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DIY Miniature Clay Cacti & Fiddle Leaf Fig

March 9, 2016 by Cassie 27 Comments

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Last week I promised you some real scale projects and so far this week I’ve shown you the new legs on my Ikea Kallax as well as our kids art gallery wall.  But today it’s all about miniatures!  Of  course this is a fun little project that would look cute on just about any shelf, not just in a dollhouse.  And if you are wondering why on earth I am talking about miniatures, check out the Dollhouse Therapy challenge I announced last week!  Emmy and I have been having the best time sewing, painting, and creating for our first dollhouse project.  ( I say first because we already have two waiting in the wings, thanks to craigslist and a good friend who donated one to Emmy).  This past weekend we made DIY miniature clay cacti & a fiddle leaf fig plant.  Today I am going to show you how you can recreate these for your own dollhouse, or just to add a touch of whimsy somewhere.

DIY miniature potted plants made with clay and artificial stems

As you can see from the image above, we created a variety of plants.  You will need the following supplies:

  • miniature terra cotta look pots or miniature planters.  I found mine at a craft store, but would have preferred these unfinished or these terra cotta look pots.
  • White, gray, and green Sculpey
  • Purple or pink tissue paper
  • Hot glue gun & glue
  • Artificial plant spray (I used this eucalyptus)

I started off making this simple cactus and am going to list the steps for you below.  But don’t judge my bitten fingernails… these are the hands of someone who had to hand wash dishes for 2 months after a drain issue.

DIY Miniature Clay Potted Plants, cactus

  1. Pinch off a white piece of clay and add a tiny bit of gray.  roll it together in your hands to create a marbleized look.  Then make sure you have enough to fill your pot, but don’t force it in.  It should fit just right.  Once you have the right fit, remove the clay as you will not bake it in the pot.Clay to fit in pot
  2. Break off a piece of green clay and roll it into a piece about 2 1/2″ long and 1/2 inch in diameter.Rolled Cactus Clay
  3. Pinch a stripe up the side of the cactus using your thumb and index finger.Creating ridge on clay cactus.
  4. Make a quarter turn and repeat step 3 until you have 4 ridges traveling up the length of your cactus.  Once you have all four it should look like this.Ridges on cactus
  5. Add the green clay cactus to the white ball that fits in your pot by just smooshing together a bit carefully.  If you plan to make more, set this aside on your baking pan until you are ready to bake.  When you are ready to bake bake at 275 for 45 minutes.
  6. After the clay cactus has cooled, use the hot glue gun to clue the base into the flower pot.

Complete ridged cactus

Now let’s move onto the prickly pear style cactus.

DIY Miniature Clay Cactus in Pot with Tissue Paper Flower

  1. Create your swirled gray and white clay piece to fit in the pot just as in the above cactus.
  2. Break off three tiny pieces of green clay and roll them into balls.
  3. Rolled Balls for Pricky PearFlatten each piece and taper one end of each.Flattened pieces for Prickly Pear Clay Cactus
  4. Connect the pieces with the largest as the base, and add the others as you wish.  Once you have connected, you can rub at the seams to blend.Prickly Pear Cactus in clay DIY
  5. Using a toothpick or clay tool, make small indentations all over the cactus.Prickly Pear Cactus Clay DIY
  6. Blend with the white marbled base.
  7. Bake in a 275 degree preheated oven for 45 minutes and allow to cool.
  8. Cut a circle of tissue paper about 1″ in diameter.  Crumple into a little ball and hot glue into your cactus as the cactus flower.
  9. Finally, hot glue the base into the pot.

DIY Miniature Clay Cactus

I have one more clay plant to share with you, and it was intended to be a snake plant, but the clay sort of flopped over, so it’s more like a spider plant.

DIY Miniature Clay Potted Plant

  1. As with the others, begin with the ball of marbleized gray an white clay that will fit in your pot.
  2. Break off several small pieces of green clay and roll into thin pieces about 1-2″ long each.Miniature Spider Plant Clay DIY
  3. Flatten each piece to create leaves.How to make a miniature clay spider plant
  4. Start attaching them to the base, following around the base, and layering as you go.Miniature Clay spider plant DIY
  5. Bake in a preheated 275 degree oven for 45 minutes.
  6. After the clay plant cools hot glue into your base.

****Note: with this particular plant, I didn’t take into consideration the diameter of the pot, and ended up breaking a couple of leaves.  Make sure you allow room for the leaves to fall around the pot, not just the clay base.

Now one more and this one is pretty stupid easy, so this isn’t so much a tutorial… Let’s talk about how I created that fiddle leaf fig.  Oh and do you see that little plant on the mantle?  That’s the clay succulent Emmy made!

DIY Miniature Fiddle Leaf Fig

Anyhow, I am calling this a fiddle leaf fig because the shape and scale of the leaves remind me of one, but truly I used a piece of artificial Eucalyptus in green.

I created the clay base just like I did for all of the other plants, cut a piece of the fake greenery to the size I wanted, and poked it into the clay, swirling it a little to create a small well for it (to allow room for glue later).

Making a miniature fiddle leaf fig

Then I just baked this clay piece with the rest and when it was cooled, I glued my cut greenery into it, and glued it all into the pot.  Super easy!  This greenery has some bend to it, so you may have to bend it a bit to find the proper balance so it doesn’t tip over. 😉

DIY Miniature Fiddle Leaf Fig in Pot

And there you have it!  You can now make 4 different kinds of plants for your dollhouse, or just because you think miniature things are adorable and fun.  No dollhouse needed.  Emmy and I had a great time Saturday creating these together and will be sure to create and share more as we head into the Dollhouse Therapy challenge starting in April.

Sharing here: Sundays at Home, Silver Pennies Sundays, The Inspiration Gallery

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Filed Under: Craft, Dollhouse, Dollhouse Therapy, misfits (other craftiness)

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Comments

  1. [email protected] says

    March 9, 2016 at 7:22 am

    So so cute! That cactus with the flower!

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      March 13, 2016 at 8:02 am

      thank you, julia! it was so much fun to create!

      Reply
  2. Emy says

    March 9, 2016 at 7:52 am

    Cute! I have that same greenery in my living room. 😉 And I love the bust on your mantle!

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      March 13, 2016 at 8:01 am

      thank you, emy!

      Reply
  3. Jessica @ Petal + Ply says

    March 9, 2016 at 10:17 am

    they turned out so cute!

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      March 13, 2016 at 8:00 am

      thank you, jessica! it was fun to do with emmy!

      Reply
  4. Debbie @ Refresh Restyle says

    March 9, 2016 at 1:36 pm

    love all the new tiny greenery 🙂

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      March 13, 2016 at 7:59 am

      thank you, debbie! 🙂

      Reply
  5. Alice W. says

    March 9, 2016 at 1:51 pm

    These are too good! That prickly pear…I need it asap in my house! 🙂

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      March 13, 2016 at 7:59 am

      thank you, alice! it was SO easy to make, too- i am not the craftiest girl when it comes to clay so you know it had to be easy!

      Reply
  6. Haley says

    March 9, 2016 at 2:21 pm

    This is adorable! I used to be super into making things with sculpey when I was younger and this makes me want to make tons of tiny things.

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      March 13, 2016 at 7:58 am

      i have played with sculpey before but i am having more fun than i ever did with it!

      Reply
  7. gail says

    March 9, 2016 at 2:58 pm

    tooo stinkin’ cute!

    so happy y’all are having fun together with this project!

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      March 13, 2016 at 7:58 am

      thank you, gail! we really are!

      Reply
  8. Renee Z says

    March 9, 2016 at 8:37 pm

    How cute! You just reminded me of a Mexican village I created in 6th grade. I made miniature cacti, tiny bananas and fruit for the markets….but my cacti definitely weren’t as cute as yours. Looks like you are having a lot of fun with Emmy!

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      March 13, 2016 at 7:56 am

      that sounds so fun!!!

      Reply
  9. Shelley | Crazy Wonderful says

    March 9, 2016 at 9:57 pm

    These are so stinking cute!!! The cactus with the flower might be my favorite 🙂

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      March 13, 2016 at 7:56 am

      thank you, shelley! that is my fave, too!

      Reply
  10. Bliss says

    March 14, 2016 at 9:10 am

    I’m pretty happy you moved on to the prickly pear style cactus because how old am I? I was starting to giggle at the other one. I’m so bad.

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      March 15, 2016 at 8:53 pm

      oh don’t worry- chris came home and said “well that’s rather phallic!”

      Reply
  11. [email protected] Gathered Home says

    March 15, 2016 at 12:40 pm

    Cutest project ever!!! Of course there are other DIY projects I love from you, but this one is definitely vying for favorite! The miniature fiddle leaf fig is so genius!!!

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      March 15, 2016 at 8:33 pm

      thank you so much, brynne! i had fun with it!

      Reply
  12. [email protected] says

    March 23, 2016 at 8:36 pm

    These are TOO cute. I love the cactus. I just saw a post that was an Easter egg made into a cactus in a really similar way – I thought that was adorable for Easter, too.

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      March 28, 2016 at 9:21 am

      yes i saw that too and loved it!!!

      Reply
  13. lynna says

    March 31, 2016 at 4:25 pm

    I have a dollhouse to renovate. Please add me to the Facebook group!!!

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      March 31, 2016 at 7:46 pm

      hi lynna! i am having trouble adding people via email but if you go here you can request in and i can add you. 🙂
      https://www.facebook.com/groups/942790245835179/

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Dollhouse Therapy Sneak Peeks - Primitive and Proper says:
    April 4, 2016 at 10:16 am

    […] were thrilled when it arrived!Oh, and lastly, you’ve seen this fireplace when I shared my DIY miniature clay cacti, and I can’t wait to share how I made it with you soon.  It was SO easy!  We also hung the […]

    Reply

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Hi, I’m Cassie!

I believe that you don't have to spend a lot of money to live a beautiful life and be your best self.  Here you will find budget friendly ideas to live happily, healthily, sustainably, and most importantly authentically.  We all get one chance at this life, and this ordinary girl plans to make hers extraordinary. How about you? Read more...
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Hi! I'm Cassie.

Mother, wife, shop owner, blogger, writer, incurable diy-er, furniture painter, coffee and wine drinker, friend. Seeking happiness and passing it on. Read More…

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