DIY a Fake Stone Planter from Styrofoam Box

          

This is a repost of a popular project which has been requested over on 

Facebook's Garden Art Junk group.

 

Here's what I do with those holiday ham styrofoam boxes 

I don't want to pitch into the landfill.

RECYCLE!

I make "stone" planters for my succulent pots!

Here's how....

and please note, this is best done OUTSIDE.

This part is messy!

Using a serrated steak knife, I cut the top edge down to make the box the size I wanted.

Then I scored all the sides with a wire brush.

I made stone shape grooves with a butter knife. You can cut as deep 

or as shallow as you wish to get the look you like.

Next, I brushed a some grey, white and black acrylic craft

 paint over the whole box.

Very sparingly, spray black spray paint at some of your stone joints. 

The paint will melt the foam and give it some very rocky texture. 

Don't over do it, you can always add more texture.

 Go slow and look at the results from all angles.

Now with a brush or a paint rag or a sponge of what have you,

 start layering on acrylic craft paint in rock and moss colors.

 I used black, charcoal grey, brown, several greens and even a bit of dark blue.

I do not plant my succulents directly in the styrofoam box. 

I keep them in their own pots so I can change them out as I wish.

 But I have to say, the sedum in this fake stone box look wonderful!

Succulent Wall Art

Succulents are everywhere these days. I have loads of them in my garden plus I have a stash of fake succulents in my studio Here's what I made with those faux plants, a wooden frame and a little ingenuity.

 I love how it turned out!

I got the idea from a gift catalog which listed art like this at a hefty price. I was able to make my version much more affordably.

I started out with a wooden frame that had just the one inch depth I needed. I cut the Oregon state shape out of foam board. 

The BEAUTIFUL planks are scrapbook paper! 

How I wish I'd bought alot more of this paper. On the reverse side it has the painted boards you see on the left side of this project.

I covered the foam board with that gorgeous paper then cut out the Oregon state shape.

Using thin cardboard, I hot glued a one inch strip all around the inside of the Oregon shape on the back side of the foam board.

Here's how it looks from the front. Now I have a place to  put my fake succulents!

I cut florist foam from my stash and hot glued it into the space I'd just made.

Then came the fun part!

I selected a nice variety of fake succulents and put them in place. I hot glued them into the florist foam once I liked the placement. The Oregon state shape got harder to recognize when it was done, but as a pretty art piece with beautiful contrasting colors and textures,

 I call this a win win!

This became a Christmas gift for my daughter and her little family to remind them of home. It turned out so sweetly that I'm going to make another one just for myself!

Come join me at these Linky parties.

http://akadesign.ca/weekend-retreat-link-party-116/