TGWIF: Succulents + Thrift Scores

By Melissa Massello, April 24, 2015

Sometimes, a trip to the garden center and digging your hands in the dirt is just what the doctor ordered. Last week, I did just that, in the name of journalism and this week’s post for Austin Goodwill, and bought up dozens upon dozens of delightful little succulents from The Great Outdoors on South Congress, potted them in upcycled thrift store vessels in honor of Earth Day (hello, pineapple colander!) and had the funnest [sic] photo shoot documenting it all with the lovely, utterly talented Chelsea Laine Francis.

Head on over to the Austin Goodwill blog for my step-by-step tutorial on potting your own DIY succulent garden in thrift store vessels of all shapes & sizes, or just scroll through some more of the pretty pictures below. I can’t wait to finish potting the rest of these succulents this weekend!

Thank Goodwill It’s Friday, y’all.

Honestly, if you haven’t been to The Great Outdoors yet, you must. It was impossible to choose just one pallet of succulents — the place is practically heaven for lovers of stone crops. Plus, the staff are all so friendly and knowledgeable and not the least bit condescending. They have never, ever made me feel like any of my questions were stupid, or like I have no business wasting my black-thumbed dollars on gardening. Nothing but empowerment and confidence building. So far, it’s working!

A rainbow of every size, shape, style, and color you could ever want…

Proof that you can pot a garden in pretty much ANY container. I loved this mannequin so much.

We had so much fun “landscape designing” this colander full of succulents, picking a variety of colors and textures and heights and scales. It was nearly torture deciding who made the cut…they were all so gorgeous.

The lavender succulents are going to look so gorgeous in the thrifted silver goblets from Goodwill, and I can’t wait to see how the green sedum does in our yard — I’ve been told that you can plant drought-hardy succulents like sedum in place of grass and they’ll provide gorgeously green ground cover all year long. We shall see!

This thrifted haul of vessels is all from Austin Goodwill, scored piece by piece over the last few months: a vintage 70s fused brass and glass jewelry box ($3.99), a pineapple colander ($4.99), faux wood & plexiglass shadow box ($1.99), two silver goblets ($1.99 a stem), a glazed mug and a sugar pot missing its lid ($1.99 each). I luuuuuurve finding random things to pot plants in now that we have a yard. Just wait until you see the brand new tomato garden we just planted, too…

There is something about these little striped succulents that I just adore. They remind me of spiders, and Beetlejuice, and agave, and yet seem really friendly to me. I already have two of these in vintage pewter Mystic Seaport goblets I scored back at Goodwill Boston, which are ever-present on my dining room table (and made it into my Thrifty Thanksgiving tablescape for Goodwill Austin last year).

These little “hen and chicks” succulents had me at hello. I can’t even with their velveteen texture. They needed their own cameo in a vessel all to themselves, and I love the way they play off the white glazed rim of the sugar pot that was sad to lose its lid.

My new little indoor succulent garden makes me so happy all day long. Maybe happy enough to actually enjoy doing dishes…nearly, anyway.