Succulent Sisters graduate!

My daughter Elana and her friend Annakai have a small business called Succulent Sisters www.succulentsisters.wordpress.com. They make custom terrariums by order, teach terrarium building workshops and sell terrariums of their own design at the Alemany Flea Market and popup road side shops (otherwise known as the sidewalk) in San Francisco.  Both of the girls graduated this past Saturday from The Urban School of San Francisco. I wanted to make them something special so I made them both a succulent lei. 

                                                

                                        

Here are the two leis hanging on our front door ready to be presented on graduation day.

   

Here are some photos of the process of making the leis. I was uncertain how I was going to put them together. Thanks to friend Dorothy www.dotsrainbow.blogspot.com for her technical support and to friend Gloria for giving me some of the lovely succulents from her garden.

                                           

I gathered the succulents from Gloria, our garden, some from my mom and some from
the local nurseries floragrubb.com and www.sloatgardens.com

                                                         

                             

The next step was finding something in my studio to attach
 the succulents plants. I settled on some clear plastic tubing.

                                         

The next step was taking 24 gauge wire and cutting a piece and
inserting into the base of the plant and then twisting the wire.

                                     

The next step was taking white floral tape and
wrapping the wire.

                                           

                                     

After making a hole in the tubing with a hot (putting the nail over an open flame)
 nail the plants were inserted in the hole and the wire was twisted around the tube.

Both of Elana's grandmothers could not be there at her graduation. Grandma Pearl passed away in January and my mom her Grammy could not make the trip as she is caring for my 92 year old dad. Both grandmothers gave us many of their succulent clippings and we have them in our yard. I made sure that the lei had some of her grandmothers succulents.

                                       

Annakai and Elana wearing the finished succulent leis on graduation morning!

Congratulations Elana and Annakai! Don't they look great wearing their leis on graduation day. Perfect for the Succulent Sisters! I am so happy with how they turned out. The girls were so surprised!