I planted succulents in tea cup pots as a charming and practical gift to give to some of my good friends. They were pretty simple to make, and they turned out really cute.
Several years ago, I bought several mismatched tea cups for my daughter’s tea party birthday. It was a fun party, but the cups have sat unused in the cupboard since then. Now, they are perfect little tea cup pots for plants. Here’s how:
Drill a drainage hole
Every plant pot needs a drainage hole, otherwise the plant will rot from sitting in water and die. So to make my tea cups into pots, I had to add a drainage hole.
I used my Dremel rotary tool with a tile cutting attachment to drill through the ceramic cup and make a drainage hole.
I poured a little water on the cup first to prevent overheating from the friction. I started at a 45 degree angle and gradually straighten it out. The speed of the dremel does the work, so I didn’t have to add any pressure. Also, you can’t see them, but I’m wearing safety goggles. I didn’t want any flying ceramic bits in my eyes.
Because I didn’t want the cup to crack, I took my time. It took about 10 minutes to make a hole through the bottom of the cup. It’s not hard work, but it does get a little tedious just standing there holding the Dremel.
Add soil to the tea cup pots
Regular potting soil is a little too rich for succulents. They need a soil that will drain easily and not keep them soaking in water. I made a 50/50 mix of potting soil and perlite to plant my succulents. This is the soil I make every time a take succulent cuttings. I added water, and let the dry soil absorb it for a few hours.
Take succulent cuttings
Our home has several types of succulents growing around it, so I took clippings from a few of them. I tried to choose plants and parts that would look good in a tea cup. I wish I could tell you their names, but I don’t know what most are. I know the jade plant. If you recognize any of the succulents, would you let me know what type they are in the comments below? Thanks!
I put the bottom of each cutting into a rooting hormone to help it start to root quickly. Then I pushed the cutting down into the soil and waited a few weeks for the plant to grow roots in the tea cups.
Add decorative rocks
The perlite, when mixed with wet potting soil, turns from white to an ugly brownish color. It’s healthy for the plant, but it doesn’t look very nice. So I covered it up with some decorative pebbles. I chose black, white, and grey rocks, so they wouldn’t stand out and detract from the plant or the tea cup pot.
Clean up the tea cup pots and give them away
Since the plants had been sitting outside for several weeks, the tea cups had gotten a little dirty. I carefully wiped down each tea cup. I had to keep the tea cup upright because the potting soil is still very loose, and the plants could easily fall out.
I also wiped off the succulent leaves carefully. I wanted them to look their best when I gave them as gifts.
These tea cup succulents turned out so cute, I took a lot of pictures of them. Enjoy!
And here’s all of the tea cup succulents together. My miniature garden!
These succulents in tea cups made cute gifts to give to some of my good friends, and although they weren’t hard to make, a lot of love went into them.
This post was shared at some of my favorite link parties.