When I started brainstorming for our kiddo-friendly guest room, one of the first themes that came to mind was Palm Springs. Not only am I a complete addict for all things Palm Springs, but one of my favorite d.i.y. directions of ALL TIME is turning adult things into kiddo things. Felt desert plants, nods to Frank Sinatra and fun pool floaties and the 1960s… I covered pages and pages in my journal with random ideas for this room. It was a TREAT to work on…. this stuff is magical to me!
So far I’ve already shared the gold foiled cactus wallpaper. When it came time to work on the felt plant life, I enlisted Laura’s help because this project still haunts my dreams (in the best, most dreamy and slightly-jealous way!)
Take it away, Laura!!
Supplies:
-green and brown felt
-fabric scissors
-sewing machine
-plastic planters
-pillow stuffing
-embroidery thread and yarn needle
-cardboard
-hot glue gun
First you’ll want to mark and cut the pieces for each of the cacti. Each cactus will have 6 matching panels. The smaller cactus measures 22″ x 4.5″ and the larger is 32″ x 5.5″. Use a similarly sized bowl to trace the rounded edge at the top. Cut out all your pattern pieces.
Pair the six panels for each size cactus into pairs of two and sew all the way around the edge of each pair leaving the bottom edge open for stuffing later. Stack the three sewn pairs on top of each other and pin down the middle.
Use your machine to sew a straight line up the middle of the stack of cactus pairs.
Now comes the tricky part – stuffing your cactus! It takes a lot more stuffing than you would think (a large bag for each pair), but it’s best to stuff as much as you can into each section opening at the bottom and then use a long ruler or stick to push the stuffing all the way up into the cactus. Keep filling and pushing the stuffing up into each section until your cactus takes on its 3D shape.
Use your embroidery thread to make knots of fabric down the “spines” of the cactus and hand sew the bottom openings closed so the stuffing can’t be pulled out.
Trace the opening of your planter pot onto some cardboard, and cut the cardboard a little smaller than your tracing. Cut two more holes big enough for each cactus to fit into the cardboard.
Trace your cardboard onto some brown felt and cut the felt a bit larger than the tracing of your cardboard. Use glue to attach the felt to the cardboard disk.
You can either wedge the cardboard down into the planter or glue it in place, but depending on how sturdy your planter is, you may want to add something heavy in to the bottom so that your tall cactus shoots aren’t heavier than your planter, which might cause it to topple over (we added rocks to each plastic planter). Add your cactus into the holes and your cacti are ready for the desert!
Each cactus is about three feet high, and they make the perfect accents for our kiddo room. I will share more of the WHOLE space with you very soon.
These can be customized in size, shape or color to make them perfect for your space!
This project makes a huge visual impact, is kid friendly, and honestly makes me smile every single time I walk into the room!
XOXO! Elsie
Credits//Author: Elsie Larson. Project: Laura Gummerman, Photography: Elsie Larson and Laura Gummerman. Photos edited with A Beautiful Mess Actions.
23 Comments
File into my “If I Only I Could Sew” Pinterest board. Sigh….
That is SO ADORABLE!
Such an adorable DIY!!
xo, Syd
anchoredinthesouth.com
This is beyond adorable, I love this idea!
https://www.makeandmess.com/
Great job, Laura!
I love it…but where did those cute flowers go for the final pictures?!
Can you imagine tons of these for a cowboy themed party? Maybe in a photobooth?!? Ahh so cute!
I love cactuses they are so cute haha, and this is such a cute diy!
Tenz
http://www.shesabouthatlife.com
xxx
This is so cute! http://www.hannamarielei.com
I wish I had emojis on my work keyboard because I have no words for how cute this is!
[heart eye emoji, heart eye emoji, heart eye emoji, cactus emoji, cactus emoji, heart emoji, heart emoji, heart emoji]
Oh my God, that is amazing and I need it in my life
http://my–socalledlife.blogspot.com.au/
Those are handmade as well (more DIY coming soon!)
xx- Elsie
Aweee!!!
xxx- Elsie
This is such a cute project! That room is looking fantastic!
Laura
http://laurelandfern.com/
Amazing!!
http://www.bluelabelsboutique.com
http://www.fashionnotfear.wordpress.com
so cute! This is one plant I could take care of haha!
This is so nice!!! I love this x
http://jessicawoods.fr/blog/
For a kid’s room? I’ve trying to grow one of those cacti for years but they always died. I will very probably make one for my room ^^ They look really great and easy to make, thanks for the idea!
Yay! Yay! Yay! LOVE it.
I love it!
http://soldenochedecocrochet.blogspot.com.ar/
Love this!!
But definitely need tutorials for the other ones that we see there as well 😉
I love this so much! We’re moving to a new house soon so I get the chance to clean slate the play room. This is defo going to make the cut!
I love this! I’ve been looking around for cactus ideas, and hadn’t seen the way you create the brown base to stick the cacti in. Great idea! 🙂 Lisa