DIY Teacup Succulent Garden with a Book Shelf

Ever since I discovered that it’s pretty difficult to kill cacti and succulents I’ve been collecting then around the apartment like a squirrel preparing for winter. Usually when I bring a plant into the apartment it commits suicide upon entering our threshold, but the cacti seem to be doing alright. (WOOHOO!)

I’ve also been collecting teacups from Goodwill and Ebay to plant the cacti in around the apartment. I love the juxtaposition of something so prickly inside something so dainty.

What you need:
– Book for the shelf, actually found my book on the street when someone left it out to throw away
– Jute
– Teacups (Mine are from Ebay and Goodwill)
– Rocks for the bottom of the teacups (For drainage)
– Succulents and cacti
– Frame to go around shelf, also from the street in front of a frame shop that was pitching it.

Because it can be a little difficult to find a variety of succulents in the city for a decent price, I actually ordered mine off Amazon. I was so surprised that they came in perfect shape and two months later, all of them are still living! Definitely would recommend the seller they came from.

To start, tie one loop of the jute around one side of the book.

Then wrap the jute around two more times and tie it in a sturdy knot. Then make loop handles of equal length. When you put the book against the wall with the loop handles wrapped around two parallel nails, gravity will make the book into a really sturdy shelf. It’s really not an exact science– just make the straps look like a backpack that is lying flat on the ground. 🙂

To make sure some of the shorter succulents didn’t get hidden, I stacked a few branch discs underneath two teacups to give them a little boost.

In addition to Goodwill and Ebay, a couple teacups come from Anthropologie when they were on sale for a few dollars, and the tiny thimble teacup from a shop around where I work in Chinatown.

When you’re hanging the shelf, you just need to nail two level nails into the wall and wrap your jute handles around the nails until the shelf is even. One nail might have two wraps and the other might have three. As long as the book is level, you’re good to go! 🙂