I have had this cute sugar mold
for over a year and have never really known what I wanted to do with it until now!
See it sitting there all lonely and empty, except for one little pot that gave me the idea.
It happened accidentally
when I dropped a tiny little terra-cotta pot into one of the holes and it fit perfectly! That gave me an idea to turn my sugar mold into a DIY Faux Succulent Display, so I picked up 12 little terra-cotta pots to get started.
These pots fit perfectly into my sugar mold.
Materials Needed:
DecoArt Chalky Finish Paint (Primitive)
I wanted these pots to have an aged french look to them
so I added some calcium carbonate powder to the paint to make it think and a bit lumpy. I didn’t measure when mixing the two products, I just kept adding powder until the paint was the consistency I wanted. It actually looked a bit like mousse!
Mix until its very think but still spreadable. Like a thick frosting!
First I painted the top
of each pot using DecoArt paint in the color Primitive. This is a great gray color and works so well when using this technique for covering up orange.
My granddaughter helped me with the painting and it was so fun to be able to just slap the thick paint on without trying to make it perfect. By the time we were finished with the first coat we were able to start over on the second coat. Two coats were perfect to cover the orangish terra cotta color and give them a nice textured look.
Once the paint was dry I then applied Jolie Brown Wax to the painted pots using a chip brush and then rubbing it in with a shop towel or paper towel. In some spots, I added a bit more dark wax until I liked the way it looked.
This little pot has been painted and waxed and is ready for the next step!
The next step for this faux succulent display
is to stuff each pot with craft foam. This is a messy job but I used a knife to score all along where I wanted to cut it and then was able to snap it off.
Cutting the foam by scoring it and then snapping it off.
While we were painting these small pots we also painted two larger pots that I picked up to make topiaries with. These pots will flank the ends of my DIY Faux Succulent Display.
Larger pot for making topiaries.
Back to the craft/floral foam…
I hot glued the largest piece to the bottom of the pot and then stuffed smaller pieces around the edges of it so that it would keep it sturdy and also keep the moss from falling down inside the pot.
Stuffing the pots with floral foam.
I fill it as much as I can to prevent moss from falling down inside the pot.
Once the pots were all filled with foam I put a bit of hot glue on the top of the foam and then covered it with moss. Many succulents that I see have rocks as the “ground cover” but this girl prefers moss…my project, my rules? LOL!!! I picked this moss up at Michaels but you can also get a very similar product here!
I chose moss to use to cover the foam but rocks are a good choice too.
Now it’s time for the fun part…adding the succulents!!!
I found these faux succulents on Amazon and took a chance because I really don’t like fake plants that look fake, but I also don’t like to pay an exorbitant amount of money for them either. I hit the jackpot with these babies, I honestly cannot get over how real they look and the price was fantastic. The variety in this particular set of faux succulents is just fabulous because I wanted them to be different shapes, colors, and sizes. This package of faux succulents is PERFECT!!! There were 15 in all and I paid $24. Wow! The succulents at Michaels were not nearly as life-like as these and were SO EXPENSIVE. I love Amazon!
Faux Succulents on Amazon!!!
If the stem was too long I used wire cutters to snip it to the length I need…then using a pencil I poked a hole in the center of the foam….dropped in some hot glue and stuck the stem of the succulent down in the hole as far as it would go.
TAH-DAH!!!! I love my new faux succulent display, it turned out even better than I had imagined and I’m thrilled to finally have something to display on the IKEA cabinet behind my sofa.
This was truly a very simple DIY project
and I only wish I had done it when I first got my sugar mold from www.decorsteals.com. But it’s finished now and I can’t stop looking at it.
As for the topiaries…super simple as well..I’ll be sure to write a post about them very soon.
Have a great week my friends and Happy DIY’ing!!!!
~Cindy~
….wife, mom, Mimi (aka grandma) and home décor enthusiast.
You are just so talented and inspiring! ??
Bev,
Thank you so much for stopping by the blog and for your kind words. It means the world to me!!!
Hugs,
Cindy
Love, love, love!
Thank you so much Julie! I really appreciate it!!!