DIY Project - make your own succulent planter
I love succulents! I must confess that I am the proud owner of a ton of cactus and succulents. Simply because they are so great! They look great and they don’t always die immediately when I forget to water them. And because these treasures are so incredibly practical, I love making little projects with them. As a decorative element for my fireplace, I decided to make a small succulent planter myself and show you how you can easily copy it.
Here is what you need for your own succulent planter
- Hobby Plaster
- 1 large bowl
- 1 small bowl
- Succulent soil
- A mix of 3-5 succulents
- Oil, liquid dish soap and water
For this DIY project I bought 2 cheap bowls at the Dollarstore. The small bowl must fit into the large bowl, leaving about 2.5 cm of space between them. When choosing the large bowl, I advise you to make sure it doesn’t have a rim. If it has a rim that is bent inward, it will be very difficult to get the hard plaster out again. It is better to use a bowl without a bent rim.
Start by lining your tabletop with old newspaper. That way you can clean up the mess faster at the end and not have permanent damage to your table. Now prepare your bowls by smearing them with a mix of soap, dish soap and a little water. The big bowl from the inside and the small one from the outside. Feel free to be a little lavish. The more of the mix you use, the easier your finished mold will come out afterwards.
Mix the plaster according to the enclosed instructions
My instructions said to pour about 4-5 inches of water into a bucket, then let the plaster trickle into the center until a small island peeks out there. However, depending on the material, this may vary a bit. After that, you need to mix the whole thing well. After about 5 minutes, the mixture slowly starts to get a little warm. As soon as it gets hot, the plaster works at full speed and it is time to process it.
Now fill the large bowl about halfway with the plaster mixture and then press the small bowl into the center of the large one. Just like I did in the pictures.
Press the small bowl into the plaster, until it goes up to the rim
Now you need something heavy to hold the bowl down for the next 10-20 minutes. The plaster will now need some time to harden. Once the plaster is cold you can take the small bowl out of the big one, but this depends on what plaster you are using and how long it takes to get cold. I recommend the fast drying one.
Once the plaster has cooled down, you can take out your new planter
Depending on how well you’ve distributed the oil mixture in the bowls and whether or not your bowl has a rim, your planter will come out of its mold well or poorly.
Unfortunately, in my case, I had a bowl with a rim. For long 20 minutes I despaired of getting the plaster back out of its mold. I shook the bowl, threw it upside down on the table, and even unpacked a hammer at the end.
When I finally had the planter out of its mold, it was missing a big chunk.
Fortunately, I still had some hobby plaster there, so I just stirred up some more. I waited for it to start hardening, then rubbed the edge with water and simply smeared it on the missing spot. After everything had dried for 24 hours, it was time to sand. Depending on how much oil mixture you have used, you now have to sand a bit, or you can just leave it as it is.
After sanding, you can still wipe the planter with a damp rag and then start filling with the soil and succulents. I like to mix a few different species together when doing this. I also collected some seashells on my trip through Italy, and I put them in there now for decoration as well. I collected so many shells in Italy that I can make a great decoration out of them. Instead of the shells slowly sinking into some drawer, you can turn these beauties into a piece of memory that will always let you remember the beautiful trip.
