Hello and Happy New Year! The new year can be such an exciting time; the holiday rush is over, the decorations have been packed, the cookies have been eaten, and half of the gifts have been returned… but maybe that’s for a different post.
Sometimes though, all of the empty winter quiet can be dull and nothing brings me the sunshine feelings of spring quite like daydreaming about my garden. However, until the snow melts here is a fun way to do some indoor mini gardening.
Whimsical DIY Living Terrarium from a Craft Ornament
You Will Need:
- Baby Succulents
- DIY Open Christmas Ornament
- Dirt
- Spoon
- Long Tweezers (Optional but super helpful)
** Check out your local craft store’s collection of DIY Ornaments, they’re most likely on sale now that it is after Christmas
Step One: Gather Your Baby Succulents
You can prepare baby succulents by beginning the stages of propagating succulents you already own. Here is a quick guide on how to accomplish this:
- To propagate succulents, simply break off individual “leaves” of the existing succulent and lay them down on top of a shallow container of dirt.
- Next, place the container in the sun and water sparingly so the “leaves” do not rot.
- Within a couple of days to a week you will begin to see roots form from the plucked “leaves” and within two weeks you should notice the formation of new succulents.
- Do NOT remove the early signs of baby succulents from the plucked “leaves” until the babies form their own leaves and roots. You do this because the old leaf supplies the new succulent with nutrients as it decays (like fertilizer).
**If you would like some more detailed reading on how to propagate succulents, click HERE for a post from succulentsandsunshine.com
Here are my babies.
Once your baby succulents are large enough to harvest, go ahead and separate them from the group to be used. Then remove each of the baby succulents from their original leaf with the roots in tact. *This is the key, because if you pull the baby without pulling the root with it, it will likely die.
Get each of your babies ready and then set up your ornament, dirt, long tweezers, and spoon.
Step Two: Fill the Base of the Ornament with Dirt
Use your spoon to place a shallow layer of dirt into the bottom of the ornament.
You want to use tools that will help you keep your ornament clean as you complete this craft because you won’t really have the opportunity to clean the inside portions of your ornament once everything is set into place (if you try to clean it you risk bumping into your set succulents which could uproot them and cause headaches).
Step Three: Plant your Succulents into the Shallow Dirt
This is where the long set of tweezers come in handy.
You don’t need to go out and purchase any tools though, I just used the tweezers from my cricut tools along with the back end of the spoon. Both of which worked perfectly fine.
It’s seriously that simple… buuuut if you would like to be fancy you could add some teeny tiny decorations.
Step Four: (Optional) Add Decorative Rocks
As a child, I used to collect rocks, and for whatever reason I still have them all in a big wooden box that now works as a large door stopper. Anyways, I used some rocks from my collection to add as mini pops of color with purple Amethyst, green Jade, and clear Quartz. (Truly I am not a millennial hipster who collects crystals, I just like the pretty colors.) You could use any colored rocks, painted rocks, small trinkets, or anything else you can think of.
I definitely used and recommend using the tweezers or other tools to help you place these!
Step Five: Enjoy!
Some Simple Care Instructions:
Watering:
You can water your baby succulents with a few drops of water every week or so. You can use your teaspoon to help you measure. Seriously though, do not over water these.
Sunshine:
Succulents love the sunshine. I recommend hanging your creation in or near a south- or west-facing window.
Repotting:
Within a few months they will continue to grow and eventually you can replant them in a larger pot or in a succulent arrangement with the plant that originated the babies… aww like a family reunion, that’s so cute. Yeah, do that.
Also, if you are looking for a way to indoor garden without the dirt or responsibilities of care check out my DIY Felt Succulent Craft Kit and Instructions HERE.
Whatever you choose to do I hope you enjoyed this DIY and have a whimsical week!
