A Succulent Aquarium

Found this adorable, crafty idea from the Deck, Patio, & Outliving magazine and thought why not try it out myself. The idea behind this craft is to give the impression of life under the sea by using succulents and glass fish figurines. I based my whole craft on what was in the photo but it looked easy enough. 

To start off, I needed the following items:

* small succulents that resembled seaweed, coral, or starfish
* glass fish figurines
* green floral wire and tape
* cactus potting soil (which I didn't need)
* and a bowl to hold all this

What's nice about this, is you can make it as big or as small as you want it. I went for a smaller look because I don't have a large space to admire it. With the list in mind, I knew right away where to get all these items. 

For the succulents and soil, I went to Home Depot in the gardening section where I found a nice variety of plants that looked like seaweed, starfish, and coral. I bought 4 different succulents where 1 was a combination. Also, they had the cactus potting soil right next to it because with all succulents, they want soil that will drain nicely. 

For the glass fish figurines and bowl, I went to Pier 1 Imports. I remember browsing around the store a month back and seeing similar glass figurines, so luckily they were there. The glass fish figurines are actually wine glass drink charms, so I just had to remove the fish from the wire. The drink charms work out nicely because the figurines have a loop already in place so I can attach the wire to create a stick. If you see the photos below, you'll see what I mean. For the bowl, I also used glass in a nice curved shape which I think it is a fruit plate. There was enough of a curve to hold the succulents and soil in place. 

Putting the arrangement together, took less than an hour. Gently removed the succulents from their pots and separated them to arrange a nice under the sea scene. Since the bowl was small, I didn't need the cactus potting soil; will return that later. Once the arrangement is put together, spray water lightly to help the soil settle in place.

To get the fish figurines put together, I removed the fish from the wire loop and then used the green floral wire. Since the floral wire is very thin, I had to fold it back on itself twice, to make it thicker in order to wrap the floral tape to make the stem.

I wore rubber gloves to cut and wrap the stems for the 6 glass fish, then placed them around the arrangement. The tape gets your fingers sticky as you wrap it around the wire. It took me about 20 minutes to cut and wrap the stems. 

After all that is said and done, my very own Succulent Aquarium! Happy Spring!