Hello, pinners and crafters and DIYers,
Welcome to the June Pinterest Challenge Blog Hop, hosted by Erlene at My Pinterventures. The purpose of this Pinterest Challenge is to motivate all the participants of this hop (and our readers, too) to not just pin, but to try our hand at some of those projects we pin! This month’s post is entitled DIM, Did It Myself: Pinspired Succulent Garden Centerpiece. You might remember that: 1) I live in El Paso, 2) I don’t have a green thumb, 3) and I decorate with cactuses (cacti sounds so silly to me) for summer.
When I packed up my spring decor and dining table centerpiece, I realized I didn’t have a summer centerpiece to replace it with. Thought I could just set some artificial mini-succulents on the table and be done. But when I remembered I needed a project for June’s Pinterest Challenge Blog Hop, decided to take things a little farther.
Hopped on Pinterest and found so many succulent projects! These cutie little plants are extremely popular right now. Knew I couldn’t spend a lot of money, and no one even sees much less sits at our table, except the kitties when we aren’t looking! Loved this pin I found shared by Laura at Inspiration for Moms. Fulfilled all my prerequisites for this project: easy, inexpensive, and pretty.
I give you…
DIM, Did It Myself: Pinspired Succulent Garden Centerpiece
Laura’s list of supplies was: tray or planter box; dry floral foam blocks; artificial succulent stems; moss. I began my project with 5 baby artificial succulents in little pots. In addition, I used the following to create my succulent garden centerpiece:
- 5 artificial succulents in little pots (Walmart and Target, $2.00-$3.00 each)
- wide burlap ribbon (Hobby Lobby, $3.50 a roll)
- natural Spanish moss (Hobby Lobby, $3.50 a bag with coupon)
- 2 8″ glass jar candles (Dollar Tree, $1 each)
- 24″ metal tray with wooden handles (Hobby Lobby, less than $10 with coupon)
- glue gun
First Step
The first thing I did was to measure off a length of burlap ribbon long enough to weave around the open work of the bottom on the tray. I like the fact that the tray, or actually it is more like a basket, is open but I wanted to use Spanish moss and didn’t want it coming out. The burlap ribbon kind of held in the moss.
Second Step
Arranged the potted succulents into the tray. I was kind of happy with the way it looked, just like that. But my pinspiration succulent garden centerpiece was more interesting looking because of the height added by the pillar candles Laura used. Headed off to Dollar Tree for candles.
Was amazed to see I could buy artificial, battery-operated candles for a dollar! Almost went that route but found these taller, more slender real candles in glass, and thought those would be prettier.
The candle glass had labels on it so I had to soak and scrub them off.
Next
I assembled everything in the tray. Have read that an odd number of items is more interesting than an even numbers of things. Keeping that in mind, I used 5 succulents and 2 candles for a total of 7 items. Threaded the natural Spanish moss around the succulents and the candles.
Finishing Touch
My friend Carrie at Curly, Crafty Mom makes the best bows for her projects. She has some kind of bow-making device to help. I was surely wishing I had a bow-maker when I tried to make my little burlap ribbon bow for this tray. Remembered how some of the ladies made loopy bows for their Kentucky derbies at mom’s. Tried to copy what I had seen them do. The result is ehh… so-so.
Now To Have Some Company
So now that I have my succulent garden centerpiece, I need to have some company for dinner to show it off. The kitties don’t get too impressed by my DIM endeavors. PC often just sees more clutter and dollar sign$, I think. What do you think?
Kind of romantic looking at dusk, don’t you think. Maybe I should just fix some fancy (Weight Watcher-friendly) dinner for my Prince and the 2 of us can eat in the dining room alone.
I think I like the arrangement sitting on my burlap runner.
Your Turn
Do you have a summer centerpiece on your dining table? Would love to know how you decorate for the summer months. Had thought I would share pics in this post of my cactus decorations but think I will save that for another post real soon. Oh, and my tier tray…finally finished it today. Have you decorated yours?
Hope you will take a few minutes to visit some of the other gals’ blogs who are linking up for the Pinterest Challenge Blog Hop.
Let’s meet this month’s Pinterest Challenge hosts!
My Pinterventures • Cookies Coffee and Crafts
Sew Crafty Crochet • Sum of their Stories • Eye Love Knots
This Autoimmune Life • Love My Little Cottage
Across the Boulevard • Suzerspace • My Sweet Things
Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After
Purple Hues and Me • Decorate and More with Tip
Mom Home Guide • Our Unschooling Journey • Our Good Life
Intelligent Domestications • Craftify My Love
Life Beyond the Kitchen • K’s Olympic Nest • Teadoddles
Our Crafty Mom • My Family Thyme
Farm Girl Reformed
To join next month’s #pinterestchallenge, click here to sign-up ⇒ July Pinterest Challenge
Now, let’s see what the other hosts have created ⇓⇓
Thank you for coming by. If you have a Pinterest project to share, please tell me about it in a comment below. Go out and make it a great day, gals!
Hugs and kisses,
Nice job Leslie! I love anything with candles and plants I can’t kill! They say succulents are easy to grow but I have a dish garden that is wishing it never got delivered to my house because it’s in need of life support!
Tomorrow Heather (My Glittery Heart) is hosting a Pin It and Spin It Link up – you should link this up there too!
xo,
Kellyann
I need to check out Heather’s blog. I see her comments on many of the blogs I follow. Thank you for sharing with me.
What a pretty centerpiece. Anything I don’t have to water is a bonus!!! Love the burlap weaving…for the practical purpose and for how cute it looks.
Real candle light is soooo much prettier than battery versions. I invested in many of the latter and have them all over…and regret it: fake fake fake looking. Candles are one place where you definitely can’t beat the original!
Nice work, Leslie!
Thank you, Em. We really need to eat in our dining room…imagine that!! Then I can light and enjoy my candles.
I think it’s adorable, Leslie.
When I have a chance I’ll post pix of my latest soaping and lotion adventures…recipes courtesy of Pinterest, of course!
Oh, please share your soaping and lotion adventures. I think I would love making something really, truly useful like that. About done with making craft projects that I have to put somewhere once they are finished!!
What a great centerpiece to have on any table. I love the look of this. Could be rustic, farmhouse, modern or could be placed in any styled home. Love this!
What a sweet compliment, thank you. My house decorating is all over the place. No real theme so I am pleased that my centerpiece is kind of the same way.
What a sweet compliment, thank you!!
Leslie, I feel your struggle with live succulents. And here I thought they were easy to care for but I ended up killing them all so your alternative is perfect. A bow maker is a good idea too. Why are they so hard? Very nice. Am adding to one of my decor boards.
Thank you! Here’s to the heartiness of artificial succulents!
I love it! I’ve been on the hunt for some cute succulent plants for my little desk area – to add some green natural colors
Walmart and Target have cute, colorful mini-succulents for less than $5. They would be pretty in your new office.
That is so cute! Dang, one of my neighbors just had a yard sale and had a long narrow basket for sale. My mom kept trying to get me to buy it, but I said I had no use for it. Wonder if I can go harass the neighbor to see if she still has it! =)
This little centerpiece was so easy. Hope you were able to get the tray from your neighbor and make one of your own. These teensy succulents are everywhere for next to nothing. A dollar candles can’t be beat.
I think it’s beautiful, and I know what you mean by the family (and pets!) not appreciating your DIY projects! It’s nice to have friends online that appreciate what you do!
Thank you for your kind words. My kitties kind of snicker at all of my crafts and then proceed to lay on everything and get kitty fur in my paint, glue, inside the sleeves of my scrapbook pages. How dare they!
That is a really pretty table centerpiece.
Thank you!
Very pretty centerpiece. The succulents look great with the candles. Very pretty at night when the candles are lit.
Thank you, sweets.
What a nice centerpiece!! I don’t really do any seasonal decorating. I think about it, but never get around to it. It’s not so much lazy as I just don’t know where and how. I would love to have someone come in and decorate for me. LOL Or, at least, show me where things should go.
My best friend has such a great eye for decorating. She always recommends going big. Two or three big things rather than a clutter of small things. I never have had money to buy big! So I have little all over everywhere. But my little things usually have some sentimental meaning that makes me smile.
So cute! I think you did a really good job. I have a fake succulent on my desk at work, so they are definitely nice decor. And fake ones don’t die either! LOL
-Lauren
Artificial succulents can’t be beat!! And right now it is so easy to find inexpensive ones.
Leslie you did such a great job! I love the end result and the price point you did it for! It looks far more expensive that it was and you have the pride of knowing you did it yourself! Way to go!
Thank you, sweet friend. We need to actually eat in our dining room so I can light the candles!!
It looks nice and artificial is the way to go when you don’t have a green thumb (like me)!
No green thumb here, either!! I call kill an artificial plant.
Me too, probably!
This is such a cute and easy DIY! I love decorating with succulents and your centerpiece turned out great!
Jill – Doused in Pink
Thank you, dear friend. I have baby (fake but not dead, at least!) succulents all over the house. So glad they are enjoying such popularity.
Great decor idea! I love the tray you used, and the succulents and bows look great. Pinning!
Thank you, T’onna!
Very pretty – I love the color variety of your succulents!
Thank you!
I absolutely love it! Succulents are so “in” right now. Great job!
Thank you!! My centerpiece makes me smile.
Nice job. I love that this can be left out throughout the entire summer season.
Thank you. I am becoming quite a succulent-lover, especially for the artificial ones I can’t kill.
Leslie, I love your succulent decor! And the bow, too. Even though you seem not too happy with it. I have read about the odd number thing in decorating, too, and I like that you still managed to add the elements to your tray symmetrical (I am a sucker for symmetry, lol). If I were to live closer I would happily invite myself over for lunch or dinner and oooohhh and aaaaahhh at your DIM-accomplishments. I don’t really have a summer decor in place as I don’t enjoy seasonal decorating so much (I want to put things in a place and leave them there for ages, lol).
Thank you for visiting. When my girls were little, I always decorated for the holidays. Then I fell off doing it. But enjoy it again now. Just running out of room for everything between seasons!
What a pretty centerpiece. Candles and faux plants are my favorite in home decor, thanks for sharing!