These Mini Cacti Are Made Of Pasta And You Can Craft Them Too

The last few years cacti everything has been trending. We love these succulents. They come in so many shapes, sizes and colors. They're also something a little different than your standard house plant. Let's face it though, they are not always the easiest to take care of; which makes these faux cactus plants a fun alternative. They make great crafts for the kids and even cuter decorations for bedrooms and nursery's. Here's how to craft your own faux cacti

DIY Mini Pasta Cacti

We can't stop looking at these! This is our favorite cactus craft and we made so many that everyone in the office now has one on their desk.

image may contain a mini cactus made out of pasta and glued into a thimble plant pot — Shared

Materials

Assorted Pasta (mini lasagna noodles, macaroni, ziti & more)
Thimbles
Craft paint (green, yellow, pink)
Foam paint brush
Spray varnish
Hot glue gun and glue

mini shell pasta glued into a thimble to look like a mini cactus — Shared

Instructions

Use the craft paint and foam paint brush to paint your pasta different shades of green. Allow to dry and coat them again if necessary.

6 glass bowls of small dry pasta noodles — Shared

If you want to have different colored plant pots you'll need to paint your thimbles in craft paint as well. Coating them in the spray varnish when you're finished will help protect the paint from chipping off.

6 glass bowls of pasta painted green — Shared

Use a glue gun to fill up the bottom of the thimble and glue your pasta noodles into place. You can also glue gravel or faux grass around the base of the cactus.

hot glue being squeezed into a silver thimble — Shared

These mini pasta succulents make super sweet fridge magnets if you glue a strong but tiny one to the back of the thimble.

green pasta noodles glued into a thimble to look like a cactus — Shared

DIY Cactus Rock Garden

Materials

smooth stones (river rocks work well)
smaller stones (for a flower)
small flower pots
foam paint brushes
toothpicks
hot glue gun and glue
acrylic craft paint
gravel or sand

Instructions

Paint your rocks a solid green shade. Choosing a few different colors makes for an interesting cacti garden. Let your rocks dry and then paint a second coat. Depending on the craft paint that you use, you might need to do a third coat too. When your satisfied with the paint job, let the rocks dry completely.

light green acrylic craft paint in a glass bowl — Shared

Next use a small paintbrush and toothpicks to paint some designs onto each cactus. We like to create simple dots with darker and lighter shades of paint. You can create marks that look like spikes or lines to add texture.

fake spikes being painted onto a smooth green rock — Shared

detail being painted on green rock to look like a faux cactus — Shared

If you want to create a flower for the top of your plants, simply paint a smaller stone yellow, pink or orange and you'll be able to glue this on top. You can also use small faux flowers from a craft store.

rock painted pink with tiny white polka dots — Shared

Now you're ready to arrange the garden. Fill the bottom of the planter with your sand or gravel and place a cactus rock upright. Pack the additional gravel around the top of the planter to keep the cactus in place.

small gravel rocks being put in a tiny white pot — Shared

If you're using a larger plant pot there's no need to fill the entire thing with gravel. You can easily cheat a full pot by adding a piece of cardboard or cotton batting to the bottom of it.

We used mini seedling pots for individual rocks so there was no need for the cardboard. Make sure you glue down the filler to stabilize it. If you use a harder surface like cardboard for filler you can also hot glue your stones to it to make sure that they stand upright.

Glue your rock flower to the top of your cactus and hold it while it cools.

Try grouping 4 or more rocks together to create a garden.

Pipe-Cleaner Cactus Centerpiece

Fiesta! These are SO simple to make and are perfect for a casual centerpiece or kids party.

Image may contain 4 cactai made out of pipecleaners — Shared

Materials

Green pipe-cleaners
Scissors
Colorful pom poms for flowers
Hot glue gun and hot glue

Instructions

Take one pipe-cleaner, bend it into a circle and twist the ends around each other to secure them. This will form the base of your cactus.

base of a pipe-cleaner cactus craft on a neon pink background — Shared

Take another pipe-cleaner and secure an end to the base. Bend it to form and arc and secure the other end to the opposite side of the base.

Repeat this step, creating arcs with the remaining pipe-cleaners.

overhead view of the top of a cactus craft made of green pipecleaner — Shared

When your pipe cleaner arcs are done you can secure them in the center where they meet. Do this by cutting another small piece of pipe cleaner and bending it around the center of the star.

Next use the hot glue gun to glue down a pom-pom or create a flower at the top of your plant. When you have the hang of creating this basic craft, why not try a larger cactus using full size pipe-cleaners and twisting them together. Add arms and bend them for variety.

green pipe cleaner cactus crafts — Shared