Some of us are busy people with busy lives, and finding those extra moments for DIY and creativity is a little limited.
With Valentine's Day coming up, I wanted to create a special heart-themed table centrepiece.
One that I could put together in about 15 minutes.
One that is minimalistic.
One that included natural earth elements.
Rock.
Wood.
Metal.
Clay.
Live plants.
(And of course, chocolates).
To Create A Natural Elements Valentine Table Centrepiece
The first step is to place a rectangle-shaped polished piece of wood or a flat wooden serving tray onto the work table.
Next, add a rectangle-shaped basket. One that is smaller than the board, has low sides, and is woven from natural fibre.
In a corner of the tray, place your potplant in a pottery/glazed pot.
Place two large carved stone hearts (my hubby and I carved these, but you could use crystal rock hearts instead) on the wood end outside of the basket.
You can buy large-sized crystal hearts online.
Pop a bag (or in a pottery bowl) of your favourite delicious chocolates onto the tray.
Gather some fresh rosemary, make a small bunch, and tie it together with twine rope.
Place this on top of another large heart, but this one is made of metal.
Also available online or at the dollar store.
Simple to put together, minimalistic and rustic.
And even though the rosemary is not contained in water, the aromatic oils in the leaves are released with the heat in the room!
The Pot Plant Details:
The plant I used for this project is called 'Pereromia Rosso'.
Some people call it the 'Emerald Ripple Radiator Plant'.
That's because the dark green leaves are rippled, with the underside leaves radiating a beautiful red colour. The stems are also red-tinged.
These plants are considered easy care, as they prefer to dry out between waterings.
They love bright indirect light (NO DIRECT SUN), enjoy warm temperatures above 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Farenheight), and are a compact, slow-growing plant.
A soil tip for potting is to mimic their natural growing conditions, in which the soil is chunky. So add a little bark to the potting mix you use.
They like to be rootbound, so pot up small sizes at a time.
The spikes are the scentless flowers, which can produce small fruits.
Peperonia Rosso is non-toxic to cats and dogs.
Facts I didn't know about Peperonias are:
Some varieties are considered succulents.
Some are found in tropical and subtropical areas of the world, with other varieties in higher, drier altitudes.
They all have unique ways to survive season to season.
There are over 1000 different species in the Peperonia genus!
They are highly adaptable plants, with some varieties growing as lithophytes (on rocks and in crevices) and as epiphytes (on other plants).
You can read about AIR PLANT EPIPHYTES HERE.
