DIY project: mini cacti planters

I'm so excited because this post marks the start of a new project here on Ladybird Likes, where every week I take a bit of time (usually no more than an hour or two) to complete a simple DIY project. I decided to finally start this project for three reasons; firstly, because I spend way too much time on pinterest pinning things and never actually making any of them. secondly, because I miss doing crafty stuff just for fun - I used to love nothing better than completing a project and being able to wear it/display it/gift it, but I can't even remember the last time I made something that wasn't directly work related! and thirdly, because this here blog is getting way too full of business talk, when really I want it to cover a whole range of stuff, including DIY projects.

so anyway, without further ado, my first project is simple DIY mini planters. these projects aren't going to be proper step by step tutorials - they are so simple I don't think you need instructions really! rather I'll just document the process as I go through. basically last night in Ikea I found these small sized ceramic mugs (plus one larger sized one.) the small ones were 60p each I think. remembering I had some paint markers at home I snapped up a couple with this project in mind. I simply doodled on in my paint markers (I used the molotow one4all acrylic paint pens, but you can use sharpie or posca or any similar style pen.) then I baked them in the oven for half an hour at 140 celsius. VOILA!

 next, on to planting - I picked up a medium sized cacti, plus three mini ones, just guessing roughly on the size that would fit in my pots. you could also plant air plants or succulents. if you got a bigger ceramic pot (they sell those in ikea too!) you could put three or four of the baby cacti in one which would look awesome!

 I put a small amount of gravel in the bottom of each cup for drainage, then popped in my cacti (without the plastic pot) then filled around it with a mix of compost and sand. wear gloves whilst repotting cacti kids, those things are vicious.

 there you have it - super easy, and super quick. this project cost me about £10 total for the plants, the paint pens, and the mugs, which is cheap as chips really considering I got four planters out of it. I'm going to get some more mugs next time I go to ikea, and some different coloured paint pens, so I can make some up as gifts.

for future DIY projects, where items are smaller and easier to post, I will be giving away some of the things I make simply because I don't have space to keep everything! plus, I love sending post!