How to Make a DIY Wall Hanging Succulent Box

Houseplants are all the rage right now, and for great reasons! Having live plants in your house can help naturally filter the air, bring life into your space, and can even improve creativity. However, sometimes a plant just decides to die- it usually has nothing to do with you neglecting it! Haha! Sometimes, it is just easier to get the fake ones! They are fuss free, and you can put them anywhere in your space because they don't need sunlight.

Making a beautiful DIY artificial succulent arrangement that you can hang in your home is actually quite easy! And, if you aren't that into succulents you could use your favorite kind of artificial flowers instead.

Gather Your Materials

Before we dive into the world of creating, we have to gather our materials. You will need the following:

-2 hexagon wooden containers (I used these from Hobby Lobby)

-3 craft paint brushes

-a jar of water (to clean your brushes)

-painter's tape

-hot glue gun

-hot glue sticks

-2 sets of artificial succulents (or florals) of your choice

-floral foam

-3 colors of Dixie Belle Chalk Mineral Paint (I used Sand Bar, Caviar, and Cotton)

-small river rocks

-small floral wire cutters

-a drill

-twine

Before I chose my three paint colors, I bought the artificial succulents. I personally wanted the color of the succulents to stand out more than the colors on the boxes. Purple is one of my favorite colors when it comes to plants, so I was so happy to find these pretty light purple ones! After I brought these beauties home from Hobby Lobby, I decided I wanted to go with a neutral look for the boxes. Obviously, you can choose whatever colors you think go best with the succulents you chose!

Here are the artificial succulents that I chose. I bought these at my local Hobby Lobby.

These are the 3 colors that I chose, but feel free to get creative and choose different colors! It is hard to tell in this picture because of the lighting, but Cotton is a true white.

These are the brushes I used.

Time to Get Painting!

Now that we have our materials ready to go, it's time to paint!

Dixie Belle Chalk Mineral Paint is SO easy and fun to work with. Just try not to be too heavy handed with the paint, it is better to paint multiple coats rather than try to get full coverage on the first coat. The first thing we are going to do is paint the main color, which is Sand Bar. It is important to note that when painting with Dixie Belle's Chalk Mineral Paint, less is more. You will achieve a much smoother finish by not painting with a heavy hand. It is also normal for your first coat to not look the greatest. After the second coat of paint, you will have a smooth, full-coverage look.

Using the Sand Bar color, cover every surface of the box that will be seen while hanging on the wall, including the tops, bottoms, and inside. Just make sure you don't paint the center triangle on the front, we will paint that with our second color. If you have a steady hand, you can just use your paintbrush's edge to make a clean line on the center triangle edges. If you aren't confident that you won't go over that edge, then you can use painter's tape to give yourself that sharp line. Just rip off a section of tape long enough to cover each line and place them like I have pictured below. I forgot to take a picture of this step before I painted my center triangle (oops!).

This is how your painter's tape should look. Once you are done painting one side, you can switch the tape to the other edge and begin painting that side.

Another important thing to remember is that you must always make sure the paint is completely dry before you place painter's tape on any surface. You don't want to mess up any of your hard work!

Here they are after the first coat of paint!

Now, I got a little ahead of myself and painted the center triangle before I should have. So don't do what I did! Haha! Instead, paint a second coat of Sand Bar first. Once the second coat of Sand Bar is completely dry, you can move onto the next step.

Painting the Center Triangle

Next, we are going to paint those center triangles in our second paint color, Cotton. You are definitely going to need to make sure your Sand Bar is dry first. You can either wait until it dries on its own, or you can use a hair drier to speed up the process.

Taping the edges around the center triangle will help give you a nice crisp line.

Now, since Cotton is a true white, it might take 3 coats of paint to get full coverage. Just remember, don't glob the paint on. If you make your coats of paint too thick, it will dry uneven and you will probably have ridges of dried paint where the tape edges were. Remember to let your paint dry in between coats, and again you can use a hair dryer to speed up the drying process.

Once you have painted at least 2 or 3 coats of Cotton on the center triangle, you can go ahead and remove the painter's tape. Once you have done that, take a moment to enjoy those satisfyingly beautiful crisp lines! (If you know, you know! haha) You can either use a hair dryer to finish drying your paint, or you can wait until it is dry to the touch before you move onto the next step.

Painting the Inside

It is important to make sure that the paint on the outside of the boxes is completely dry before you begin painting the inside of the boxes. This is because you will be handling the boxes a lot while trying to reach all the nooks and crannies in them. You will also want to make sure that your hands are clean, you don't want to leave any fingerprints from oils, dirt, or wet paint lingering on your hands.

I find it helps to use a paintbrush with an angled tip for this step, however you can still make a flat tip brush work. You will want to paint at least 2 coats of Sand Bar, still allowing the paint to dry in between coats. It is not necessary to paint the entire inside of the box since most of the space will be covered by the dry foam and the florals.

This is about how far down I went with the paint.

Finishing Paint Touches

Now it's time to add the finishing touches to the boxes! We are going to outline the edges of the triangle with the third paint color, Caviar. First, you'll want to rip off two new pieces of painter's tape. Place them on either side of the edge of one side of the triangle (see the picture below). I would suggest using a smaller tip paint brush for this step, that way you won't accidentally get paint on the other side of the tape. You will probably have to do 2 coats. Repeat this process until you have outlined both edges of each triangle.

This is how you are going to tape the lines of the triangle.

Adding the Florals

Now that the boxes are finished, it's time to add the dry foam and the florals. Go ahead and plug in your hot glue gun so that it can warm up. Take one block of the dry foam and cut it down with a sharp knife so that it will fit into the cavity of the box. Once the hot glue gun has warmed up, you will need to put some glue where the foam will be inside the box. Make sure you attach the foam to the glue before the glue dries. And be careful not to get any of the hot glue on your fingers! (I say this from painful past experiences! haha) Do this to both boxes.

Give the glue time to dry, which won't be long since hot glue dries pretty quickly. Now it is time to add the florals into the foam! You will need some floral wire cutters to cut the "stems" down to size and possibly separate the florals if necessary. Arrange the florals how you like. And don't worry about filling in the entire foam piece with florals, that is where the river rocks come into play!

This is also the time when you will want to drill one hole on each side of the top of the box for the twine to go through. It's important that you drill the hole closer to the back of the back rather than the middle or the front, that way the box will lay flat against the wall when it is hung. Once you have the holes drilled, cut two pieces of twine the same length. Place one piece of twine through the holes on one box and tie a knot in the twine on the inside of the box. Repeat this process with the next box.

Notice how the hole is closer to the back of the box!

Tie a knot on each end of the twine once it has been placed through the holes.

Placing the rocks

Now that you have placed the florals into your desired arrangement in the foam, it is time to fill in any empty space with the river rocks. There really isn't any specific science or technique with this. I found it helpful to use the holes in the foam as a guide to where the rocks need to go. Just chose the rocks that you like, based on color and size, and glue them to the foam. You can either put some hot glue onto the bottom of the rocks and then place them, or you can first put the glue onto the foam. The goal is to cover up any exposed areas of foam until you can't see it anymore!

I glued the rocks down along the edges of the box first, and then filled the rest in.

Once you have the rocks all placed, you can add the florals. To ensure that the artificial succulents don't fall out, put a little hot glue on its "stem" before you put it in the foam. Check for any spots where you might still be able to see the foam through the rock and fill them in with rocks, if necessary.

Admire Your Work

Congratulations! Now that you have finished this DIY project, take a step back and admire your work! And find the perfect place in your home to hang it so you can show it off to everyone!

Did you enjoy this blog post? Check back next month for another fun blog post! Also, check out redbarnboutique.net to find the paints I used, along with tons of other painting/crafting supplies!