I am pretty certain ya’ll know my love for succulents by now.
I don’t know what it is about those little guys that just makes me smile.
They are like little rays of sunshine!
Which brings me to today’s DIY.
They make the perfect gift for pretty much anyone.
They are cheap, cheerful and easy to keep alive (as long as you ignore them a bit and don’t over water).
I pinned this cute little planter on Pinterest and knew right away I would make one for my mom.
She loves anything green and also loves the little guys like I do.
Best part about this gift was the price and ease of creating it.
I purchased my succulents at Walmart and they came in these hideous little glass vases which I am repainting and re-purposing so that is not a total loss.
They cost about $8.99 each but are generally around $5-$6 when you find them in a planters pot.
The other benefit with these little guys is that they also had moss in them.
Total bonus!
I actually ended up having a little left over and am adding them to some other succulent pots for added drainage.
If you have trouble locating succulents locally I have used this fantistic Etsy shop with great success and great prices.
Glass Bowl or vase (you could use a pot too but part of the appeal is seeing the dirt and layers)
Rocks or glass stones (these are for layering on the bottom to create a place for drainage)
A variety of succulents
Moss and or a 50:50 sand and soil combo
Photos of your loved ones
A laminating machine or self laminating sheets
Hot Glue Gun
Wooden Sticks (I used a combo of wooden skewers and fat toothpicks)
Put a layer of rocks on the bottom of your bowl or vase.
Then layer in a little moss or your sand and soil mixture.
Then some more rocks if you didn’t have moss (you really want a lot of drainage).
You will typically end up filling your bowl or vase almost to the top then adding in your new little succulent friends.
Once you have the succulents planted you are onto creating the adorable little people peeking out.
I started with using my Creative Memories Story Book Creator program to create a little birthday card of sorts and to edit my photos.
I have recently rediscovered Story Book Creator and forgot how multipurpose it can be!
I have used it for many posts here on the blog to create images and fancy text.
It is also great for creating labels, cards, photo books, etc.
You can actually get a free trial on their site right now too.
I highly suggest checking it out!
Once you have created your little loved ones in mini size you will want to print them on card stock (that works best when working with a laminating machine) or if you are using self-laminating pages you can use regular printer paper or even photo paper if you want to have really clear images.
I recommend cutting your images out before laminating them.
I find you can cram more into a laminating sheet and they seem to stay in tact better if you cut them first.
Next, using your hot glue gun you want to add a little dot of glue to your wood stick and then attach it to your images.
Stick them into your planter in clever and cute ways and voila!
You have created the most adorable little succulent planter you just might make one for yourself.
