Easy DIY Succulent Birdcage Garden

So, I’m somewhat obsessed with succulents right now.  I love the variety of shapes and textures they come in, and I really love the fact that the fake ones look so darn real.  (So. Much. Easier.)  Plus, they look good in just about anything you put them in.  

Awhile back, I saw an old vintage bird cage that someone had turned into a garden.  I thought it was adorable, and totally wanted one for myself.  Vintage birdcages (or at least vintage looking bird cages) are not hard to find, as they are quite popular right now, but I didn’t want to spend a lot of money.  Besides, what’s the fun of buying something that is already finished?!  😉

Lucky for me, I ended up scoring an old brass bird cage from an online auction for only $4.  Perfect!

Since I am digging all things succulents lately, of course, that’s what I decided to use for this little project.

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To transform a brass bird cage into an adorable succulent garden, here’s what you’ll need:

1. Steel Wool
2. 1 Can Chalked Spray Paint
3. Hot Glue Gun/Hot Glue
4. Floral Foam
5. Preserved Sheet Moss
6. Assorted Artificial Succulents Picks

Here’s what my bird cage looked like to begin with.

Unfortunately, I was not good about taking pictures of the first part of this process – the painting.  It was super simple, though.

I was nervous about painting brass, as I’ve never done it before, and I wasn’t sure how well the paint would stick to it.  I did a little googling and found a tutorial that recommended roughing the surface up with steel wool before painting.  So, that’s what I did. 

I lightly rubbed the entire birdcage with steel wool.  I didn’t put a lot of muscle into it, I just made sure I had gone over as much of the surface as possible.

I chose to use a chalk paint spray paint.  Chalk paint is supposed to paint over any surface without any prep work.  Since I was nervous about the paint sticking, I thought this would be my best option.

And I must say, it worked brilliantly.  The cage was easy to spray, and I had absolutely no issues with the paint sticking.

Once the cage was painted, it was time to build the garden.  I had some floral foam on hand, and I thought that it would be perfect to give the garden some depth.

I cut some pieces down to build sort of a pyramid in the center of the base.  I knew it would be covered, so I wasn’t worried about the pieces lining up perfectly or anything like that.  

Then, I hot glued the foam to the base of the bird cage.

Once the foam was secured, I took pieces of the moss and laid them over the foam, making sure they covered the foam fully.

I then stuck the pick end of the succulents through the moss into the foam.  This was more than enough to secure the moss in place.  

I started with my draping succulents around the edge.

Once the perimeter was done, I added moss along the top and stuck the rest of my succulents in.

Finally, I put the top back on the birdcage.  This was a little tricky because I had to pull all of the draping succulents through the cage.  I just worked carefully and slowly and had no problems with anything coming undone.

I’m loving the way it turned out, and it ended up being way easier than I anticipated.

I happened to already have a hook in the ceiling of my family room, so I found a bit of chain and hung it up there.

 

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