Cardboard Cactus Design for Mom

The American clothing store Anthropologie is a true inspiration beyond its clothing. With home décor and other elements, the store and its products can really spark the creativity. We recently saw a display of cardboard cactus or paper cacti in the store and it moved us to create our own version.

After some research, it became clear that we were not the only ones jumping on the cardboard cactus band wagon. We found so many other bloggers and artist creating them too. However, in honor of Earth Day and the impending Mother’s Day, we thought it would be the perfect gift for the family to make Mom or Grandma.

Cardboard Cactus Creation

Our guest room is Grandma’s room. She is the one that visits us the most. We like to make things for her to enjoy in the room each time she stays with us. So we thought some clever cardboard cactus, as a bedside décor would be perfect.

First we started by cutting out the shapes out of an old box. We were doing two different kinds of cacti. The first would be the saguaro cactus – it is tall and skinny and full of spikes. The second was a prickly pear cactus that looks like a bunch of ear growing on ears. We cut them out and then notched out each piece to fit into each of the others.

Then we painted them. We went with teals and turquoises. Paint one side – let it dry, and then paint the other side – make sure to get the edges – you want the groove holes on the edges to be open – they add to the texture of the cactus.

Once the pieces are dry, then go in with a sharpie or a gold pen like the one that was in the Easter Tinselbox and add the details that make it feel like a cactus.

Then using regular terra cotta pots, paint and draw a design on the pot that matches are feels married to the design of the cactus. We used the same sharpie and gold foil pen as we used on the cacti.

Then assemble. We filled the pots with pebbles – you could also use sand or larger rocks. The rocks make the cactus feel real. We also used a little bit of hot pink tissue paper to create pink flowers on the tip tops of the prickly pear cactus.

Check out these other cardboard cacti that we fell in love with.

1. PinkStripeySocks.com
2. FromGoldBlog.com
3. TheHouseThatLarsBuilt.com
4. GoodtoKnow.co.uk