Succulent Display from Thrift Store Finds

I’m on a succulent craze and I just can’t get enough of them! Every time we visit a nursery, the first thing I look for are the succulents. That’s because I don’t need much of a green thumb to keep them alive; they don’t need to be watered as frequently as other indoor plants.

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At this particular nursery, they had individual plugs as well as the pots shown below. I love to get them as plugs and then grow them bigger in progressively larger plastic pots.

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Shop Your Local Thrift Store!

Value village is my go-to store for thrift finds. Here’s what I found during my last trip; a grouping of 3 hexagonal ceramic planters…

… and a square ceramic plate – also ceramic.

I gathered up all my stuff: a specially mixed potting soil suitable for succulents which allows for drainage (succulents don’t like to be waterlogged), the three pots and an assortment of succulents. In the upper right side of the picture below you can see the copper pots I found on a previous trip to Value Village. They’ll be featured in a future post.

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Drainage Holes

I started by removing the plugs from the containers. I was lucky that they already had holes. When they don’t have holes I just drill my own with a ceramic bit; it’s an easy fix.

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I had scraps of landscape cloth which I used to cover the holes.

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It keeps the dirt from escaping after watering.

I put the little pots into the planters to see what would look best and switched them around until I was happy with the result.

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I removed one plant then added soil to the container. Here, I’m using some old potting mix from a plant that I replanted. I mix it in with the new stuff right in the pot. A reader, however made a good point that using old soil is the best way to spread disease. Luckily, I had repotted a healthy plant, but it’s a valid point so use fresh soil!

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Once it’s planted I lightly mist the soil so the succulent will settle into its new home. I’m not trying to water the plant, just pack the soil so If more soil is needed, I can top it up while all the supplies are still out.

Then I move onto the next one.

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It’s always a good idea to tease the roots out a bit, but not too much with succulents because the sandy soil easily falls away and may leave the roots exposed too much.

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I use a plastic spoon to dig a hole to accommodate the plant.

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After inserting into the hole, fill in any gaps with more soil.

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Since the last container was larger, I put two plants into that one. I also added a few decorative stones.

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Embellish

Lastly, I placed a silver coated ceramic bird off to one side. It adds a bit of sparkle and the bird is more than fitting given our blog name!

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I arranged the 3 planters on top of the thrift store plate and set it in the sun in front of a window. The plate is shallow, so it’s perfect for catching any water spills!

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Every Room Could Use a Little Green!

After a few days, I took it down to my studio where it’s now sitting on top of our upcycled Roadside Rescue Waterfall Dresser:

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There’s always room for a little more greenery in my craft studio!!

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I love how the donkey tail spills over the front!

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Upkeep

To keep these babies looking good, they should be watered once a week. Give them a soaking until water runs out the bottom and let them dry out completely. Watering them daily will quickly kill them. I also fertilize occasionally by putting some liquid seaweed into the watering can.

During the winter, they’ll go into a dormant period where they aren’t actively growing and don’t need as much water so slow down the watering schedule accordingly.

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Create a succulent arrangement in a thrift store planter |birdz of a feather | succulents | succulents diy | upcycle | upcycling | upcycling ideas | upcycled | repurposed | repurposed items |bridzofafeather.ca | planter | planter ideas | thrift find | planters | planters diy | planter upcycle | planter upcycle repurposed | planter update | planter upcycle ideas |birdzofafeather.ca #upcycle #upcycling #repurposed #thrifting #thrifty #thriftstore #planters #succulents #succulentarrangement

As great as this display looks, I had to borrow the larger planter for our mini adirondack chair planter. In this tuturial, we’re teaching you how to get milk paint to stick to anything!

As I mentioned, the hexagon containers aren’t the only ones we picked up at Value Village. We’ll have more succulent projects coming up soon that are a lot more exciting and unique so stay tuned.

Outdoor Succulents

If you’re partial to succulents in the garden too, like we are, this post shows you how to make your own hypertufa planter. It’s perfect for succulents!

Birdz of a Feather has plenty of more challenging garden projects too. You’ll find them all  here under the garden category if you want to browse. Or want more planter ideas? Check out these amazing upcycled planters!

 

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10 thoughts on “Succulent Display from Thrift Store Finds

  1. There are so many things to love about this post, Sara. I love your thrift-store finds. I always prefer containers with pizzazz and I like the stacking or stepped effect of the different sizes. That’s also a great idea to use a spritzer instead of direct watering. I just read a tip earlier this year for orchids, that suggests using ice cubes. I thought that was clever too; just a few to gradually melt and moisten the dry-loving succulent or orchid. You are always a great resource *and* you post such fun projects, too.

    • Thanks Alys! You have to be careful about tips on the net. I love that tip about the ice cube, but I accidentally killed my orchids when I listened to another blogger about how to cut them back. I should have stuck with what was already working for me 🙂

      • Oh dear! I’m really sorry to hear that. Yes, stick with what you know, or verify through several sources. That’s what I often do.

  2. Never, ever, EVER reuse potting soil! Proven to be the best way to spread disease among your plants.

    • Thanks SO much for your input Jeff; you make a great point! I’ve updated the post 🙂

  3. Love succulents and I collect vintage floral “vases” to pot them in. One thing though, please don’t use those lovely copper wine glasses as flower pots! I’ll buy them from you!

    • Your collection of vintage vases must be beautiful! I agree that the copper is lovely, but they were actually dropped and dented before I bought them second-hand. When I plant them, I’ll just turned the damage to the back side 🙂 I wish I could drink wine; I’d buy some to use them myself – lol!

  4. Your succulents look very pretty in their new planters! The adirondack chair makes a cute little planter stand. One of these days I am going to try making a hypertufa planter.

    • You should Linda! Hypertufa is the most amazing material; has the look of concrete at a fraction of the weight!

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