Rock Air Plant Stand: How-to

I spent this Saturday morning readying my class materials for next week, and needed an afternoon activity to get me out of my head and onto the patio. With some river rocks, wire, and twenty minutes of tinkering, I had a couple of rustic plant stands that are perfect air plant holders to brighten my space.

I have actually had these rocks for a few years. I last used them with my yoga group, when our wonderful teacher brought a big bag of these stones to our class, as well as a contraption to heat them up, so we could lay stones on our muscles after the workout. I have no idea where she found them. She was always surprising us with her creativity. Needless to say, I had to keep my rocks because I just “knew” I’d need them for something, someday (I have only slight pack-rat tendencies).

Today I decided to give them a purpose. If you’re interested in trying this, the other tools are easy to come by. First, you’ll need a small coil of 1.5mm aluminum wire, or 12 gauge copper wire. You can find many colors in an art supply store. Also needed are a hammer, glue gun, hefty kitchen scissors or wire cutters, and small air plants that have been pre-soaked in water.

My rocks are about 3-4 inches across and 1 inch in height, but you can experiment. Choose ones that are stable on a flat surface.

Take about an 18-20 inch section of wire, wrap around the bottom and middle of the rock, and tightly twist at the top of the rock. Your working wire should point up. Be sure to leave enough wire to form a large, loose coil that supports the air plant. Turn the rock over, and hammer the bottom section of wire so it is flat. Then add a small amount of hot glue to keep the wire in place. Allow to dry for a couple of minutes.

Turn the rock right-side up, and make a loose coil with the remaining wire, big enough to gently cradle the air plant. When you add the plant, you can adjust the wire to your satisfaction. Watering the plant is easy; just mist it frequently, or pick it out of the coil and give it an occasional soak.

If you’re really handy, you can paint or decorate the rock beforehand. I added a little dragon’s blood stone accent – a nugget of jasper that I found on my last trip to Agate Beach in Trinidad, California.

I’ll leave you with some sweet-smelling lilac blooms from my yearly haul. Lilacs are getting harder for me to find each year, for some reason, but I had success really close to home this time. I carry around clippers in my purse for all of April until I get them 🙂 I also share with you colorful hyacinth bulbs, another favorite this time of year.