I wound up ordering tons for party favors for a very special celebration.

Then later I put together a really sweet arrangement for my mother-in-law for Mother’s Day.

Today, I thought I’d round up some other fun ways to plant succulents. Cause I need some inspiration for my NEXT purchase. I think I’m overdue. And yes, I think I’m addicted.

But I really think you’ll love these 9 simple planter ideas for succulents.

Read here for the 6 Reasons Succulents are the Best Plants Ever.

And go over to my youtube channel for an instructional video about planting these beauties.

So without further ado, here are the 8 ways to plant some succulents that I rounded up today. I’m thinking all of them would make gorgeous wedding favors or decorations. Just order a few trays of these stunning hens and chicks or even order trays full of variety in one of many color tones to go with your color scheme. Choose one of these adorable planter options, and you will have a memorable favor that very well may last a lifetime.

But, since yesterday was my birthday, I’m not thinking of favors at all… I’m thinking of splurging on myself…

Read to the end and please help me with some ideas!

1. Temporary Housing

First, you might want to propagate your own succulents. You can totally do that. Here’s a great way to temporarily house your new little plants. It’s ingenious really… in fact, I feel like an egg head that I didn’t think of this sooner. (Ugh, sorry, bad pun. )

2. Antiqued Charm

Pot them beautifully in this new planter that you make look antique. (And, score, you can make it for cheap!)

This post contains affiliate links.

3. Center of Attention

Make a gorgeous centerpiece.  You’ll want to stick with low-growing, compact succulents–like these gorgeous options from Mountain Crest Gardens–for a centerpiece. In fact, Mountain Crest Gardens offers the perfect accessory to help you with this one. Check out this wreath form, which will make things extra easy.

4. All Corked Up

Put a cork in it… Put one in a cork, or two, or four… But, if you don’t wanna collect all the corks you may need to round up a slew of these for party favors, gifts, or wedding favors but you like the rustic look of cork, check out these beautiful mini cork planters. (fyi, if you have any left over I love these as votive holders. The candle light flickers beautifully through the cork.)

5. All Wrapped Up

Of course you can wrap ’em up in ribbons for a beautiful look that you can coordinate with any room decor or to make truly perfect wedding or party favors.

6. Rustically Charming

Now me, I’m a simple gal. I like things that look down-home charming, so I gotta point out you can also wrap ’em up in rustic twine. (Bonus… this involves one of my favorite things… Mason jars!)

7. Wild & Fruity

If you’re a wild-and-crazy kinda gal or just want an adorable planter for your kitchen window sill, grab a quart-sized mason jar and go a little wild and fruity.

8. Nothing to Shell Out

But let’s be honest, free is always best, and if you’ve collected a few neat treasures on the beach lately, you don’t have to SHELL out anything at all to make this sea shell planter.

9. Flagged to Remember

Even if you’re not one to wear your sentiments on your sleeve, you may love wearing your sentiments on your succulent… at least if you’re hosting a party where you wanna make sure your theme is perfectly understood. Choose any simple small pot, like the little clay ones we ordered online. Type out your sentiment. Cover the back of your paper in washi tape, cut out the flag shape, and insert a toothpick to make the flag. Go here for more pictures and info about our extra-special farmhouse celebration we hosted this spring.

10. Cooking up one more great idea.

Last, but not least, I love my succulent planter I snagged at our Give-And-Take Room at our town’s dump. I’ve always loved old enamel pans but never knew what to do with them until now. What do ya’ think? Is this pan a perfect succulent planter or what?

Click the picture above or go here to see a little facebook live video when I planted that arrangement.

Of course there’s countless ways to house your favorite succulents… Mountain Crest Gardens is truly the “Ultimate Succulent Store”… you’ll find everything you need there–every variety of succulent you can imagine and lots of planter options, like this beauty that you can see me planting as a special gift in the video you can click to here or below.

In fact, like I said, yesterday was my birthday. And I wanna treat myself to some succulents. .

I love their terrarium kit and their fairy gardens. . .

Or maybe I’ll get a gorgeous assortment of succulents like this tray and some adorable mini planters and spread the beauty out all over our house…

Maybe if I’m feeling the love I’ll even give some away to a few elderly neighbors whom I like to visit, or our mail carrier or country store owner or our favorite cashier at the grocery store.

Then there are a few corners of our old house where succulents just can’t grow, maybe I’ll get some of these they-look-real-but-they’re-artificial succulents to “plant” there.

Honestly, I don’t know how I’ll choose. But I’m gonna start loosing sleep over this, so please leave a comment telling me your favorite choices over on Mountain Crest Gardens. It’s always fun to do a little dream shopping, no?

Imagine you have a $200 gift card–what would YOU get here today?

I’d really love to hear what you’d get!

 

Glance at my Resource Page if you’d like to get a glimpse of all the supplies I use and recommend for everything from gardening, to homeschooling, to chicken care, to nature journaling, to maple syrup making.

 

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The post 10 Simple Planters for Succulents! first appeared on Souly Rested.

“Mom, we have to have a party, invite everyone we know, and celebrate.”

When my 19-year-old brave fighter of a daughter told me this about the upcoming 1-year anniversary of her spinal fusion surgery, I didn’t hesitate. In fact, I’ve never been so quick to acquiesce to a big shindig.

I’m not big on crowded gatherings when I don’t get to really sit and talk to anyone. I’d much rather have one family over for lunch on Sunday afternoon than a loud, house-bulging crowd that has to spill out onto the front porch of our small, old farmhouse on Friday night.

Of course this Friday-night party was an exception.

You see, my daughter had endured excruciating pain for years. I shared a little here, years ago, about verses that helped me as a mom watching my daughter endure so much chronic pain and heartache and how to see beauty in sorrow. Then, a year ago, she went into an 8-hour surgery that replaced her damaged disc with an artificial plastic one and a few titanium screws. She faced a difficult recovery and physical therapy, which she worked through eagerly. Then came the burning, debilitating, seemingly never ending pain she endured when we realized she was suffering from a rare neurological syndrome as a result of nerve damage from her surgery. If she saw blessings to celebrate after her last year, we were absolutely going to celebrate.

She loves succulents. So when I started to brainstorm what kind of little party favors we could give all the guests, the first thought was succulents.

This post contains affiliate links.

But we live rurally. Ten miles to the nearest traffic light. Twenty-five minutes to town. And we live in New England. Nurseries don’t even open for the short summer season until close to Memorial Day. It was March.

I was shocked when we googled it and found a company that ships succulents across the country—from California—in 2 days FOR FREE. (And the packaging is totally top-notch wonderful. Watch this little fb live video to see the amazing packaging peanuts… you won’t believe this!)

And these little plants were drop dead gorgeous!

Click the picture above or go here to see my youtube video unboxing and planting a few of these beauties, where I explain how to plant succulents and care for them.

It was ultra easy to put them all together; we literally plopped them out of the plastic pot and into the adorable terra cotta ones I ordered (also from Mountain Crest Gardens).

We wanted the plants to promote the theme of our party, so we started thinking of some verses. We needed one that summed up our joy in our assurance that no matter how dark, painful, and seemingly never-ending Jordyn’s horrible battle with pain had been, we knew we could trust in God’s goodness and sovereignty.

In the end, in the midst of months of agony, we had assurance that the pain–which was, on its worst days, an 11 on a scale of 1-10–was “light” compared to the eternal glory we will someday experience as children of God.

It didn’t take us long to settle on II Corinthians 4:17… “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” But we needed to sum up that sentiment on a teeny tiny flag. We settled on “Today’s Problems = Tomorrow’s Growth.”

We printed out the papers, covered the back of the pages in washi tape (like this), used a straight edge cutter (like this one) to divide them and finished off the flags by cutting a small “v” in the end of each and using a mini, 1/16″ round hand punch (like this one) to make two holes that we could feed tooth picks through.

We also gathered lots of pictures of Jordyn’s last year and pulled together a few nice displays.

Once we ordered the succulents, my thoughts turned to a gift. I wanted to do something to commemorate her joy after so much sorrow. And I wanted it to be something she’d have for a life time. I had no trouble knowing an exact moment that I wanted to memorialize.

The moment I wanted to commemorate was a few minutes her and I shared alone in her room in the ICU. A few minutes that will give me a lifetime of peace and joy when I recall the warm tears that soaked my cheeks as her and I sang a few choruses together of a song she had asked me to play on my laptop just as the sun was starting to turn the sky beautiful shades of crimson and purple. That song has since become my favorite song of all time and that moment will forever be etched on my heart. (The song was Sovereign Over Us. You can hear it here, if you would like. Another day I’ll share a separate post, just about that moment. But today’s post is about our celebration.)

I knew I wanted to memorialize a line from that song.

So we made a base for the plaque with pallet pieces, and I started laying out how I wanted to paint the lettering. I think it turned out pretty well, and it was nice to have on display for her celebration.

When I stood back and looked at these beautiful plants I realized what amazing favors they’d make for so many occasions…

Anniversary

Teen or adult Birthday

Graduation party

Community party

4th of July or Memorial Day party

And the wonderful little flags you could make for each occasion!

Wedding: Let love grow; Grow old with me, the best is yet to be; Alone we were static, together we grow beautifully.

Anniversary: Growth, Laughter & 40 years of “Happily Ever After.”; Together 50 beautiful years, and still growing; 35 years & still growing strong.

Birthday: Thank you for helping me grow.

Graduation: “Oh the places you’ll GROW;” A sweet ending to a new beginning of growth; Commit. Plan. Grow. Proverbs 16:3; Still growing in knowledge… Colossians 1:10; The growth (& the tassel) was worth the hassle;

Oh, and if you have a wedding in your near future, I also just stumbled upon this fun fact I have to share… Amazon offers a wedding registry. How perfect is that?

So, yeah, our old farmhouse held a wonderful celebration this spring, but if you wanna know some of  the bitter truths (and joys) of owning an old farmhouse? I wrote about those here.

Wanna know the 6 reasons I think succulents are the the best plants EVER? I wrote about that here.

Wanna know where you can unearth some rustic farmhouse treasures of your own? You will LOVE this site I just discovered–Antique Farmhouse.I’m already addicted.

After getting the plants, plaque, and picture display ready, we made a cake and yummy apple cider over the fire in our big old Rumford fireplace, strung lots of sparkly lights on the front porch of our farmhouse, and sat back with lots of friends and family to celebrate.

We celebrated that blessings indeed abound even amidst sorrow.

We celebrated that He is always with us–even in the fire and the flood.

We celebrated that “Today’s problems = tomorrow’s growth.”

And I totally loved everything about this big shindig.

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. II Corinthians 4:17

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Many readers often ask what camera I use to take the images you find here on SoulyRested. I love my Nikon; you can read more about my camera on my Resources page and even purchase your own here.

Glance at my Resource Page if you’d like to get a glimpse of all the supplies I use and recommend for everything from gardening, to homeschooling, to chicken care, to nature journaling, to maple syrup making.

 

I’d love to connect!

To find me in some other neck of the woods, just click any (or every!) icon below:

 

If you already ARE a subscriber, just hop over to the Resource Library here and enter your personal password. (If you don’t remember your password, no fear, we always include a personalized reminder in every Thursday email, “Hard Work, Simple Joys.”)

The post The perfect party favor for our farmhouse celebration first appeared on Souly Rested.

This Mother’s Day? I’m writing an open letter to my mother-in-law…

If you’d rather listen in than read, I just recorded the audio version of this post in the Simple Doesn’t Mean Easy podcast.

It’s never easy, even for someone for whom written words come rather easy, to decide what to declare in a letter of love. Poets resort to metaphors and fancy phrases, but no matter how elegant the words are or how beautifully they are made to dance on the page, they always, always fall short.

Summing up 25 years of gratitude

Simple ink-printed shapes placed together and strung across a thin, white canvas can not express 25 years of deep gratitude.

Especially not when that gratitude is woven so intricately into years of moments. Moments that I’ve realized how passionately I love my husband without even pausing to be thankful for your hand in who he is.

A few small lessons that are immeasurable

So on this Mother’s Day I thought I’d list just a few things you did as his mom for which I am immeasurably thankful:

Thank you for teaching him to grip a pencil, hold a glue bottle, and tie his shoes. Today he can use his big burly hands to do such gentle, intricate things.

Thank you for letting him take apart appliances just to learn how they work. Today his ability to understand how things work has repaired more home deficits and replaced more water heaters, dishwashers, and electrical wires than I can count. Those abilities have been the core reason I could afford to stay home with our children over the past two decades, knowing he could keep our home in good repair for little cost.

Thank you for showing him the value of “mom.” Today he values the time I invest in that meager role that he appreciates as heavenly-appointed.

Thank you for nudging him out of bed when his teenager’s alarm would not suffice. Today he hits the floor as the sun is rising. Although his bones are much older and his muscles sometimes ache, he is joyfully eager to provide another day’s income to cover the necessities that his family needs.

Thank you for encouraging him, that sweet baby boy, with penetrating eyes, to be inquisitive and to laugh a deep, meaningful laugh that widens his cheek bones and crinkles his eyes. Today that laugh and those penetrating crinkled eyes are a source of deep joy for me every single day, even the days—no, especially the—that are littered with sorrows.

All of the lessons you taught him and endearing traits you encouraged in him have made each of my married days more meaningful, more valuable, more blessed.

A heavy burden that we are thankful for

Yet who would have imagined, oh so many decades ago, when you held his sleepy, crying form in the deep dark of the night, or encouraged his chubby toddler hands to learn new skills across the table from you, or supported him as a young man who was taking on intimidating challenges apart form you, that you were creating a heavy burden for your future granddaughters?

Yes, each of our daughters has seen an almost impossible standard set before them, all their lives, of a Godly, talented, bold man who leads our family with quiet strength—thanks to your hard work many decades ago.

A standard that they expect their future spouses to meet.

It is a burden for which we are all very thankful.

So, here I sit wondering what gift I can order for my Mother-in-Law for Mother’s Day. I shared my little DIY project on a facebook live last week and many of you reached out, asking questions… so you got me thinking…

A little planter like the one I put together would make a perfect Mother’s Day present.

Needless to say, you can’t easily find a 70-year-old beat-up enamel pan to use as a planter, and I’d argue it might not be the best gift if you did… so I went looking for a different solution as a Mother’s Day gift and found this combination that my mother-in-law might love.

Since she’s as fanatic about tea as I am, I might order her this tea cup planter and some beautiful “blue” succulents to fill it with. Then, since blue is her favorite color and since I love love love sea glass (did I mention I love sea glass?), it was easy to decide what I’ll order to use around the plants as “mulch.” Blue sea glass. What’dya think? (Sshhhh don’t tell my awesome mother-in-law. I’ll share this post with her after Mother’s Day.)

Photo Credits: Mountain Crest Gardens

But I’m having trouble deciding, because I know she’d also love the moss-covered watering can planter and the kit to build a terrarium with her succulents. Then there’s the ADORABLE build-a-fairy-garden kit (and so many adorable mini accessories to choose from) that she would love assembling with a granddaughter.

Then of course I may change my mind about which succulents to order… since there are 650 different varieties. (Hello! That’s too many!)

This is seriously an indecisive girl’s nightmare!

What’s your favorite? No seriously, please tell me.

Thankfully I have a few weeks still to make up my mind. This amazing company somehow gets their plants from California to my little farmhouse porch in 2 days flat. AND shipping is free (if I’m spending $75 or more).

Read here about the 6 reasons I’ve decided succulents are the best plants ever.

Full disclosure here: Mountain Crest Gardens will give me a tiny commission if you decide to order from them, but I would be telling you about them even if they didn’t very sweetly offer me an affiliate connection to them. Seriously, I love this company, their products, and their customer service.

Now leave a comment below and help me choose the best succulent gift idea. (Please?) I’m not kidding folks. The abundance of choices is not a good combination with my abundance of indecisiveness today.

UPDATE: I finally chose! See what I ordered, and watch me unbox and plant it (and learn about how to pot and care for your succulents) in this little video, over on my youtube channel.–>

Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. – Deuteronomy 4:9

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The post A few things you forgot to tell your mother-in-law on Mother’s Day first appeared on Souly Rested.

So as I sit here, as close to the wood-burning stove as I can get on an oh-so-chilly April morning in our old farmhouse, I wonder how long until spring decides to actually tarry here in New England this year? But it’s not so bad because I have little planted pots of California sunshine to tide me over.

It seems every year spring drags her feet. It’s like she’s lingering under the bed covers of winter, not wanting to put her toes down on the cold ground. So I decided to reassure myself that she will indeed be here soon by ordering a little bit of warm California beauty to be delivered right to my cold New England front porch.

I’m talking succulents. Why succulents? See my list below…. it’s more like, why not? But I just recently discovered this source in California, and I gotta tell you they are amahzing! Beautiful plants, beautiful containers, all beautifully packaged, and delivered– coast to coast–in 2 days (with free shipping!), backed by beautiful customer service. You all know I’m never on here doing a commercial for anybody, so you know this company knocked my muddy muck boots off.

I was so tickled with the packaging, btw, I hopped on a fb live right away to show you all these amazing, magical, compostable peanuts. Did you even know such things existed?

Why I Love Succulents

1. They have chicks. I mean come on… a plant that has chicks? (Not to mention no rooster problems.) What’s not to love about that?

Photo Credit: Mountain Crest Gardens.

2. They reproduce easily. Seriously. In addition to the whole “chick” thing, there’s also leaf propagation. You can just take a leaf from a succulent and create new plants. How cool is that? I’m sure it’ll involve some trial and error, and patience, but it is magic to watch these babies grow. And, let’s face it, there’s always plenty of trial and error… okay often more error… on this homestead, so this fits right in.

3. They’re low maintenance. These sweet plants barely need to be watered at all. Add in a little compost as I plant them, and they’re even more drought tolerant. How about this! I may have finally met a house plant I don’t neglect!

4. They look beautiful in anything. Really. And I’m not just talking about the totally cool enamel pans I snagged at the Give and Take room of our dump. (Gosh I love that room. Locals call it our “mall,” which is extra funny if you ever saw our town… I’m 11 miles from a stop light; 30 minutes from a town; and about an hour from an actual “mall.”) Succulents can be planted on a wreath ladies and gentlemen. And hung on the wall folks! Just look at all these options under “planters.”

5. They’re a perfect little gift to brighten someone’s day. And don’t even get me started about how perfect these are for wedding favors! There’s no wedding in our family’s near future, but I thought of another excuse to give away a bunch of these adorably cute little pots of spring promise… more on that in an upcoming post…

UPDATE: Weeks later, I wrote all about our farmhouse celebration (which included lots of succulent party favors).

6. They’re hardy. Some succulents can even overwinter in New England. Seriously! I emailed my newfound friends at Mountain Crest Gardens, and they assured me that 3 varieties of succulents (Semps, Heufellii, and Sedum) can be planted outside in zones 4-5. Now that’s saying something!

But did I mention I can order them wholesale? A whole bunch of them? And pay no shipping–from California to New England? Now that’s saying a lot!

Full disclosure here: Mountain Crest Gardens will give me a tiny commission if you decide to order from them, but I would be telling you about them even if they didn’t very sweetly offer me an affiliate connection to them. Seriously, I love this company, their products, and their customer service.

I love my new succulents so much, I right away ordered some for my Mother in Law, and a gorgeous planter, as a Mother’s Day present.

Think there may be a few things you forgot to tell your Mother-in Law on Mother’s Day? I’m sure of it. Read this post to see what I mean.

Wanna see that gorgeous succulent planter I made my MIL? Watch this little video where I put it all together.

 

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Many readers often ask what camera I use to take the images you find here on SoulyRested. I love my Nikon; you can read more about my camera on my Resources page and even purchase your own here.

Glance at my Resource Page if you’d like to get a glimpse of all the supplies I use and recommend for everything from gardening, to homeschooling, to chicken care, to nature journaling, to maple syrup making.

 

I’d love to connect!

To find me in some other neck of the woods, just click any (or every!) icon below:

If you already ARE a subscriber, just hop over to the Resource Library here and enter your personal password. (If you don’t remember your password, no fear, we always include a personalized reminder in every Thursday email, “Hard Work, Simple Joys.”)

The post Seriously? I can order succulents online? first appeared on Souly Rested.