Mini Succulent Garden DIY

| Allison

I love miniature gardens and polymer clay – this little project has them both! One thing that makes this garden extra special is the container. When I saw this old metal ladle at a sort of yardsale my grandma was having, I thought, “This would be perfect for a fairy garden!”

And it was.

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Isn’t it so cute? 🙂 I filled the ladle with dirt, added some moss, and stuck in the mushrooms and succulents I made from polymer clay.

I took some pictures while I was making the succulents so I could show you guys how to do it yourself. Let’s start with a really easy succulent.

Step 1: Roll lots of little balls from green polymer clay. (More than it shows here.)

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Step 2: Shape the balls into teardrops.

Step 3: Arrange the teardrops as the leaves of the succulent.

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Step 4: Smush together layers of teardrop leaves. Start with small teardrops, then surround them with slightly large teardrops and so on and so forth until the desired shape is formed. Attach the teardrops together pointed side down.

Step 5: If you wish, paint a little red-brown artist’s pastel onto the ends of the leaves.

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Now let’s try a harder succulent: (But this is definitely one of my favorites.)

Step 1: Roll a medium sized log of green polymer clay.

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Step 2: Cut the log into many small chunks with a knife of some kind (if you don’t have an exacto knife, a kitchen paring knife will work too.)

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Step 3: Roll one end of each piece to a point so you have a forest of little clay trees.

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Step 4: Pinch one of your trees between your thumb and forefinger, like so:Steallisonclay_succulents_mums_038

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Step 5: Squish five of these deformed tree shapes into a star, like this: Add a tiny cone in the center.

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Step 6: Keep adding layers of five around and around until you reach the desired shape. You can also dent the leaves with the end of a paintbrush or a toothpick.

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Step 7: Paint the tip of each leaf with red-brown artist’s pastel powder. (Rub some of the chalk onto paper, then brush it on with a small paintbrush.) This makes your succulent a lot more realistic.

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There we go! Know you know how to make two kinds of succulents. Play around with different shaped leaves to make different kinds of succulents.

Do you like making miniature gardens? If so keep watching for another post about them soon!

Thanks for reading, guys! 🙂

***Allison***

42 thoughts on “Mini Succulent Garden DIY”

  10. Wow!! I have been wanting to find a way to make a garden that will stay alive for a long time! This is soooo cool!!

    Addylover 🙂

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  12. That was hysterical, I saw the picture at the top and seeing the title I assumed that they were real, because they LOOKED real! But then I read that it was all made out of polymer clay, and I was like “What?!” Ha-ha! I LOVE mini-gardens, so I’m looking forward to the next post! 😀

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