P and P projects: Succulent terrarium

One thing I've been meaning to do for ages (and one thing I've had numerous requests for) is post fun little DIY projects that involve using Paper and Present products in ways you might not have thought about. But there's that constant problem I have of a lack of time, and so I have yet to start posting ideas and inspiration for the lovely folks in blogland. But I recently did a fun little project with a few items, so I thought it would be the perfect thing to kick off this new series, "P and P projects", however infrequent it might be. ;)



As you might have guessed, I spend a lot of time at the post office in my small town. Like every day. Over the course of the last few years I've gotten to know all the women who work there. They watched me lugging in packages while pregnant, then lugging in packages while lugging in a baby carrier, and now lugging in packages as my trusty little assistant lugs in a small package or two of his own.

One woman in particular is particularly smitten with Lachlan. She loves him. And I know she loves him because every single time I walk out the door as we leave, I hear her exclaim to no one in particular, "I just LOVE HIM!"

This one particular woman also happens to be a breast cancer survivor and recently was away for a month after having reconstructive surgery. We asked about her almost every day and were overjoyed when we found out what day she'd be back to work. It was a Saturday, and we don't normally go to the post office on Saturday, but we certainly made an exception on this day! I knew she'd love just being able to see Lachlan again, but I wanted to bring her a little something out of the ordinary to let her know she was a bright part of our day and that we missed her while she was gone.

I had a little succulent that somehow found its way home with me after a recent trip to Home Depot, so I decided to make a tiny little terrarium for her. Lachlan and I found a cute little sorbet glass at the thrift store for pennies and Lachlan carefully selected some rocks from our gravel driveway.

It was sort of sad on its own, so I used some of my 1.25 inch circle stickers in the colors pool and poppy. I just stuck the stickers together, one of each color, and then wrote the message "welcome back" on alternating colors. To keep the stickers in a perfectly straight line, I punched two small holes in the tops of the stickers and wove through a piece of the solid baker's twine in the color coral. I attached the twine to two bamboo skewers that I stained a light teal color (you could easily leave them natural), and then inserted the skewers into the planter at a slight angle.


I happened to have some cardstock in the same pool and poppy colors, so I created little flags out of the poppy cardstock and attached them to the top of the skewers using double-sided tape. Then I cut out a piece of pool cardstock about 2" tall x 4" wide and folded it in half to create a card. On the back of the card I wrote the care instructions for the succulent, and I decorated the front with a single poppy sticker with a hand-drawn heart. Lachlan "wrote" a little message on the inside of the card.


I attached the card to the planter with a single miniature wood clothespin that was stained a coordinating light teal color. The woman loved it and said she put it on her kitchen windowsill at home so she can see it every day. :)



I hope you enjoyed this little project, and hopefully it gives you a few ideas for a quick DIY gift next time you know someone who needs a little cheering up. I think they'd also make cute favors for a party, or you could even use them to display table numbers at a wedding or other event. I'd also love to hear any ideas you have about how they can be used, and what other fun things you might have done with a similar terrarium.