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DIY Cactus Ring Holder to Brighten Up Your Space

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August 14, 2017 By Rebecca D. Dillon

Learn how to make a DIY cactus ring holder! Made using polymer clay, this easy cactus ring holder offers a safe place to stash your rings! Molded onto the top of a decorative jar lid, this DIY cactus ring holder has space to stash your rings both inside the jar and out!

You’ll be using the same fun cactus silicone mold for this project that I used to create my DIY cactus soaps with eco-friendly biodegradable glitter.

I hope you have as much fun with this project as I did! I think this cactus ring holder would not only make a cute home decor accent piece in your own home, but it’s also perfect for gift giving!

DIY Cactus Ring Holder

What You’ll Need:

Darice 7 oz. Glass Craft Jar (1095-98) with Metal Lid
Blush Cactus Silicone Mold
White Original Sculpey Oven Bake Clay
Krylon Clear Sealer or similar
craft paints
craft paint brushes

What to Do:

Begin by kneading the polymer clay until it’s soft and pliable. Then press the clay into one of the cavities of your cactus silicone mold.

Clean any excess from the top of the clay in the mold.

Then carefully remove the polymer clay from the mold cavity. If you have trouble removing the clay cactus, set the clay aside for a bit to allow it to firm back up a bit before trying to remove it from the mold.

Now, using additional clay, cover the top of the metal lid to your jar. Try to keep the clay on top of the jar lid about the same thickness as your clay cactus.

Once covered, scoop out a small hole in the center of the clay on the jar lid that the base of your clay cactus will fit into. Place the clay cactus into the hole on top of the lid and use your fingers or a utensil to move the clay to hold the cactus in place. The clay covering the jar lid and the cactus on top should become one piece.

Leaving the clay attached to the jar lid, bake the lid and clay together in a 275°F oven for about 30 minutes on a baking sheet. Then remove the cactus lid from the oven and allow it to cool.

Once the cactus lid has cooled, use craft paints to paint the cactus and base as desired.

When the paint on your cactus dries, spray it with a clear acrylic sealer to protect it.

Now all that’s left is to fill the inside of your jar with rings or knick knacks and screw on the lid! You can also place additional rings on the arms of cactus! And that’s it!

I hope you enjoyed my project for making a DIY cactus ring holder. I know it’s not soap, but it does give you another fun use for your silicone molds!

If you enjoyed my DIY cactus ring holder project, I hope you’ll also check out my DIY cactus soaps! This fun soapmaking tutorial will walk you through creating your own colorful, glittery cactus soaps using a melt and pour soap base!

Want a cactus ring holder to spice up your space but don’t have time to make your own? You can shop for handmade cactus ring holders on Etsy here! I’m kind of sweet on this super cute cacti ring dish from Chicko Craft. But there are so many great ones to choose from!

For more DIY projects like this one, be sure to check out my Jonesing for Crafts Pinterest board. Or simply follow all of my Pinterest boards here.

You can also follow me on G+, Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, Blog Lovin’, and Instagram. Or sign up to receive new posts from Soap Deli News blog to your email via FeedBurner so you never miss a post.

Filed Under: DIY Craft Project, Handmade Home Tagged With: cactus, crafts, diy, easy, fun, gift idea, handmade home, home decor, how to, jewelry storage, organization, organizer, polymer clay, ring holder, storage, summer, tutorial

DIY Geometric Glass Terrarium with Faux Plants

June 22, 2017 By Rebecca D. Dillon

Learn how to create your own DIY geometric glass terrarium filled with faux plants! This easy tutorial will walk you through the steps to creating your own unique terrarium arrangement for your next home accent piece – all without the worry of watering and maintaining your plants.

I’ve been wanting to create my own faux terrarium for some time as I have a particularly poor green thumb. I’ve been known to overwater succulents and underwater houseplants so I tend to stick to throwing wildflower seeds about outside when it comes to planting.

I also wanted a terrarium for a rather dim room in my home which never seems to work out in my favor. So rather than buy a live terrarium I decided to create my own custom DIY geometric glass terrarium using rocks, orchid bark, preserved moss and fake flowers.

I kind of winged this project as I’d never tried creating a terrarium using fake plants with no dirt to root them into. But I ended up being pleased with how pretty my DIY geometric glass terrarium turned out in the end.

Ready to dive in and make your own beautiful terrarium that never dies? Keep reading to learn how. However, keep in mind that this is YOUR project. So be sure to try materials and preserved plants that speak to you and fit your own personal creative taste!

DIY Geometric Glass Terrarium

Materials Needed:

Quality Growers The Moss Collection Preserved Moss (or SuperMoss Preserved Moss Mix)
Orchid Bark or similar
small rocks or pebbles
geometric glass terrarium, of choice
green floral foam
strong multi-surface glue that dries clear
faux flower stem(s)
skewer or chopstick
scissors and/or knife

Directions:

Once you’ve shopped for and gathered your materials you’re ready to get started!

You should be able to find most if not all of the elements needed for your DIY geometric glass terrarium at your local craft store in the floral section. If this option isn’t available to you, you can easily find the items you need online.

You’ll begin by cutting down your block of green floral foam. (I used a wet foam block as this worked better for my purpose.) Cut the block so it’s about a half an inch high. Then cut the edges into a shape that fits inside of your geometric glass terrarium.

You can do this by placing the terrarium on top of the foam block and tracing a line around it. Then using a knife cut the block slightly smaller than the opening in your terrarium. You want it small enough that you can get the foam block into the terrarium after you’ve glued the elements onto the top and sides.

Now spread glue across the top of the floral foam.

Once you have the glue in place, tear off a section of the moss and gently press it onto the foam.

Clip smaller sections of flowers or buds from the faux flower stem you’ve chosen to use and position them around and in between the moss, pressing the stems into the floral foam to keep them in place.

Follow this some of the orchid bark, gluing it onto the floral foam as desired. Then, repeat this process with more moss, flowers and bark on the top and sides of the floral foam to suit using more glue as needed.

Repeat until the entire foam block is covered.

If desired you can also glue rocks as well to the top of the arrangement.

Once you are satisfied with the arrangement, allow the glue to dry.

Once the glue on the arrangement for your DIY geometric glass terrarium has dried, place some glue on the bottom of the terrarium. Then carefully place the floral and moss arrangement inside the terrarium on top of the glue, gently pressing it into place.

Finally, add a mix of orchid bark and rocks around the arrangement in the bottom of the terrarium to surround the foam block with your moss and floral arrangement. Use a skewer or a chopstick to move rocks and bark into empty spaces and desired locations.

Use glass cleaner and a clean cloth to clean up any fingerprints, debris or glue that may have gotten onto the glass of your terrarium. And that’s it! Your DIY geometric glass terrarium is complete!

Now all that’s left is to display your new geometric glass terrarium in you home!

These faux terrariums make lovely accent pieces for bookshelves and coffee tables with no need to worry about lighting!

If you liked this project for making a DIY geometric glass terrarium with faux plants, then you may also enjoy my tutorial for my DIY succulent container garden. Or for more gardening projects, be sure to follow my Gardening Pinterest board. You can also find inspiration for designing your terrarium on my Terrarium Lust Pinterest board.

Also be sure to follow me on G+, Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, Blog Lovin’, and Instagram for more great DIY ideas. Or sign up to receive new posts from Soap Deli News blog to your email via FeedBurner so you never miss a post.

Filed Under: Decorating, DIY Craft Project Tagged With: crafts, decorating, diy, home accent, home decor, moss, terrarium

DIY Pumpkin Spice Air Freshener & Fall Home Decor Project

October 9, 2014 By Rebecca D. Dillon

These DIY pumpkin spice air fresheners not only lend a fabulous fragrance to your space, they also serve as beautiful homemade fall home decor! You can make your own with a few simple tools and supplies that can be reused again and again in future projects.

DIY Fall Spice Air Fresheners

What you need:

White Activa Plus Natural Self Hardening Clay
Wilton Silicone Mold, of choice
8-Piece Pottery Tool Kit
Savoir Faire French School Opaque Watercolor Gouache Set or similar
Matte Clear Acrylic Sealer Aerosol Spray
Pumpkin Spice Fragrance Oil
Paint Brushes
Ribbon or Rafia

Instructions:

Begin by kneading the clay in your hands until soft then press it into the cavities of your mold. Fill halfway for thicker shapes or 1/4th of the way for thinner shapes. If your clay is too hard, add a small amount of water to the clay then knead again.

(Note: The original Wilton leaf and pumpkin silicone mold I used for this project is not longer available online. However, they do have a great pumpkin silicone mold as well as this fun leaf and acorn silicone mold.)

Allow your pumpkin and leaf shapes to harden in the mold until they are leather like, but not fully dry. Gently remove each of the shapes for your air fresheners from the cavities of the mold.

Clean up the edges and top of the pumpkin and leaf shapes using your modeling tools. Repeat for all of your shapes until you’ve reached your desired look.

Use your needle tool to cut a hole into each of the pumpkin and leaf shapes you’ve made. This will allow you to hang them. Now allow your shapes to dry until fully hardened and the clay turns a grayish-white.

Now use your watercolors to paint your pumpkin and leaf shapes in fall colors on the tops and sides, but not the bottom. Allow the paint to dry.

Now take your pumpkins and leaves outside and place on newspaper or cardboard. Spray each of the shapes evenly on the tops and sides with your clear acrylic sealer. Don’t spray the bottoms.

Now use a wide paint brush to paint the fragrance oil onto the back of each of the air fresheners. (You can also use a blend of natural clove, cinnamon and ginger essential oils in lieu of the fragrance oil.) Allow to dry then repeat as desired until you reach desired strength or the air fresheners will no longer hold anymore fragrance. Now hang anywhere in your home or in your car and enjoy!

Once you’ve finished this project you can use your mold again to make these easy melt and pour leaf and pumpkin shaped fall soaps! Learn how here.

For more fall inspired pumpkin spice projects be sure to check out these other DIY’s and recipes: DIY Pumpkin Spice Room Spray, Homemade Apple & Pumpkin Spice Lotion Recipe, Natural Vanilla & Pumpkin Spice Salt Scrub Recipe, Homemade Pumpkin Sugar Scrub Recipe, Homemade Pumpkin Soap Recipe, DIY Pumpkin Massage Candle, DIY Fall Spice Sugar Scrub Recipe, and DIY Perfect Pumpkin Salt Scrub Recipe with Printable Labels.

Discover even more by following me on Pinterest. You can also keep up with all of my new bath and body recipes, homemade soap recipes, and DIY craft projects by following Soap Deli News blog on Blog Lovin’, Tumblr, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Filed Under: DIY Craft Project, Handmade Home Tagged With: autumn, craft project, crafts, diy, fall, Halloween decorations, handmade home, home decor, leaf, pumpkin

DIY Terrarium Magnets

July 10, 2014 By Rebecca D. Dillon

I’ve been trying a lot of new DIY projects out recently, some with success and some that were so dismal I hid them in my craft box afterwards. As it turns out many crafts actually do require some skill and/or practice to get them just right – even those of us who were fine art majors in college. I’ve always known I don’t have steady enough hands for making jewelry, but apparently metal stamping and glass etching are not my forte either. However, this adorable project for making your own DIY Terrarium Magnets is definitely one craft project that everyone can make regardless of whether you were born with a Mod Podge and glitter embellished silver spoon in your proverbial craft gene.

I purchased the DIY Terrarium Magnet Kit for this particular project from to avoid having to hunt down supplies from various sources. My handy dandy super awesome sometimes assistant, Hunter, then helped me pull it all together. Here’s how it’s done.

Easy DIY Terrarium Magnets

What you’ll need:

Sheet of Clear Plastic Film
3 Open Faced Magnetic Tins (3.5″ diameter)
Stone White Gravel
E6000 Glue
Preserved Green Reindeer Moss
3 Air Plants
Sharpie Marker
Scissors

What to do:

Begin by placing the lid of a magnetic tin on the plastic sheet. Use a Sharpie marker to trace around both the inside and outside of the tin.

Repeat this step for each terrarium magnet you want to make.

Using scissors cut the circle shapes out of the plastic sheet by cutting in between the two lines you drew for each circle. Cut the circles in half. Use the glue to glue the plastic inside the open faced lid for each tin and allow to dry.

Place the gravel, moss and an air plant into the base of the tin arranging the rocks on the bottom with the moss and air plant on top.

Now screw the lid of the terrarium onto the base so that the plastic half circle you glued to the inside of the lid covers the bottom half of the tin where the rocks and moss are.

And that’s it! Your project is complete. Now just stick your DIY terrarium magnets on your fridge or to any other metal surface you’d like so you can show them off. Be sure to keep your air plants “watered” by misting or immersing the air plants in water once a week.

These DIY terrarium magnets are the perfect home accessory to perk up your home or office decor.

Interested in crafting a live moss terrarium? Then check out this Moss Terrarium DIY by Jacie of Moss Love. And for more fun ideas for craft projects be sure to follow DIY Craft Projects board on Pinterest!

Filed Under: DIY Craft Project Tagged With: air plants, craft project, craft tutorial, crafts, diy, easy, home decor, magnet, plants, terrarium

DIY Moss Terrarium

January 7, 2014 By Jacie

Hello, lovely readers! It’s Jacie from Moss Love here – I create ready-made, DIY and wearable terrariums using live moss, air plants and marimo moss balls. I’m excited to help you make your own beautiful moss terrarium!

One of the best things about these is they don’t need direct sunlight like your typical house plant – so places that normally don’t see any greenery are in luck! Your desk at the office and that corner of your kitchen that doesn’t get sun are in for a makeover. Another bonus: they are super easy to take care of.

How to Make a DIY Moss Terrarium

SUPPLIES:

You will need:

a clear glass jar with a lid
rinsed and dried gravel or rocks (larger rocks can be used in larger jars)
dried sphagnum peat moss
peat moss soil
live moss (purchased or collected yourself)
polished rocks, colored gravel or glass, etc. for surface landscaping
a miniature habitant (the possibilities are endless…)

AND…ACTION!

First note to remember: you are going to want to leave the upper half (or more) of your jar open so your moss gets enough air. You may be tempted to add a lot of rocks (they are a fun layer to see through the glass), but halt! Unless you are working with a tall or large jar, you only need enough rocks for small drops of water to drain into (check my terrariums out for example photos). Gently add them to your jar.
Add sheet moss for filtration – push to flatten. This keeps the soil in place – use just enough so there are no holes for soil to fall through.
Add soil. Build it up on one side if you’d like a hill!
Add your moss – break it into smaller pieces if you’d like to play with mixes of height and texture. Push it lightly onto the soil.
Fill empty spots with polished stones, colored gravel or glass (I like to use blue for “water”), etc.
Add your habitant and watch your little world come to life!

CARE

First time only: mist with water until soil starts to dampen (be sure to stop there – you don’t want too much water). Let the water evaporate off the sides of the jar, then add your lid.

After that: Mist lightly every 3 weeks (if dry). Avoid direct sun. Bright indoor light or indirect sun is best. If excess drops build up on glass, remove the lid to evaporate, then replace. It is important that sitting water isn’t left in the terrarium as this can lead to mold. When in doubt, dry it out (hey – that rhymes!).

ALL TOGETHER NOW

I also offer DIY Kits with all the fixings as well as individual habitants if you want the materials easily in one go. Make one for a friend, or give them a kit to create one themselves!

xJacie

Filed Under: DIY Craft Project, Handmade Home Tagged With: craft project, crafts, diy, diy kit, easy, gift idea, home accent, home decor, moss, planter, terrarium