JUST ADD WATER… AND PAINT?

Now that it’s spring, you can’t help but notice all of the pretty flowers blooming all over the place.  If you’re like me, you also can’t avoid your tongue and throat itching and head hurting and eyes watering…But hey, that’s a story for another time.  Where was I? Oh yeah, spring and flowers and all that jazz…  I love the look of flowers in the home (both fresh cut and potted), but I don’t have a green thumb nor am I able to stick to my weekly budget to allow myself enough wiggle room to squeeze in a $5 bouquet at the grocery store.  What’s a girl to do about that other than turn to Pinterest?

Before I headed that way, I clicked on West Elm because of all the ads I had been seeing on blogs (ads work people!).  What did I find on West Elms site?

First off, I realized that cactus and succulents are the types of plants I need.  After that, I realized that I wanted the pots I plant them in to look like those from West Elm.  Isn’t the grey and turquoise fabulous?! Knowing good and well that I wasn’t going to pay $34 for the small and $69 for the largest pot, I was determined to find a DIY alternative to share with you.

First off, lets start with the succulents.  You can find succulents at Lowes or Home Depot

I found the ones above at Lowes but the succulents I actually purchased were from Walmart for $2.50 a pot (yes I do go inside Walmart and live to talk about it).

But you know we live in a time where EVERYTHING can be purchased online so look at what I found

Succulents Galore is an Etsy shop that sales the prettiest assortment of succulents!

Now, for the plant pots.  Again, not wanting to pay $34 for the ones at West Elm, I scouted out these at Lowes. 

The smallest were around $4 and the largest around $11

  

What I like the most about these is their finish.  They aren’t glossy, but they aren’t matt either.  They have more of a satin finish.  For the band across the top (as seen in the WE pots), you can use a sample pot of paint from Lowes or Home Depot for less than $3 (or if you’re like me, you have tons of paint in the garage you can use!).

Now, if you want to go even cheaper, you can always use terracotta pots and paint them.  I found some at Walmart for next to nothing!

The smallest were $.78 and the larger pot was $1.25

They could be transformed into these

(I have some left over chalk paint that I’m going to use to make these!)

How cute are these?

Or you could just paint them a solid color like these from Martha Stewart. 

As you can see, I have already purchased my succulents for this project (and a larger one not shown).  I have yet to purchase the pots, but I couldn’t wait to share these ideas with you.  So, have you started bringing flowers indoors for spring? Any DIYs on your list that consist of flower arrangements/displays?!