diy succulent mobile

Note: This post was previously published as a part of my freelance work here

Obsession confession: house plants. You can never have enough. They are the silent companions, the life teachers, and the friends who will always put a smile on your face.

Double obsession confession: succulents. They will never get mad at you for forgetting to water them, and they look like Mother Nature’s coolest alien.

Now here’s a fun new DIY to celebrate the obsession and fill your house with hanging succulents.

You’ll Need:

-          Sculpt It (air hardening sculpting material)

-          5 Old Jars (I used a mixture of jars from spices and preserves that varied in size)

-          5 Inches of stiff wire

-          String

-          Pointed clay tool or safety pin to poke holes

-          Paint color of your choice

-          Paint Brush

-          Cup & Water for painting

-          Painter’s tape

-          5 Small succulents & soil

Directions:

1.       Taking a small piece of sculpt it and roll it into a ball.

2.       Being flattening the ball into a round sheet with your fingers

3.       Mold the flattened piece around the bottom of a jar.

4.       Polk two holes on opposites sides of the clay where you will feed your strings through.

5.       Poke another hole in the center bottom for string as well.

6.       Let your sculpt it dry completely. Part way through, pull it off the jars and let it sit to continue drying. The whole drying process takes about one day or two. Be patient.

7.       Once your clay is dry, tape off the top half with painters tape.

8.       Thoroughly paint the bottom half and let dry.

9.       String two strings through the holes on either side of each planter, and knot them the inside to secure. Leave the strings on the smallest and second to biggest planters fairly long so that you can choose how low they will hang.

10.       To begin putting everything together, figure out which succulent you want to put in which container, and line them up smallest to biggest.

11.       Plant the biggest container first. Then, pick up the strings so you can find where it hangs centered. Once you’ve found the spot, tie a knot and feed the strandsthrough the bottom hole of the next planter, tying another knot to secure.

12.       Plant your second to largest pot next and set the two to the side.

13.       Plant the next three planters on their own using the same method. So you will have one strand of two planters, and another of three.

14.       Hang both strands from the ceiling so that the hole of one hangs next to the knot above the other. Stick a piece of wire in the hole and wrap it around the knot of the other to keep them separated like a mobile.

15.       And you’re done!

building plant beds

Here it is, the next step in our backyard garden adventure. After getting our plants started it was time to make a home for them to live in, two very big 3' x 6' homes. It involved down and dirty measuring, cutting, and drilling - and boy was it fun. 

To source the wood for our project, we stopped by one of the coolest spots I've discovered in Philadelphia to date. The place is called Atlas Wood Products, and it's located in a northern - I must say it, ghetto - part of of the city. We rolled up to this giant warehouse in the middle of abandoned ruins on one of the prettiest spring days. I had no idea what to expect, but we met up with the guy who ran the place and began to follow him inside. You first walk through a labyrinth of junk, this guy's a character, and then you make your way into a big open room filled with stunning wood creations that he's made for clients. I was immediately inspired, and then he took us further in to where we found what must have been the size of four football fields filled with wood.  Everywhere you looked there was wood of all kinds - palettes, barn wood, treated, scrap...you name it. We looked around and got all the wood we needed, including palettes to set our planters up on for water drainage.

After picking up all the materials we needed, we brought everything home, and over the next week began to piece our planters together. It felt so good to get tough - lifting heavy things, drilling in screws, and huffing and puffing around. Next time around, I think we'll be a bit more accurate and will design the planters differently, but the whole project was very fun. After all, we're no experts, we're only starting out and learning along the way. This is all just the beginning.

Measuring & sawing...

Drilling...

And there you have it. Two big planters to make a home for (most of) our plants in the backyard this season. I know these pictures make it look like Adam did all the work, but I swear I helped too.

 Next step, transplanting & soil. I also have a fun palette garden how-to that you won't want to miss. 

Stay tuned!