Seashell Succulent Jars

A few months ago my mother and sister-in-law told me how they wanted to start a succulent garden this year. As Mother’s Day grew near I knew I wanted to gift them succulents, but being myself I wanted to do something special with them. Since I was trying to stay on a budget I brainstormed a way to make the succulents stand out but also keep them affordable. I shopped my house and gathered glass jars I had been saving. If you don’t have any jars on hand you could always try cleaning out your refrigerator – if you are like me there are a few jars in there that you can clean out and use. A lot of the succulent jars I have seen have pebbles on the bottom to help with water drainage but since we live in Florida and I had a jar of seashells that the kids and I filled up last year I decided to use those (FREE!). If you live near the beach you can fill up on your next trip or maybe you have seashells from a beach vacation which will give your jars more meaning? I did have a few shells and pieces of coral that my husband and I had found while scuba diving so I saved those for my own jars since they have sentimental meaning to us. To make your own jars you will need the following:

• Seashells (or pebbles)
• Moss (I bought mine at Michael’s with a 40% coupon)
• Cactus Soil
• Jars
• Succulents
• Gardening Shovel

Like I mentioned, I was trying to create these jars on a budget so when I stopped into Home Depot they had individual succulents for about $4 each or this large variety planter for $13. I wanted to get as many different varieties as possible so the large planter was a better deal. I pulled out all of the different varieties from the pot and laid them out. I also pulled new shoots from some of the aloe plants in my yard that I propagated last year (on the very right). Before I planted the succulents in the jars I took cuttings from them to propagate and start new plants. I will be doing a post on how to propagate succulents and cactus soon if you are wondering how! For the jars I layered in the seashells, then the moss, soil and a succulent. I used the cactus soil as well as some of the soil from the planter. In all honesty I could have probably gotten away with using just the soil from the planter and returning the bag of cactus soil I bought, but now I have it for the succulents I am propagating. These beauties are perfect for indoor house plants and they spent a few days on my entertainment center or do well outdoors too depending on your climate. They like warm but shady spots. I almost didn’t want to get rid of them, but I know I will have my own little baby succulents growing very soon! My mother and sister-in-law loved them so mission accomplished! Enjoy,
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