DIY Paper Cut Monkey Mask Plant

Plant pots and planters are one of life’s little joys. You can pack so much personality into what is essentially a vessel for holding something else. I look around at mine and they are all so unique and add character in the most subtle way. So today I’m working with Wayfair, (who, I’ll say it now, have the biggest array of planters I’ve ever seen. There’s literally something for everyone! Trust me – actually don’t just trust me – take a look here) to show you that you do not have to be a green thumbed plant enthusiast to bring some of this decorative magic into your home.

Are you a plant serial killer? You’re not alone. It is hard to stay on top of watering schedules, ensuring the light is perfect, with no draft (or some draft) and no heat (or some heat). Making you own paper plants is so much quicker than growing them (and in my opinion way less stressful!) And there’s the added bonus of never, ever having to water them. They can not die. No plant death guilt here today! 

I love the idea of using recycled paper packaging for this project. You get extra creative points for painting a lush green colour to your paper before cutting out the leaf shapes! And you’re likely to have mostly everything you need around the house to get started today! Definitely a bonus while we’re in lock down. 

Materials:

• Monkey Mask leaf download
• Paper
• Green card
• Scissors
• Craft knife
• Scorer
• Green masking/washi tape
• Florist wire
• Planters
• Foam/polystyrene

For the project I chose these planters:

Hettie Ceramic Plant Pot
Cinetta Ceramic Plant Pot
Concrete Hanging Basket
Bolo Ceramic Hanging Planter

Watch the video or scroll down for the tutorial with step by step photos:

Instructions:

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1. Print out the leaf template in two or three different sizes. I do this by changing the size percentage on the print screen. When your leaves are printed cut around the edge of the template with scissors. Use the craft knife to cut out the holes in the leaf.
2. These will be your templates for the leaves. Draw around the templates onto the green card fitting as many leaves as possible onto each piece. Cut each one out and use the craft knife to remove the holes in the leaves. Repeat this with all the templates until you have around 30 leaves in total.
3. Run the scoring tool along the centre of the leaf. You want to create an organic line to create a natural look to the leaf, so don’t worry about making the scored line straight. Fold the leaf in half along this line.
4. Using the round side of the scorer (or a pen) curl the underside of the leaf. Hold the scorer horizontally across the leaf as you do this to create waves along the edge of the leaf.
5. Cut off a strip of tape and attach a piece of wire around 20 cm long to the fold on the underside of the leaf. Bend the wire down around 1cm from the end of the leaf to create a natural stem look.
6. Place the foam/polystyrene in the planter. You can wrap this in brown paper to create the look of soil before adding the leaves.
7. Push the end of the stems into the foam. Bend them into position around the base of the pot. Cut some stems shorter and wrap them around the existing stems in the pot to build the plant up. 
8. When you’ve added all your leaves bend the wires to create an even appearance. Now your plant is ready! No watering required!

As always I’d love to see if you make this project! Please tag me where you share @fallfordiy so I can see what you’ve made!