How to Make A Fake Cactus Plant

How to make your own fake cactus plant is a fun activity and there are lots of ways to do it. Cardboard works. Newspaper does as well. Pool noodles can actually be a great tool. For the purpose of this article, we’ll delve into how to make faux cactus plants using pool noodles to start.

Step 1 – Buy Pool Noodles

You can’t do this without buying pool noodles, a few dowels, and a planter. These can all be bought online or from Walmart if you have to make a quick trip.

Step 2 – Set Your Dowels

In your planter, you want to place your dowels. The noodles are going on the dowels to make your fake cactus plant and so you want to make sure they are angled accurately and in the correct positioning. To secure the dowels in position, this involves measurements and possibly the assistance of some masking tape.

Step 3 – Fill Your Pot With Foam

Spray your planter in with foam. The foam will dry and expand and form the base on which everything’s going to be set. This will require some drying time.

Step 4 – Put The Noodle on the Dowel

Put your noodle on the dowel. You may want to add some foam on top of the noodle. This will create a round top that you can use to shape and decorate as you will the rest of your pool noodle.

Step 5 – Mark Cactus Shape And Cut

Any fake cactus plant has a very identifiable look. To get this, use a marker to make lines down the cactus plant. They don’t have to be straight lines, either, but do your best. Next, use a utility knife to cut out these lines. Being a noodle, it is very easy to do. You are essentially cutting out triangles.

Step 6 – Paint the Cactus

Use a mix of greens to paint the cactus. Start with a dark green. Then add some light in certain areas to add some contrast. You can go as wild with this as you like.

Step 7 – Add Prickles

Take a paintbrush. Cut it into little pieces. They can be very easily glued onto the cactus pieces and shouldn’t have any trouble staying.

What Will It Look Like?

In terms of DIY arts and crafts plant project, you can get a fairly good-looking cactus plant. Obviously, it’s not necessarily going to compare to a premium faux cactus plant but it’s still an interesting and fun activity to spend time on.

There are also lots of ways to customize a fake cactus plant. The colors may be the easiest modification to make but you can also play with shape and how branches are angled, how branches are cut, and, naturally, you can toy with height as well. The result is a beautiful art project, without fail. 

This aside, if you’re making this to ultimately end up with an artificial plant you can use as home décor, this is not the sort of project that’s going to work for that. This is an arts and crafts plant project through and through.

If you want to use artificial plants as home décor, your best bet is visiting a site like Artiplanto.com.