DIY Miniature Clay Cacti & Fiddle Leaf Fig

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.

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.

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.
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.
3. Pinch a stripe up the side of the cactus using your thumb and index finger.
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.
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.

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

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. Flatten each piece and taper one end of each.
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.
5. Using a toothpick or clay tool, make small indentations all over the cactus.
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.

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.

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.
3. Flatten each piece to create leaves.
4. Start attaching them to the base, following around the base, and layering as you go.
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!

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).

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. 😉

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