DIY Diary // 06

Is there anything more wonderfully DIY than a garden?

Last year, I wanted to find out the color of my thumb. Prior to receiving some succulents for my birthday, I think the only plant I had ever cared for was some lavender that came in a florist's basket that somebody sent one of my parents when I was seven. It died. But I don't really know if it was my fault for overwatering it or if it became lunch for one of our family cats. Maybe a little of both, but I wasn't convinced that it was a black mark against me.

I'm proud to say that four of the five succulent plants that I got last year are still alive, which I think gives my thumb fairly green hue. The one casualty was my sweet little cactus that died while we were away on our honeymoon, although it wasn't looking so good in the weeks before, leaning like the famous Italian tower until it fell over, completely horizontal. After the painful experience of planting it using makeshift paper-towel mittens that got stuck in the hooks (and removing the paper from the cactus spines was not an adventure I'd like to repeat), I'm not so sure I'll be replacing it this year. I also can't say much for the basil plant we bought on a whim from the grocery store that turned into brown stalks over the winter, but since Ben was primarily responsible for that plant, I don't think it counts against my mostly positive record.


Once we finish our major kitchen project, I can't wait to add to our outdoor oasis. Although we don't have a yard, we make good use of our sunroom during the spring, summer, and fall. Any plants that we decide to add will have to be in pots, and I think I've found just the ones:

Make your own planters:

1 // Hanging plant shelf // 2 // Gold rimmed terracotta pots // 3 // Dipped cement planters
(Okay, so the hanging plant shelf doesn't actually have instructions, but that would be so easy. Buy a board. Buy some hemp. Buy hanging hardware that works with your walls. Tie it up, you're done. Boom.)

Or buy and fill with your own plants (succulents are easy to care for and look good too):

4 // Metallic cement planters // 5 // Faceted hanging planters

Any of these would be beautiful on a patio, or even individually on a shelf or table to bring some of the outdoors in. Either way, a garden is your own little happy place, and putting plants in pots is a very easy, doable DIY project for a spring weekend!

*Also, how cute would the metallic cement planters look as centerpieces for a wedding? You could totally make them yourself if you wanted. Just sayin'*

Succulent Garden

Last week was my birthday, and I told my mom that the thing-I-wanted-most-in-the-whole-wide-world was a succulent garden.

Why? I don't know. I've never gardened before in my life. I can't keep plants in my house because my adorable and lovable furry child thinks that they make a great dessert. I feel the same way about cupcakes.

But succulents...easy right? They're essentially cacti, so they are hard, relatively inedible, cute, and don't require much water...so neither Aslan or I should be able to kill them.

So these arrived at my door last week and I couldn't have been more thrilled...

...until I tried to plant that cactus.

I read that cacti live in hostile environments and had developed some pretty creative mechanisms to defend themselves like spines that look not-so-dangerous because they're bent until you touch them and they turn into a barbed torture instrument. So I followed the instructions and grabbed a paper towel to wrap around the cactus while I picked it up to re-pot it.

The paper towel offered about as much protection as panty hose. Those little barbed spines went right through and got all tangled in the paper towel...and my hand. I'm pretty sure that each one actually has its own brain because at one point I was able to remove the paper towel and the spine that was previously stuck in the towel re-lodged itself in my finger THREE TIMES. It was holding on for dear life...as I'm sure I would if I were being unwilling transplanted into a new home.

It also may have been mad at me for dumping soil straight on top of its head. Oops. Trying to get that out was like brushing the inside of a pincushion. Or at least what I imagine that would be like.

After painfully repositioning it in the pot three times, I was finally able to plant two of the other ones...and after all of it, I am totally in love with my new babies!

Now I just have two more to find pots for, and at least neither has prickles. Thank the lord.

Happy Thursday!