DIY Christmas Gift #1

STOP

No family members allowed to go beyond this point.

Violators will be prosecuted.

I guess technically this isn't the first DIY gift post of the year, but the first two were ornaments, so...

I bought the stuff for this months ago, knowing exactly what I wanted to do.

And amazingly, it turned out exactly how I had envisioned.

Gotta love it when that happens.

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Sorry, had to put those in there so the photos didn't show up in my sister's inbox.

She's not a peeker, but accidents happen.

Okay, so let's call this, DIY Faux Succulent Planter.

I bought the succulents at Joann's when they were 50% off.  Otherwise, those suckers are EXPENSIVE.

I used a coupon for the dry floral foam, and the sand stuff came from the Dollar Store.

The wood is from an old fence board that we had in the garage.

The box construction couldn't be easier.

No fancy mitered corners, just 90 degree angles.

I did use the nail gun, because The Dad had it out for something else, but a regular old hammer and nails would do the trick.

The bottom is just more fence board cut to fit inside the box.

I used wood glue on all the joints before nailing.

Once the box was together, it was just a matter of putting the foam in.

Once your foam is in tight, arrange your succulents.

If you're wanting to use something small, like the sand, as a top dressing, you'll need to "caulk" your seams BEFORE putting the plants in.

I used three pieces of dry floral foam, plus another cut to fit, and then ran a bead of hot glue around the entire perimeter and across all the seams.

Otherwise, all the sand falls down through the cracks and you have to start over.

Don't ask me how I know this.

With something like pebbles, rocks, or moss, you could skip the calking step.

I bought a dark grey sand, as well, because I couldn't decide in the store, but after opening it, the chemical smell that 'bout knocked me over, made the lighter color an easy choice.

I don't know why I didn't do it before, but after taking these photos, I pushed the succulents all the way down in, so that they're flush with the surface.

That way, you can't see their stems.  I just wanted to make sure I was committed to the placement before making a hole that went all the way to the bottom for the sand to escape to.

Fun, right?

And they're my sister's kinda house plants....NO maintenance.  :)

The hardest part is choosing from the hundreds of succulents in the store.

They're all so fun!

Okay, back to Santa's Workshop....