DIY Felt Succulents Series – #3 Layered Succulent

 [Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post may contain affiliate links that are at no additional cost to you, and I may earn a small commission. Thanks for supporting the brands that support this blog.]

Sorry for the short hiatus folks — but we are still going strong with The Crafty Lefty’s Felt Succulent Series.  That means a 3rd DIY tutorial with a free pattern (courtesy of another fellow blogger) and a free video tutorial on how to create this layered felt succulent for yourself!

Here’s the backstory –> I know that these felt succulents are EVERYWHERE these days, but sometimes it’s hard to find free patterns or the instructions they come with can be a little confusing.  That’s why I’ve created 5 tutorials on how to craft 5 different felt succulents.  I’ve done all the research and trouble-shooting and experimenting FOR you. 

All you have to do is stay-tuned to The Crafty Lefty’s DIY Felt Succulents Series to learn how to make these 5 different felt succulents with FREE patterns.  Yeah, you read that right.  There are so many free felt succulent patterns out there made by totally awesome craft bloggers.  So instead of re-inventing the wheel (or the felt succulent, as it were), I’ve linked directly to their site so you can grab the free pattern from them (and check out their super cute crafts)! 

New to the Crafty Lefty’s Felt Succulent Series?  Don’t forget to check out the rest of the DIY tutorials below:

1. Rose Succulent

2. Star Succulent

3. Cluster Succulent

4. Flower Succulent

For our third succulent, we will be using Yoonie’s Peony felt template. I found this template on Pinterest, and went to her blog to learn more.  She used this template to make a felt flower headband, but I thought the design could be used for a felt succulent, especially if you’re doing a cluster display with several felt succulents.  I think this felt succulent makes a nice contrast with the rose and star succulents we’ve been making, and like I said, adds some variety to your display –> whether you are adding your succulents to a wreath, to a terrarium, or to a vase.

Prefer watching over reading?  No problem! Click here to watch the full video tutorial.

Supplies:  You will need to use soft (instead of hard) felt, and please ensure the felt is thick, not thin.  I highly recommend using the thickest felt you can find from the Crafty Trinity (Hobby Lobby, Michael’s or Joann’s) because the thicker the felt the more height you will gain in this succulent.  You will also need fabric scissors (or any sharp scissors), straight pins, hot glue, and the printed succulent pattern, found here.

1.  The good thing about this pattern is that you can enlarge or shrink it to create different sizes for your layered succulent.  So once you have your printed pattern, cut out the 7 flower shapes and pin them to your felt. 

2. Using your scissors, cut around the pattern for all 7 flower shapes.  Since this is a fairly simple pattern, take care to cut carefully around the end groove of each petal.  This is the only part of the petal that is really going to be seen once you are done stacking your succulent, so you want to make sure that each groove is nicely cut and the flower looks symmetrical.

3. Once all of your petal shapes have been cut, organize them by size and fire up that hot glue gun.

4.  Next, take your largest flower and add a bead of hot glue to the center.  Take your next largest flower and place it on top of the largest flower, pressing gently where the glue is to secure your flower.  Take care to stagger your flower slightly to create a layered effect.  Repeat this pattern of gluing and stacking until you only have the smallest flower left. 

5. Below is a picture of the smallest flower.  I know my cutting skills aren’t great!  When you get to this size in thick felt, it’s really difficult to make clean cuts around the pattern, and you end up with a flower that doesn’t look that great.  What’s worse is that if you glue this flower down as is, that’s the first thing anyone will notice in this succulent because it’s right on top.  So, I came up with a nicer way of displaying this top layer. 

6.  Add a thin line of hot glue to the middle of your smallest felt flower and fold the flower in half.  After the glue is dry, run a thin line of glue to the outside edge of the flower.  Like this:

7.  Finally, roll the felt onto itself starting from one end and making your way to the other to create a tiny rosette.  This can then be glued to the middle of your layered succulent by adding a bead of glue to the base of the rosette and pressing it firmly in the middle of your completed succulent.  This is what your finished succulent looks like:

So….whatdya think?  Passes as a succulent or looks like a messed up green flower?  LOL Let me know in the comments!

And don’t forget — I still have two more DIY Felt Succulent Tutorials coming up PLUS 5 unique ways to use these felt succulents as decor pieces in your home!

Until next time — Keep it Crafty!