Air Plants- Living Art DIY

My co-bloggers returned from a vacation to sunny Florida (read more about the trip) and did not bring me back a typical plastic magnate as a souvenir. Instead, a bag of air plants and Spanish moss were my gift.

Being from Michigan, my first instinct was, “Well, these are gonna die.”

Surprisingly, they made it through the brisk end of winter and into spring with minor casualties among the plants. But what to do with them? I rummaged through my potting gear and found nothing useful. I searched my craft boxes an realized I had dozens of embroidery hoops. I also trekked through the yard and found the remains of an old tree burl. Grabbing some wire and snips from my tool box I was ready to start.

I cleaned the plants by removing extra debris and untangling them from each other. These plants will create little baby plants right off the big ones so some of the groups may need to be split apart. Decide what size you need based on the item you are attaching it to.

TIP: If you gather these plants from the wild yourself be aware that they are full of creatures (aka bugs), it’s a great habitat. I’d submerge the plants for a few minutes in a bucket of water to drown and detach any extra creatures you don’t want to bring into your home. The plants will be just fine.

Using a few inches of wire I looped through the air plants gently securing them to the wire.

I decided which way I wanted my burl to be displayed on the wall. And began attaching the tiny plants.

I added an additional piece of wire creating a loop to hang the whole piece of art from.

Next up, those cute little embroidery hoops. There are tons of options online for these hoops and this is just my take on ‘framing’ plants. Follow the same guide as above securing your plants and attaching them to the hoops.

All that’s left is to decide where to hang these clever creations. You should mist these plants occasionally indoors to keep them healthy. They survive best with moist air like in a bathroom with a shower.

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