My friends recently bought their first home together, giving me a reason to get outta my crafting rut. (I can’t believe it’s almost April and it’s been months since I crafted, yikes!) I had to come up with something cool since they gifted me these awesome laser wood cuttings—why, yes that lamp shade is made of wood! (soon to be available for purchase from studio tomi)

The vertical succulent planter has been blowing up on Pinterest so I had to give it a try. There are so many tutorials out there, but the one from Better Homes and Gardens is the most helpful.

Here are my photo-documented steps:

1. Collect succulent cuttings and allow ends to dry/callus 2-3 days before planting. (I found cuttings on Etsy)
2. Using wire cutters, cut hardware cloth to fit the frame and staple/nail/glue (whatever it takes) to the inside of the frame. (Hardware cloth can be found in the gardening section of your home improvement store, near the chicken wire. BTW, I have tons of extra hardware cloth to make 20 more of these so you’re welcome to have some :))
3. Nail 1/4 inch plywood to the back of a shadowbox and nail a frame to the front. (I found an open shadowbox and old frame at Salvation Army for only 5 bucks!)
4. Drill a few holes in the plywood to allow water to drain.
5. Paint shadowbox. (I used 1 base coat, allowed 4 hours to dry and then 2 coats of outdoor acrylic, allowing 2 hours to dry in between.)
6. Fill with cactus/palm potting soil by gently pushing it through the hardware cloth. (This step took a crazy long time—my shadowbox was way too deep at 5 inches and took 8 quarts of soil!)
7. Use a chopstick/pencil to dig holes and plant the succulents in whatever pattern you prefer.  
8. Allow succulents to root 3-4 weeks before turning it vertical.

I tend to kill any and all plants under my care so I hope these last in their new home.

I also wanted to make some wall decor since my succulent planter ended up being too heavy for hanging. Relying on my handy dandy Cricut, I crafted this sign:

It’s to memorialize all the Mondays with Miah themes between the wedding and housewarming. The initials show the location of their old home and the new one.

Hooray for Miah and Christie for becoming new homeowners and soon-to-be parents!!