Simple Succulent Pots

Dude I am so into succulents right now. There is such an AMAZING variety down here in my new locale and it’s fab to come home from the grocery store with a $2 succulent I didn’t even know existed before! And since succulents are in, in, in, I’m so excited to be making up some crafty goodness to pop these babies in.

In general I’m becoming more interested in nature and being outside. Well, I guess I’ve always loved being outside but here we have 2 different beaches to visit and great weather for bicycle riding year round. I’m spending a lot more time outside than I used to and I am loving it!

But even though I love outside I can’t get behind bugs! Man do I hate them! I’ve seriously sat here and hit myself in the boob at least 4 times trying to get some sort of flying bug away from me. It keeps flying into my eyeballs and it’s wearing me clean out. Every once in a while I see it zip on past my face and I get all sorts of irritated. This BUG has bested me with my human logic and, now, human temper! Do you ever have anything like that happen? You’re trying to work and this bug has space issues, as in it won’t give you any. Ack! And the thing is, I don’t want to kill it. I’m constantly freaking out taking a spider to the backyard because I can’t stand the thought of killing something. Why should it die because of me? Poor thing I hate and am terrified of :)

So I’m down with outside but not yet down with bugs to finish that rant up… At any rate you came here for crafts, amIright?

For this project you will need:

• Clay pots
• Spray primer
• Spray primer
• Paint markers <— the ones from Decocolor are my fave
• Succulents
• Potting soil
• Aquarium gravel

Part of why I love painting clay pots is because it is a super inexpensive project because clay pots are so CHEAP! Huzzah!

First prime and then spray your pots a solid color. Don’t go straight for the paint because terra cotta soaks that business up. Only a good coat or 2 of good quality primer is going to help you achieve solid, bright colors.

Using your markers begin drawing a simple thing like a dot, dash, or X and repeat it in a straight line across the pot. Now it doesn’t have to be perfect or perfectly straight. In fact little differences will just add to the handmade charm!

If you place your designs in different spots it’s quite charming… see? Oh, I love these so much!!!

Next you’ll get your succulents planted in the pots.

I always manage to make such a mess! Be sure your paint is completely dry or you’ll have it stuck to your pots!

I like to put fish aquarium gravel on top because it’s pretty and it keeps Marla my kitty from digging in the plants. She just can’t seem to resist fresh dirt! But the rocks seem to trip her up :) I meant to buy white but when I got there I bought a HUGE bag of black. Not sure how that happend but the black works out okay and I’ve got like 4.5 pounds of this stuff left to use :)

Since I already had the paints, and if you’re crafty you probably have a big stash of spray paints in your fave colors, too, this can be a super cheap project. And luckily succulents are super easy to take care of (read super hard to kill, yay!) so even if you have a black thumb like me chances are you won’t waste money on plants because you’ll be able to actually keep them alive. So now I have awesome little plants in awesome little planters and more color added to my living room. This project is a win in my book!