I tried to keep the DIY for my wedding manageable. Since I planned it in two months, I didn’t want to take on too many projects at once and have the wedding day come and have only a bunch of sad, partially completed projects to show for all my work. One of the reasons I like this project so much is that it served double duty! Table decorations by day, wedding favors by night.
Supplies:
- 3 different sizes of mason jars (8 oz, 16 oz, 32 oz)
- succulent clippings
- succulent/cactus soil
- craft moss
- paper funnel
- chopsticks
- succulent care sheets
The number of mason jars you need depends on how many tables you have, the size of the tables and how much space you want the decoration to take up. I had four 8-foot round tables and placed two 32 oz jars, three 16 oz jars and three 8 oz jars on each table. I bought my mason jars in bulk from Uline, but you could also find them in a grocery store if it is around canning season.
When I first started looking for succulents, I was afraid this project’s budget was going to go a little over! Fully grown succulents are a little expensive to fill so many jars, especially when some jars might need a few succulents, not just one. However, with a little luck and research, I came across the idea of using succulent clippings which are perfect for this project! I purchased my succulent clippings from the Etsy shop, Sanpedrocactus.
Once you have all your supplies, it’s time to start planting succulents! I found it easiest to create a paper funnel to fill all the mason jars with dirt. Another great tool to use is chopsticks. It’s practically impossible to arrange the succulents and moss how you want with your hand, so having some chopsticks available is a great help.
After planting the succulents, the jars look a little bare, but don’t fret! Once you add the moss, you expect a little gnome to walk out from under a leaf and the look is complete!
The one thing I was worried about was that I was giving away all these baby succulents and people wouldn’t know how to take care of them. Just one time of watering a succulent too much could kill it! Using some information that came with the succulent clippings I created a little fabric handout that people could take with them. Here is my design on Spoonflower, and a photo of the printed fabric:
I found some old, public domain illustrations of succulents online, created a grey border and chose some fancy fonts in Photoshop and I was done! I printed the instructions on Heavy Cotton Twill and pinked the edges so they wouldn’t fray. The final product comes out to a nice pile of helpful succulent tips that are around 4 in x 5 in. Even though the succulents were spread out on the tables, I kept the instructions on the guest book table with a sign telling everyone to take their favorite home with them.
Another idea is to print the instructions on a decal. I thought of this when I saw that my mother-in-law kept her succulent by a window in the kitchen with the succulent care sheet next to it. I thought it would be fun if she could have stuck the care sheet to the window above the succulent so she wouldn’t ever misplace it!
One of the best things about this project is after the wedding, you get to visit your friends and family and see the succulent they took home. It’s so great to see which one they picked and how much it’s grown.
Super cool ideas… It’s nice to see so much creativity lurks around spoonflower!
I love succulents! — We had vast succulent gardens at all of our houses when I was a child, the southern california sun loves those succulents! (They are an awesome drought tolerant plant!)
I love the idea of the instructions printed onto cloth, you could use it to tidy up drips when you’re watering also! —or as a plant ‘doily’ or plant placemat… Going to have to figure something like this out soon for gifting! — Thanks for the inspiration!
^_~