7 Days of Thrift Shop Flips - Day Three - DIY Cactus Coasters

Today's project for 7 Days of Thrift Shop Flips in honor of National Thrift Shop Day is a fun and whimsical little project that involves cork coasters and a flower pot!



Cute yah?!


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I had a set of 6 cork coasters, you could use more if you like for a fuller cactus.


If your flower pot has a hole in the bottom like mine did you'll need to tape over that so the Plaster of Paris won't run out.


You can mix the Plaster of Paris directly in the flower pot. You just want it to be the consistency of pudding.


Since my coasters were thin I used two for the base. Glue them together and just stick them right in the Plaster of Paris before it sets up. I trimmed the sides of mine so they would fit down into the flower pot.


While that is drying, cut the notches in your coasters with an X-acto knife. Make sure you measure the thickness of the coaster you'll be putting the one your cutting on. Cut that rather snug, it's better to have a tight fit than have your cactus falling apart!


This one had a wider notch because it was going on the two that are in the flower pot, the rest had thinner notches.


Now you can paint your cactus parts!

The green paint I had was a little bright so I mixed in some brown to make it the shade I wanted.


And patience is not a virtue for me so I used a hair dryer to quickly dry the pieces.


Now, make the cactus pricklys. I chose to do mine in the shape of tiny hearts, you can do x's or just single lines, or a combination!

To make hearts like mine put a blob of paint on a palette and dip the end of a thin paintbrush handle into the paint. Then put a dot of paint on the cactus piece.


Then repeat this process so you have two dots of paint side-by-side.


Then drag each dot down to a point, easy!


When everything is dry and the Plaster of Paris has set up you can arrange your cactus!


I covered the Plaster of Paris with some white decorative rocks from the Dollar Store.


I think I'll keep my eye out at the thrift stores for a few more coasters and fill mine out a little more!


Then just pull one off when you need a coaster!



This is a fun way to display what is usually a very utilitarian household object. It would make a sweet house warming gift too!

What do you think? I hope you're having fun with the projects for 7 Days of Thrift Shop Flips so far!