Winter Succulent Decor
Did you decorate with pine cones for the holidays? Now you can use them to create beautiful succulent arrangements to hang in your windowsill during the winter months!
I had so much fun creating these for myself and for gifts! This is an easy an inexpensive project, and when winter is over the succulents can be potted up and placed outside. I got a variety of succulent cuttings from my friends at Harddy Succulents - if you go to my Instagram page @jagcagdesign, you will find a link to Harddy with a 5% off coupon. Rosette type succulents and delicate hanging succulents (like String of Pearls) work well for this project.
Tools and Materials
- pine cones
- succulents
- screws
- twine
- cup
- hot glue
- moss
The first thing I did was drive a screw into the pine cone and tie a long length of twine around it. Be sure to leave the twine nice and long so that you will have lots of options for hanging your pine cone at different lengths.
Tip: I was able to hang my pine cones from a tree branch while I worked on them, but if you do not have a branch, you can rest your pine cone in a cup or glass to hold it upright.
Next, I used a hot glue gun to add a little bit of moss to the pine cone. I used assorted mosses - Sphagnum moss (ordered online), and other mosses that I gathered in the forest. Don't put too much moss in at the start, as you will want to leave room for the succulents. You will add more moss later.
Next, I used a small amount of glue on the backs of the succulents and tucked them into the pine cone here and there. I used low temp hot glue, but you could also use Tacky Glue. Then I went back and tucked in more moss to fill in any "holes". The moss will hold the moisture for the succulents, so once you have most of your succulents tucked in, surround them with more moss.
That's it! You can mist your succulents with water once a week, or as needed depending on your climate. I had so much fun using different sized pine cones. I had some really large Sugar Pine Cones, which I experimented with (hung different directions), and some smaller cones that are more readily available at craft stores, especially during the holidays. I think it would also look lovely to have pine cones just laying on a table with succulents & moss tucked into them - they don't have to hang! (Hmmmm... that might be my next project! The big Sugar Pine Cones would look amazing on their sides!)
When the warmer weather comes around, you can gently remove the succulents from the pine cones, pot them, and put them in a sunny windowsill or outside. If you make these, please share a pic - I would love to see!Happy DIYing! xo, Jamey @jagcagdesign
Resources for this project:
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Comments
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I love the idea of having these beautiful pinecones and not only adding the moss here & there, but using air plants instead of cacti! I've purchased them already in containers, but I think they would be beautiful on a pinecone! 🤗
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As far as the gluing goes it’s perfectly safe we have been successfully gluing succulents to sea shells for years. As far as dying yes they will if you do not water them or spray them. I run mine under water then leave them in dish rack till not dripping then hang back up or I tell customers to use a dish towel when spraying them so your windows don’t get spotty from water. We have ones from over twenty years ago they do grow ever so slowly ENJOY
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Could you take a picture of the 20 year old plant. I’d like to see it.
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Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
Amazing. you are talented and have a wonderful sense of balance. Could a person use artificial succulents, berries with Spanish, reindeer and sphagnum mosses? Would it look too cheesy? Yours was attractive but I live in the mountains of Colorado. I would also want to store them for the next season.
Could you use Gorilla glue instead of the other glues? Just another question.
Thank you. G. Davis
The glue doesn't affect the growth of the plant? Seems to me it would kill it.