DIY Crystal Succulent garden - beautiful tabletop centerpiece

I love all kind of plants both indoors and outdoors, especially Succulents. I have a lot of different Succulent species at home and from time to time I like to make different home decor arrangements or Succulent gardens as they are called. Last week I decide to combine two of my passions Crystals and Succulents and show it here. So here it is, my miniature Crystal Succulent garden :)

If you wish to know how to make your own Succulent garden see my previous tutorial post with DIY instruction!

Eventually these little cuties will grow, divide, produce babies and they will need to be re-potted into a bigger bowl so they can look like this :)

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DIY autumn home decor Falling Leaves tutorial - how to make a fall hanging

The fall has left us already and winter has not taken a real grip on south Sweden just yet. All leaves are gone and it is wet and cold outside. I miss fall colors, so me and my daughter decided to preserve some of the autumn leaves that we collected and make a pretty window hanging with them. We used maple leaves because they come in the whole range of autumnal colors, from golden yellow to burgundy red and me and my little princess really love the shape of these pretty leaves :)

So here is a fun DIY project with fall leaves to remember the Autumn.

Supplies: colorful leaves, candle wax or beeswax, double boiler, monofilament, clothespins

1. Slowly melt candle wax or beeswax over a double boiler; never allow wax to boil. Dip leaves in wax one at a time, holding by stem. Gently shake off excess wax. I used candle wax in this project.

2. Hang leaves on clothespins to dry. Some may be dipped again, depending on desired look; let dry between coatings. I used an old newspaper underneath the leaves to avoid wax stains on the floor.  

3. Hang finished leaves from lengths of monofilament.

I love how this project turned out. The leaves look like they've been frozen in time while falling down from the tree. And it gives us a chance to enjoy fall just a little bit longer! Next weekend it is time to start decorating before Christmas here in Sweden. I'm thinking of maybe making a Christmas decoration out of these leaves so stay tuned :)

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DIY Succulent gardens - how to instructions tabletop centerpiece

I love plants and I love succulents especially! Their shapes, colors and unusual looks always make me happy and amazed at the same time. I’ve already tried making succulent mini gardens before so when a couple of days ago I found amazing vintage bowls/vases at the local thrift shop I just had to do something about them :)

So here is a DIY instruction on how to make your own pretty succulent garden.

Supplies: bowl/vase/planter of your choice, succulents, cactus/succulent potting soil, decorative stones and pebbles, charcoal.

The pretty vintage bowls that I bought and some of the plants and cuttings that I've had at home...

Step 1: First, add a layer of pebbles to the bottom of your container. This will ensure that water drains to the bottom of the container and that the roots of your plants aren't sitting in water. If you have planters with drainage holes you can skip this step. Add a layer of charcoal (black sprinkles on the picture) above the pebbles to battle any possible smell issues.

Step 2: Fill the planter with potting soil up to an inch or two below the top of the planter. Plant succulents in planters. You can mix multiple types of succulents in each planter or use all the same. Arrange them any way you'd like.

Step 3: If there are spaces where the soil shows you can cover the exposed soil with flat rocks, pebbles, aquarium gravels, moss or other pretty greeneries.

... and here are my finished pretties :)

 

I loved how they turned out! So I made another one as a centerpiece for my mom (white oval bowl that used to be a nursery for my young succulents on second pic).

Some of the succulents and cacti that I've used in my arrengments: Sempervivum, Echeveria Lola, Echeveria Pulidonis, Haworthia Fasciata, Crassula Radicans, Crassula Ovata C. portulacea, Gollum Jade, Crassula perforata, Sansevieria cylindrica, Kalanchoe, Crassula rupestris, Adromischus cooperi Crassulaceae, etc...

I'm planning on making a Plant Terrarium next time, so stay tuned :)

More of my DIY projects