By Dee Archibald
A living frame is a bit of a modern twist on the floral living card, which some of you might remember for being a hit in the 80s and 90s. But this time it lasts longer and fits into your living room with much more style!
You will need:
- A recessed picture frame
- Some floral wire
- Succulent cuttings
- Moss
- Soil
- A small piece of polyurethane
- A small piece of netting
Step 1: Glue the piece of polyurethane into the recess of the frame pressing it into the corners then trim the excess. Fill with soil and press down firmly. Cut the wire into 3-4cm pieces and fold each of them in half to make staples. Cut your netting to size leaving a cm each side and fold each side under to line up with the inside edge of the frame. Press the staples in through the edges of the netting and on an angle into the soil to hold it in place.
Step 2: Make sure you know which way is up before you start planting as the plants will need to be on an upwards angle to help them to stay in. Choose cuttings that have a stem on them as they will be easier to insert into the netting. Place your taller plants in first spreading them out to give varying heights and poke them into the soil on about a 45 degree angle. Continue with the rest of your cuttings varying the colours, sizes and heights.
TIP: If the stem of the cutting is too thick you can cut a strand of the netting so that it fits. You can use the back and of a pencil or paintbrush to poke a hole into your soil if it is too tightly packed and your worried you will break the plant getting it in. You should be able to press the soil in around the stem once it’s in, to get it more secure.
Step 3: Break off bits of moss to fit in between the plants if there are gaps and then tuck moss all the way around the inside of the frame to hide any netting or polyurethane. Press it down and secure with more staples.
Step 4: The netting and staples should work well together to hold the plants in place but you might like to leave it flat for a few weeks to give the plants a chance to grow roots and really secure them in.
Happy Crafting x