Cactus Rock Garden

Who knew you could paint rocks to look like a cactus?  I saw this pin on Pinterest and immediately got out my paint and brushes and started looking for just the right shaped rocks.  These little cacti don't need any watering, but that's not why I like them.  They are so darn cute!  On a cuteness scale of one to ten, I'd have to say they're an eleven!  They're so teeny tiny!  Here's a picture with a nickel for scale so you can see just how small each potted cactus is.

Want to make your own mini cactus rock garden?  

(Really, who doesn't want their own mini rock cactus!)

Here's what you'll need:

small rocks

gravel

paint and brushes

glue (glue gun or epoxy)

a small pot

The first thing you'll need to do is find some rocks.  There are a variety of cactus that grow in different shapes, but I wanted to make a prickly pear and a tall skinny cactus so I looked for rocks that would be the right size and shape for what I needed.  I looked for flat, oval shaped rocks for the prickly pear cactus and rectangular rocks for the tall skinny cactus. 

Next, I painted the rocks with green water-based acrylic paint and let them dry.  A paper plate makes a great place to work and easy clean up.  I also painted some smaller rocks red which I used for the cactus blooms.  Once the paint was dry, I used a very fine brush to add some white dots for the cactus spines.

Then I glued on the little red blooms.  I used a glue gun which worked just fine, but if you could also use an epoxy glue for a more permanent hold.

The last step was to fill the pot almost to the top with gravel.  I nestled the painted rocks into the gravel and secured them with some glue.  Then I add a little bit more gravel to cover up the glue.

These cactus are so tiny and so cute, I just love 'em! 

Find more DIY low-maintenance plants to make
in the craft  project gallery.

Inspired by this pin for rock cactus garden.