Succulent garden gift

If you know me at all, you know I have a deep love for vintage and anything beautiful.  I have several mismatched or chipped odd china pieces that I use to hold earrings, keys, crayons, q-tips.. whatever.. It makes me happy to have them around. 

I have had this beautiful Rose piece of china set for quite some time.  I always envisioned it next to a bath holding lavender soap and some white washcloths rolled-up.  However, my bath right now is not a safe place for a lovely piece of china.. it is a haven for tinker bells, bubble potions and all sorts of 3-year-old fancies.  No spot for this.   So it has set, waiting.. for a use.  

Well, I also have a love of gardening and succulents.  I have seen several arrangements of the plants in a modern or minimal bowl as a centerpiece on a table and I always had this back in my mind to do in this shallow casserole. Finally, needing a gift and finding succulents on sale at a local shop.. I thought I'd give it a go.  It turned out pretty fab.. I almost kept it for myself.  

Step #1 Gather all ingredients.. small succulents & cacti work well together. I also chose a white decorative sand/small gravel.  The sand needs to be rinsed well before using.  Choose a  lovely shallow dish, deep enough to plant the little plants with just a bit of room as not to over-crowd. An antique serving dish, like this Haviland Rose is perfect for a little succulent/cacti garden.

 Step #2  Place plants, with the soil they came with, into the dish.  Using a spoon or small shovel fill in the space with the white gravel, which is moist from rinsing. 

Step #3  Using a funnel top the entire surface, covering all dirt with dry white gravel, this gives it a clean fresh finished look. 

Voila! I love how the succulents look in the dish. Soft and lovely.

 

Couldn't stop there.. this soft and lovely pink stoneware bowl is just perfect for this larger succulent. The softness of both would make this a lovely baby shower gift for a nursery. 

 

 My little happy helper.