These DIY cactus planter magnets are like little pieces of mid century modern candy for your refrigerator. They’re also a great way to use up scrap felt, and a perfect Springtime DIY project.
What you’ll need:
- stiff felt
- sparkly pipe cleaners (optional)
- scissors
- hot glue gun
- fine point black pen
- small magnets
Cacti: Start by cutting your felt into different size petals – even the smallest scrap of felt is useful. You can cut cactus shapes with arms, but the easiest shape to freehand cut is an arch where it comes in a little skinnier at the base. Cut a bunch of these and then layer them on top of each other using hot glue to create dimension- like shown in the orange pieces of felt above. Draw the cactus needles on with a fine point black pen. Just do a “V” with one more line in the middle – the way you used to draw grass as a kid (remember that?). After you build up a cactus plant you like, roll up small pieces of pipe cleaner and glue them to the tops of some of your cactus petals for extra detail.
If you don’t have pipe cleaners, just cut out a little tuft of felt to decorate the tops- cut a tiny “V” with 3 points on top. You can also use small pom poms if you have those instead.
Planters: These are the funnest part. Cut a square or bowl planter, or whatever shape you please. I love the extra touch of adding little mid century modern legs to the bottoms of the planters. You just need the teensiest bit of felt for that. All the tiny scraps of felt you get after cutting your cactus petals are actually great for making those little legs and for decorating your planters to make them unique.
Use long thin strips in the same color as the planter to add texture.
Use even the smallest felt scraps as little mosaic pieces to add pops of color to your planters.
When you’re done with your cactus planter design, flip it over and add a piece or two of felt to even out the back. This makes the surface easier to hot glue the magnets. You can use one magnet for the smaller designs and two for larger ones. The magnets I used were super strong and work really nicely on the fridge – one pack was more than plenty for all the cactus planters I made and I still have a bunch left.
And that’s it! I hope you liked this DIY tutorial! I’d love to see the cactus planter magnets you guys make. Post your creations with #traceofcrafts if you try this DIY.
Leave a Reply