source for terrain building supplies. Most hobby and model railroad stores will have that brand.

That is probably the right word for it. I haven't started yet, but when I'm done, which may take a while, I'll post a pic. Thanks all for the help.

You're welcome.