If you love the idea of hanging string plants, or kokedama, but aren’t sure about how to water them or even how to keep them alive, the solution is to make them from faux foliage! When I recently completed Roxy’s teenage room makeover I wanted to add greenery but didn’t want the hassle of trying to water hanging string plants above her bed. So I went faux.
Making kokedama from faux everything – foliage, flowers and moss – makes them not only no-maintenance plants, but also super easy to make. A foam core means that these hanging string plants are also very light and simple to hang anywhere… without putting hooks into your ceiling! All you’ll need is small 3M removable hooks. Easy.
To make DIY Faux foliage hanging string plants you’ll need:
Styrofoam balls, roughly 15cm or 6 inches diameter
Acrylic craft paint in dark green or brown
Faux moss ribbon, 12-15cm or about 4.5 inches wide
Ball of twine
Faux plants – I used String of Pearls and an Orchid
Small 3M removable hooks
Let’s Get Started
Make a moss ball
Paint the styrofoam ball and allow it to dry.
Cut two separate lengths of moss that fit around the foam ball with about a centimetre overlap.
Wrap a moss strip around half of the ball. Secure one edge around the centre of the ball with twine. When you tie the twine, leave a tail of about 10 cm (a few inches). Don’t cut the twine.
Wrap the other strip of moss around the other half of the ball and secure it with the twine.
To shape the moss around the ball, bend and fold it around then cut large ‘V’ shapes out of the top and bottom edges (see photo below). This will reduce the bulk and allow the moss to sit flat around the ball.
Fold the cut moss around the ball and wrap the twine around it just a few times to keep it in place. Make sure that the short tail of the twine doesn’t get covered.
Repeat for the top half of the ball.
Wrap the moss ball
Once the ball is covered, continue to wrap the twine around and around it in a random way to secure the moss firmly and create a nice pattern.
Finish where the tail of the twine is poking out, and tie the two ends of the twine together in a tight knot. Don’t cut the twine.
Add the plant
Poke the plant into the top of the moss ball and hold it at arms length to make sure the placement looks balanced. I added the orchid stem and leaves separately, one at a time. For the String of Pearls I added one stem at a time, layering them on the top and sides of the ball and making sure they were hanging at different lengths.
When you’re happy with your kokedama, measure how far from the ceiling it will hang and cut the twine.
I hung mine with removable 3M hooks – because the centre of the hanging string plant is made from foam they are very light and easy to hang.
If you’re feeling crafty and are after DIY inspiration you might like to take a look at my other craft tutorials.