How to create your own realistic DIY faux succulent arrangement

After a trip to the Magnolia warehouse sale, I came home with some great finds (and I only spent $20) – and one of my favorites was a concrete hanging planter. At the sale, I managed to find this Arden Haning Planter for $5 (it is discontinued). I really wanted to turn it into a succulent arrangement.

However, I didn’t know if I could realistically use real succulents in the planter. I knew there wasn’t going to be good drainage for watering, but I was worried a faux succulent arrangement would look tacky.

This one is from Target for $11.69:

I was walking around Michael’s one day when I saw their arrangement of succulents! I loved them so much, I bought a few that looked realistic and ordered a few more from Etsy. I figured they would go perfectly in my concrete planter.

This project took about 10 minutes to complete, but it looks like a $50 arrangement!

I started with a round styrofoam circle. You can find these at Michaels or any craft store.

As for the succulents, this can get expensive quickly if you don’t do it correctly.

I found a kit, similar to this one from Etsy for $18, and bought a few other pieces that I really liked.

When I bought the stand-alone pieces, I tried to get big flowers to fill up space. I also looked for pieces that could hang off the edges.

I loved these big flowers from Etsy, starting at $1.

Also, I tried to find a lot of these bubbly-like sprigs. I just love how they looked!

This one piece is $8 at Etsy, and it looks so realistic!

Once you find all your succulents, you need to make sure you buy moss to fill up any leftover space. You don’t want to be able to see the styrofoam.

I went for a clumpy moss for a more realistic look, like the Super Moss.

Overall, I loved the results, and it was so easy to put together!

What is your favorite type of succulent?