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Mini Mid Century Plant Stand DIY

Every time I look at a mini mid century plant stand that I made, I get a little giddy inside. They came out SO cute!

If I loved my succulents before, it’s safe to say that that love has tripled now that I have them elevated on the mid century plant stands that I made. The succulents that I made the plant stands for were all planted in old glass candle jars. While they looked nice, they lacked a little bit of visual interest. This ended up being the perfect fix!

The plant stands were inspired by this tutorial on A Beautiful Mess, which I followed pretty closely. I did however, use different materials since my plant stands were mini and didn’t need to support as much weight. I also expanded my collection of plant stands to have 3 different heights as well as colours.

I used balsa wood for the plant stands since I had some lying around at home. They were intended for another project, but when that didn’t work out, I knew they would be perfect to create a mini mid century plant stand! It’s a little bit fragile to work with, so you just have to make sure that you don’t put too much pressure on it when nailing. Also make sure to try and use a sharp blade so that you can make cleaner cuts. I did, however, have two pieces of wood break on me while I was putting these together. At first I was bummed, but with a good amount of wood glue, I was able to put them together and make them pretty sturdy still. My balsa wood ranged in size from 1/4″ - 1/2″, so I just made sure to use the thicker wood for the heavier plants!

Mini Mid Century Plant Stand DIY

Supplies:

- balsa wood dowels - mine ranged from 1/4″ to 1/2″ thickness (pink = 1/4″, teal = 3/8″, white = 1/2″)
- a rubber cutting mat
- a pen
- a ruler
- a utility knife
- sandpaper
- wood glue
- paint  - in any colour you choose
- small nails

Method:

  1. Take you potted succulent and line it up with the end of a piece of your balsa wood. Then make a mark on the other side so that you have a piece of balsa wood that is the same width as your succulent pot. Cut the wood at this mark and then cut a second piece as well. These pieces become the cross section that your pot will sit on.
  2. Next, you need to mark the centre of each of your cross section pieces. Mark a section that is the width of your dowel on the top and half way down the dowel on the side. Do that for both pieces.
  3. Now that your pieces are marked, cut out the section that you marked off and put a little bit of wood glue in one of the indents. Fit your cross section pieces together. They should be snug.
  4. Now, cut 4 equal pieces to be the legs of your planter. For my white one, I chose a height of about 7 inches tall. I decided that I wanted the legs to come up about 2 inches on the pot, so I marked my leg dowels all at the 2″ point.
  5. We wil now attach them to the cross section piece. Put a little bit of wood glue on one of your cross section arms, line up the mark that you made and then being very careful, gently hammer one of the nails into the wood to attach the two pieces. I was able to push the nail in with my finger first to ensure that it went in straight.
  6. Repeat for the remaining legs.
  7. I sometimes find that balsa wood doesn’t cut super evenly, so sand anything down if necessary.
  8. Once your planter is sanded, paint it with 2 coats of your desired colour and allow to dry before inserting your succulent.
  9. Repeat this process if you decide to make another mini mid century plant stand! For my pink planter, I wanted the plant to sit farther in the stand, so the cross section was attached at the 1″ point. For the teal planter, I wanted it to sit roughly in the middle, so it was attached around the 2 1/4″ point.

While they are slightly fragile, they add such character to the plants along with a much needed pop of colour! I love that a mid century plant stand like this can elevate the plants slightly to make them look a little bit more special!

I’d love to know what you think of the plant stands! Would you make some for your succulents!?

 

xo, tess.



32 responses to “Mini Mid Century Plant Stand DIY”

  1. Jalee says:

    These are SUPER cute!! Love them!

  2. Amy says:

    Another super project from you, Tess! I really want to give this one a go. Perfect for all my little succs 🙂

  3. Those are so cute! I love the colors you chose!

    Jenna from http://www.visionsofvogue.com

  4. Kelsea says:

    These would be super cute on a desk or even as a blog photo prop!

    • Tess says:

      That’s definitely something that I plan on using them for in the future Kelsey! Good thinking 🙂

  5. These are amazing! I absolutely love them and need to find a reason to make some!

  6. HI Tess!
    Love this stand!Cute and simple to make!Thanks for sharing!

  7. iamsheilaj says:

    i loved this post certainly creative at best

  8. Uma Srinivas says:

    You are so creative! I like to see your works! It inspires me and now I am thinking your house must be beautiful with all your DIY work:)

    • Tess says:

      Thank you so much Uma! It’s definitely full of DIY projects - I’ll be posting a home tour soon with all of them 🙂

  9. caseyp1110 says:

    These are so cute and I love how they add color!

  10. This looks so cute! I love that they can just sit on your desk.

  11. These look so great! I need to make one for my living room!

    Nellwyn | http://www.thecardinalpress.com

  12. Samantha says:

    This looks so good and easy! Super cute! And I really love your succulents!

  13. These are so adorable! We have a million plants, so these would be perfect!

    • Tess says:

      Thank you so much Christine! It’s great to make them for a few plants to keep the style going throughout your home 🙂

  14. Elora Murphy says:

    Such a cute isea I will have to try it.

  15. Kathleen says:

    These are so adorable and can be spread so easily across the house!

    • Tess says:

      Thank you Kathleen! Yes they’re great for that, I’ve moved mine around a bunch already 🙂

  16. […] beyond adorable mini mid-century plant stand DIY is ought to brighten any […]

  17. Cecilia says:

    Beautiful, they look amazing