04/01 DIY Projects

DIY Air Plant Hangers

 

DIY Airplant Hangers

It’s surprising to me too that this is the first appearance of air plants on the blog.  Where have I been, took me long enough, about time, all of that yes.  Just another one of those things on my list that took me forever to get to, but we’re here now!

I started thinking about an air plant DIY after making a brass himmeli hanger at a craft workshop.  The idea started out as an air plant wreath, then somehow I ended up here, which I guess could also be seen as a minimal wreath.  Whenever a DIY takes a different direction, it’s usually a result of simplifying things after the initial idea doesn’t work out, so that makes this one a very, very simple idea that’s definitely worth trying for how beautiful the results are.

Materials:
-square basswood dowel
suede lace
-scissors
-air plants
-wire
wire cutters

Wood piecesI cut the square dowel into three pieces with the measurements noted above.  I picked a square dowel because I figured it would best keep the wire (showing that soon) in place and prevent it from slipping around like it most likely would on a round dowel.

Suede laceI tied and double knotted each end of suede lace to each end of the wood dowel, then cut off the excess lace.  I roughly eyeballed the length of the lace so that it was somewhere near twice the length of the dowel, maybe a bit less.

Wood and suede hangerAnd then it looks like a little trapeze!

WireMy air plants came with wire already wrapped around the base, but it would be fairly easy to add it yourself.  Note, this means the air plants will not be easily removable, but I plan on only water misting the plants and not removing them for soaking.  I have another air plant that has faired well for a while with just water misting 2-3 times a week, which is a relief because it’s possible I’m too lazy to regularly remove plants for hours of soaking.

So all that’s left is wrapping the wire tightly around the dowel (I wrapped each one about three times around) and cutting off the excess with wire cutters, making sure that the air plant is balanced on the top side of the dowel.  That part is a little tricky because the air plant makes the dowel top heavy and likely to tip over, so it’s a bit of a balancing act.  I used the suede lace to help stabilize the dowels by somewhat weaving it within the leaves of the plant, which you’ll be able to see in the photo.

Air Plant HangersI didn’t anticipate that each hanger would need to be hung off-center in order for the dowel to hang straight since I attached the plants on the ends, but I find it surprisingly beautiful that way and how it creates scalene triangles (woah, just realizing I still remember that term from geometry class once upon a time, didn’t know that was still in my head).

Air Plant Hangers DIYThese turned out way better than the original sketch I had in mind (ain’t that the best?) and they’re the perfect accessory for letting the sculptural lines of the air plants take the main stage.  Very happy with these, AND with how well my plant babies have been doing in general.  You see that little baby leaf sprouting out from the plant at the bottom right?  Makes my heart sooooaaar.

 

If you were looking for an April fools’ joke I’m sorry to disappoint you.  I’m sure you’ll be getting your fill today from other sources, but being that I can be pretty gullible, I’m on HIGH alert today aka avoiding everyone and everything, HA.  May your day go on with harmless fooling, but also have fun <3

32 comments on “DIY Air Plant Hangers”

  1. Great idea Amy! What I always like the most about your DIYs is how beautiful they turn out! I have ordered some air plants and can’t wait for them to be delivered- yiippii!
    Happy Easter! :-) Hugs x

    1. Hi Sarah! I would recommend searching for a local nursery. When I first moved to my neighborhood I just looked some up via Yelp, and I get all my plants from them. Home Depot also carries air plants, but not a large variety in my experience. Ordering online is an option but I have no experience with it so I don’t have more to say on that. Hope this helps!

      1. Hi Mary! I would recommend searching for a local nursery. When I first moved to my neighborhood I just looked some up via Yelp, and I get all my plants from them. Home Depot also carries air plants, but not a large variety in my experience. Ordering online is an option but I have no experience with it so I don’t have more to say on that. Hope this helps!

    1. Hi Kathy! I would recommend searching for a local nursery. When I first moved to my neighborhood I just looked some up via Yelp, and I get all my plants from them. Home Depot also carries air plants, but not a large variety in my experience. Ordering online is an option but I have no experience with it so I don’t have more to say on that. Hope this helps!

  2. I think these will be just great for Mother’s Day fete for a fund raiser. Thank you for all your wonderful ideas.

  3. This is beautiful! I’m ordering the supplies and can’t wait to make it. My one question so far, though, is where you did find the wooden dowels and what size are they? I’ve found ones online with anywhere from 3/8″ to 1″ squares and I wasn’t sure which ones would be best to use. Thanks!

    1. Thank you! My dowels are a little less than 1/2″ squares (probably 3/8″!) and I got them from JoAnn fabrics. So happy to hear you’re going to try this out! Thanks so much for your question.

  4. i love the hangers, and I’m trying them out, but how did you cut them? I’m having a really hard time getting them cut. Thanks for your help!

  5. love it, I have tons of airplants on our rivers edge property line, here in
    Costa Rica, will give it a try. At the moment I just place them on tree limbs close to the house

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