Mothers Day Cactus Arrangements

I wanted to make something creative for my Mother and for all of my momma friends for Mothers Day so I decided to take to something I absolutely love.. cacti!  This was such a fun project…not to mention quick and easy and pretty cost effective too.  I believe hand-crafted gifts always offer that extra sentimental touch and crafting can be so fun and soul-soothing.  So my dear friend Laura and I headed off to “Cactus Ranch” to hand pick individually potted plants that we wanted to incorporate into our designs. If you live in the Los Angeles area you must check this place out..such a hidden gem!  They offer a huge selection of cacti and succulents and in this drought-ridden season, these are the perfect plants as they require little care and so little water.

After selecting our favorite plants, we purchased clay pots of differing sizes, potting soil, rocks, ceramic paint (the paints from the Martha Stewart Collection are the best in my opinion), brushes, mini chalkboard signage and chalk from our local craft store and then proceeded home to get busy!  There are no instructions when it comes to decorating the pottery… there’s no right or wrong way to paint and you can let your creative juices flow.  We actually anticipated this being a two day project, assuming that we would have to leave the painted pottery to dry overnight.  However, within a half hour the pieces were totally dry and we were able to begin potting almost immediately.  Awesome!  (Depending upon the climate in which you live, drying times may vary).  This actually allowed for us to finish this project in under two hours from start to finish once we arrived home with the materials.

Once you decide on the layout of the cacti you want to use, assuming you are using a larger pot, make sure you secure each one with potting soil so they stand upright.  Press the soil  firmly around each plant and fill the remainder of the pot with soil leaving room for a thin layer of the colored rocks (we used white for ours but the craft store carries a variety of colors.)  The single plants are really easy to pot and make for a super cute gift, especially if you have multiple gifts to make.  Once potted, all that’s left is adding the finishing touches!  We used the mini chalkboard poles to personalize each of the pots and added chunks of amethyst to funk it up a bit.  There are so many cool varieties of stones that you can use in addition to the amethyst however.  The options are endless.

These guys were a were a hit and so fun to make.  They really are a great gift for any occasion and make such great decor for your home or office. It’s become somewhat of an obsession and they are starting to appear all over my own home.  Hope this inspires you to get creative!

XO