DIY Felt Succulent Planter and Craft Kit Instructions

Hello!

Who loves plants as much as I do? I know one person, my sister. We get this love of gardening from our Nana (grandmother), who spent many of her younger days digging in the dirt and growing beautiful flowers. Alongside her was our Papa, who had a passion for growing produce. When my mom describes her childhood backyard, it reminds me of the Garden of Eden. Together they had fresh vegetables, homemade jams, flowers, and more!

Unfortunately, by the time I came along, their gardening days were over. Papa passed away when I was just a baby and Nana left us a few years back to be with him. Gardening today is one of the many activities I can do to feel close to them. 

Although gardening runs in our blood, my poor sister doesn’t have the greenest of thumbs. A few years ago, when succulents became mainstream, the two of us took a trip to Lowes to start our love affair with these beautiful plants. As my planters and terrariums thrived, hers didn’t…

So, what was a sister to do? I made her succulents that would never die!

Here is how you can make your own.

There are two options for this tutorial: purchasing a craft kit from my Etsy shop HERE or Downloading the free PDF file to cut out your own pieces HERE. 

What You Need to Cut Your Own Succulents:

• A Variety of Green Felt or Felt in Succulent Colors of your Choosing
• A Small Amount of Brown Felt (this will be our dirt) Find the best price on felt at JoAnn’s
• A Sharp Pair of Scissors, I recommend Fabric Scissors
• A Glue Gun with Glue
• A Small Planter
• Stuffing for the Planter (I use recycled plastic bags)
• Pebbles
• The Downloadable Template HERE

If you purchase a craft kit here is what will be included:

• Precut Felt for Succulents (three succulents in a variety of shades of green are chosen at random unless stated otherwise at time of purchase)
• Precut Brown Felt “Dirt” Round
• A 2.6-inch Terra Cotta Pot
• Crinkle Paper
• Pebbles
• Extra Pieces (just in case)
• Adhesive is not included in purchased kit

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Step One: Gather your Supplies

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Step Two: Download the PDF Template

Step Three: Use the Template to Cut your Felt

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Step Four: Assemble the Succulents

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Roll-Up Succulents:

• Starting from the smallest leaf, add glue
• Pinch the beginning leaf to create a roll
• Grow your succulent by continuing your roll, adding small amounts of glue as you go along
  • Gluing a little bit at a time will make the succulents have a cleaner look. (Less glue = Less mess)
• Finish your roll by securing the end with glue
• Add additional petals to the outside of the roll to make the succulent wide or ‘full’ enough to fit your desired look
• Finished

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Mini Roll-Up Succulents with Petal Base

• Follow the same instructions for the roll-up succulents
• Once you have a roll, gather your other petal base pieces
• Take your roll and glue it to the smallest base first
• Pull up the petals from the base and glue them to the roll
• Glue this to the larger base and follow the same previous petal gluing procedure to adhere all of the petals
• Add the second large base in the same way
• You can even enlarge the pattern to create larger bases, which will lead to larger succulents
  • This would be nice for a large container

Step Five: Stuff your Flower Pot/ Planter

You want this planter to look realistic so you will need to fill your planter with “dirt” … but why waste perfectly good dirt (safe that for your real plants). You can use whatever filling you would like: Crinkle Paper, Plastic Bags, Pollyfill, Scrap Pieces of Felt, etc.

I use plastic bags, saving them from living a life in a landfill, and instead use them to fill my pots. 

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Step Six: Add your Felt ‘Dirt’

Once you have your “dirt” as high as you would like it, take your brown felt and cut it into the size of your pot. You can measure out the size needed by outlining the top of your pot or container. (If you purchased a kit, your brown circle is included.) Once it is cut, glue it in place. Be sure to get glue onto the sides of the pot to hold the brown felt securely in place. 

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Step Seven: Making the Arrangement 

This is the fun part! Arrange your succulents in your pot and hot glue them onto your brown felt “dirt”. 

Step Eight: Add Pebbles

**If you do NOT have a high-heat glue gun, you will need to do this step quickly, as the glue will dry quickly. If the glue is dry it will not hold onto the pebbles. For this reason, if you are using a regular glue gun work in small sections to keep the glue hot enough to adhere the pebbles.**

Take your hot glue and spread it over the areas where you would like to place the pebbles. While the glue is still wet, sprinkle your pebbles onto the glue and press into place.

You can use the pebbles to cover any imperfections on the sides of the pot or at the base of a succulent. Add as many pebbles as needed to achieve your desired look.

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Step Nine: Enjoy

Look at the beautiful succulent arrangement that you have made and pat yourself on the back for a job well done!

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Looking for printable instructions?

Click HERE for a PDF file on instructions for those who have purchased a Craft Kit from my Etsy Shop.

Click HERE for a PDF file on instructions for those who are doing this craft without a craft kit.