DIY Pumpkin Succulent Planter

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Our love for succulents has never faded. We love them, year-round! So, recently when we took a trip to find pumpkins at a garden center and saw pumpkin planters with succulents, we were head-over-heels in love. We made our own versions of the pumpkin planter {we bought the one with the skeleton}. This no-carve Halloween arrangement can be made for friends and family this Halloween and Thanksgiving season, and when pumpkin season is over, transfer the arrangement to a more festive winter holiday base.

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Materials:

  • Mini pumpkins, faux or real
  • Succulents, mini
  • Hot glue
  • Skulls and other fairy-size decorations
  • Moss, Spanish Moss
  • Glitter hairspray

Directions:

Step 1: Gather supplies.

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Step 2: Glue a handful Spanish Moss to the top of the pumpkin.

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Step 3: Insert the small succulents into the moss. Use a little hot glue if you have to keep them in place.

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Step 4: Add any other types of moss and mini stems to the top of the pumpkin. Finally, glue a skull or fairy-garden accessory on top.

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Step 5: Spray hair glitter on the arrangement. This can be wiped off later, but the sparkle is so cute!

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You’re done. To keep the succulents alive, spray them with water.

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DIY Let Love Grow Plant

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Dolly Parton said it best, Let Love Grow.

When we really look around, in spite of the horrific hatred we see daily on the news, we find that love still exists. In fact, love is all around. But, sometimes we need a little reminder. To us, the heart shape, whether big or small, signifies love. Inside of us, it represents this beautiful life with every heart-pumping beat; but outside of us, the shape represents love, goodness and kindness. When we open our eyes, minds and hearts, we find that not only is love everywhere, but hearts are, too. And, with every heart we spy with our eyes, it’s an opportunity to reflect on the love in our lives, and how we can share it with others.

Last week, we saw a heart designed on the top of our latte. Everyday, as our children learn to draw hearts, we pause to think about the love and joy that lives in their hearts {and the role we play in shaping what love looks like in their world}. Every time we send and receive a handwritten note from a loved one, it’s signed with a heart. And, just the other day, one of our kids saw a heart-shaped cloud in the sky.

Recently, we used our green thumbs to create a green heart to remind us to let love grow. The plant can be transplanted outdoors if it outgrows the container, and good news – it’s a perennial – so it will come back year after year.

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Materials:

  • Plastic Pot Saucer, Home Depot
  • Sedum Tile Ground Cover
  • Scissors, sharp {garden scissors}
  • Potting Soil
  • Chalkboard sign, small stick and pen

Directions:

Drill several holes into the plastic saucer. We drilled one in the center and four evenly spaced around the saucer.

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Fill the planter 1/2-3/4 full with dirt.

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Remove the entire square tile of Sedum from the container and flip it over. Use chalk to draw your design, or eye-ball it. We chose a heart, and without lines to follow, we began to cut.

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Place the heart in the center of the saucer with dirt, and then fill in all the surrounding space with dirt.

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Make a sign – Let Love Grow or Love Lives Here – and insert it in the dirt.

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DIY Retro Camper Planter

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Summer is on our minds. We can taste the refreshing sweetness of watermelon, and feel long summer nights in the air. In the summer, adventure awaits! Whether the adventure is at the pool, in the woods, on the road or in the air, we like to go, see and do with our kids.

In addition to the sense of adventure we’re feeling, we are also slightly obsessed with retro campers and airstream trailers. No, camping is not our forte. We take after our dad on that one, but if we had a retro camper, we may be convinced to venture into the wilderness. Jenna would most definitely have a pair of heels in tow.

Until that pretty, retro camper comes along, we will have to create our own DIY versions of them. This pink one is going to a special teacher about to venture out to a new school and job. This would also make a great gift for graduates and friends who love to travel.

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Materials:

Directions:

Print a retro camper, designed by the Silhouette America store. If you don’t have an electronic cutter, you can find one online, print, cut and trace.

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Roll out the clay, place camper shapes on the clay, and trace with an X-acto knife.

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Set the shapes on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, and bake in the oven according to package directions.

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Once shapes are cool, paint them.

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Let the paint dry. Assemble the retro camper with all the shapes and E-6000 glue. We made a yellow pennant flag banner, and love the playful look it adds to the camper.

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Buy or design a Hello Adventure design from Silhouette, and print the vinyl design according to package instructions.

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Place strips of painter’s tape over the top of the design, and remove. The text should now be on the tape.

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Place the tape {with text} sticky-side down on the planter, and use a straight-edge to remove any bubbles.

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Piece by piece, remove the painter’s tape, and the vinyl should stay on the planter. If your planter is wood like ours, you may have to use one finger to hold the vinyl in place as you pull the tape up.

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Add a liberal amount of glue to the back of the retro camper, and glue it to the planter. Let it dry for 12-24 hours so it doesn’t slide down.

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Plant a pretty plant.

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DIY Scrabble Tile Planter

One of our favorite DIY home sites is Curbly. With an abundance of great ideas and projects, they inspire us to love where we live, and update our homes with DIY details.

So, it is an honor to have a guest post on their site. We shared a DIY Scrabble Tile Planter. Good news, the plant is still alive, so it’s worth the small pile of sawdust to create.

Visit Curbly for the full tutorial.

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DIY Watercolor Mug and Planter

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 This photo hooked me.

The idea was brilliant. The cost was minimal.  The ingredients were already in a drawer upstairs. The impact was bold. Within 10 minutes of seeing the photos, Jessica and her daughter were dipping mugs in their favorite nail polish colors.

Instead of using it as a mug, Gabriella opted for a succulent planter. And, with that, she is the proud 4-year-old owner of this adorable, trendy succulent planter!

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Warning: this looks easy, and it is; however the nail polish is totally fickle and it took us several tries to get it right {we dipped dispensable products just to see how it worked}. And, the nail polish hardens almost immediately, so you have to drop and dip – quick, quick, quick!

You’ll Need:

  • White ceramic mug. You can find them for $1 at Wal-mart
  • Deep container you want to throw away or use for paint only
  • Nail Polish
  • Warm Water
  • Gold Leaf Paint
  • Pink Aquarium rocks
  • Succulent
  • Dirt and Rocks

How to Make It:

  • Fill the bowl with warm water.
  • Add a drop of nail polish to the water, and it should spread.  You can use a toothpick to help create a ‘swirl’ your looking for. For us, sometimes the nail polish spread like it was supposed to, and other times, the drop sank to the bottom of the bowl. It’s hit or miss.
  • If you want to use an additional color, drain the water, and repeat the steps.
  • If you mess up, or there’s s spot you don’t like, just use a cotton swab or pad soaked with Nail Polish remover to remove the nail polish from the mug.
  • Pat dry with a paper towel and let dry for 2 hours.
  • If you want a gold handle, add painter’s tape on the mug around the handle, and paint the handle gold with Gold Leaf Paint.

To make the mug a planter, add dirt and rocks to the cup, insert the succulent and top it off with pink rocks.

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{photos via j. sorelle}