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8.06.2020

faux succulent wreath & wall decor

art, boho style, DIY, diy decorating, fall, farmhouse style, faux plants, industrial, junk makeover, junking, re-purposing, rustic style, salvaged, summer, sweaters, Sweet Sweater Succulents, up-cycling, trash to treasure, wall art, weekend makeover, faux succulents, sweater crafts, sweet sweater succulents
 when it came to wall art in our newly 'refreshed' guest room, 
i re-thought the currently hot trend of 'basket groupings' on walls
and went with a grouping of repurposed rusty metal items instead.
resembling woven baskets, they give the room a 'boho' feel - in a unique way.

my take on 'modern boho style' is less earth-child hippie and a bit more mid-century in feel.
and there's a reason for that:

during my sophomore summer, one of my jobs was selling imported baskets at the swap meet -
it was a hot, sweaty, physical job that a friend and i did every weekend all summer long.
we had to drive a junky old 'three on the tree' van to the drive in, unload it,
set up displays of the baskets, and then sit there all day convincing people to buy them.
then we had to load up anything that didn't sell. it was exhausting.
the only redeeming quality of it was the paycheck and spending time with my friend.

so now i have an aversion to baskets being used as they were back then! (the late 70's)
i like this solution... and just wait until you get a closer look at those succulents!

continue reading to see all of the details and 'how-to's'...

look closely at the rusty metal rounds and see if you can tell what they actually are:
art, boho style, DIY, diy decorating, fall, farmhouse style, faux plants, industrial, junk makeover, junking, re-purposing, rustic style, salvaged, summer, sweaters, Sweet Sweater Succulents, up-cycling, trash to treasure, wall art, weekend makeover, faux succulents, sweater crafts, sweet sweater succulentsart, boho style, DIY, diy decorating, fall, farmhouse style, faux plants, industrial, junk makeover, junking, re-purposing, rustic style, salvaged, summer, sweaters, Sweet Sweater Succulents, up-cycling, trash to treasure, wall art, weekend makeover, faux succulents, sweater crafts, sweet sweater succulents
you've seen them before: 


yep - they appeared as 'junky punkies' in last year's front yard fall decor!

they are simply wire garden baskets and one half of an industrial wire fan cage,
plus a metal candle sconce.
painted with my fabulous faux rust treatment (a secret formula that i MIGHT share this fall), 
they all coordinate and add a graphic element to the decor.
they also add more circular, round forms to counteract all of the square furnishings.

they are all very lightweight, so i just hung them with clear push pins.


the largest round is the back of an industrial wire fan cage.
it was the perfect thing to turn into a 'wreath'...
the wire round was hung on the wall with the @ 2" deep 'edge' facing forward - 
that gave me a place to nestle the succulents. 
first, i created a nest of thick twine in the location where i wanted to place them,
that would help to hide the chenille stems and wire that holds them in place.

there are also some leaves and stems from a fake spider plant tucked in there - 
i just cut them off of a plant from the Dollar Tree.

look closely. those succulents have a secret.

they're all fake. and made out of sweaters!

 these are all really simple to make using scraps from thrifted sweaters.
i had some green sweater parts left after creating my new
Sweet Sweater Succulents last fall, so that's what i used here!

in this post, i'll share how to make these two different kinds of faux sweater succulents.
(the third one will be featured in a future post.)
all three of the styles shown above are made in the same way:
* cut a long strip of sweater fabric @ 4" wide, then fold in half the long way.

* cut notches into the side where the fold is - not the open side. you're making 'loops'.

* hot glue the open side together, then roll the strip up - 
using dots of hot glue as you go to hold the fabric in place as you roll it.

* the spiral becomes a pouf with loopy 'leaves'.

as you can see, thicker knits will result in bulkier 'poufs'.
depending on how you cut the notches to make loops, they will be thick or thin...
the one in the middle has thinner loops, with the sweater cut along the ridges of the knit pattern.

this variation on the method above uses just a thin strip of the sweater - 
i like using the front edge where the sweater buttons or zips, or the hem, for this one.
then you roll it up, gluing as you go, to create the spiraling leaves look.

tip: the big one shown here was made from three strips of sweater - 
i began with one, then when it ran out, i just added another strip to the roll.

after making these, i hot glued small pieces of chenille stems to the back
so they could be secured onto the wire round for the wreath.
it hangs above a bed, i don't want one falling on a guest's head in the middle of the night!

i love that these are no-care 'plants' that add a touch of nature to the room.

(and of course, that they cost me NOTHING to make!)

don't miss the first post in this series - a no-cost guest room makeover!


links to previous posts highlighted above:




shared online:

creatively beth | creative crafts linky party #2

funky junk interiors | diy salvaged junk projects #539

rusty metal fan cage wreath with faux succulents made from sweaters
thank you for featuring my project, Miss Donna!

8 comments:

  1. Well I love what you did with the fan part and I really love what you did to make faux succulents. Perfect for those who kill all plants.

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    1. thank you so much! this room isn't really hospitable to plants - i'm not in there much, and the light is only good for a few hours a day. plus i'd hate to trigger allergies in guests (when we GET guests, that is). so coming up with some interesting faux plants was my best bet for getting a touch of nature and greenery in there.

      btw: i'd love to know who you are!

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  2. Oh my gosh! Totally my style! I love nothing better than unique wall or door decor, and those succulents!!

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    1. thank you so much for visiting and taking time to comment such a nice compliment! PS: i'd love to know who you are! ;)

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  3. Both of these upcycles are BRILLIANT!! I'd love for you to share over at our Creative Crafts Linky Party https://creativelybeth.com/creative-crafts-linky-party-2-join-in-the-fun/
    Have a great weekend!
    Creatively, Beth

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    1. ah, thank you SO much for the kind compliment and wonderful invitation to your party, Miss Beth - i will come visit!!!

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  4. Goodness... this is adorable Deb! Love the fans and wall mural, but your sweater succulents and cactus... SO good!

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    Replies
    1. awwww, thank you so much, my friend! i can't tell you how often i come up with a wacky decor idea and make it and think 'should i even BLOG about this?!! it's too weird!' and then even if i DO blog about it, i have to stop and think for a minute about linking it up to your party filled with such astoundingly creative (and much more normal!) ideas than mine.... so each time you include my project in your feature, i am a bit surprised by the fact that someone else LIKES it!!!!! LOL thank you so much for your encouragement, Donna. you're the best <3

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