This month, all of us on Eileen Hull’s Inspiration Team are showcasing innovative ways to use her Heartfelt House/Pocket Thinlits die from Sizzix. I’ve already made quesadillas with them, so this time I tried something less culinary and more home decor. I love succulents, and somehow regular terra cotta pots don’t do them justice, so I decided to make plant stands for the succulents using album covers. Super modern, hip and fun!

I have lots of album covers I buy from used record stores for crafting. The album covers are sturdier than regular card stock, yet lighter weight than mat board. And best of all, you can use them with thinlits dies! But would they be sturdy enough to hold a succulent? I played around with the construction of the plant stand and yes, they are surprisingly sturdy. Here’s how to make them.

1. Cut four pocket shapes from the front of the album cover and four from the back. 

2. The four front cover pieces will comprise the four sides of the plant stand. They will be connected — and reinforced — by the four back cover pieces. For the four back cover pieces, lightly score them crosswise 3 inches down, about 3/8″ above the point where the the sides start tapering down. Crease at the score lines.

3. There will be extra pieces of album cover. From the scraps, cut four rectangles that are 2.75″ x 1.5″. Then lightly score lengthwise down the center with a hobby knife and fold the rectangles.

4. We’ll need one more piece of reinforcement coming from the bottom of the plant stand. For this, cut a 4.75″ x 4.75″ square from card stock, poster board, mat board, gift box or even another album cover. Then score it with a hobby knife so there is a 4.25″ square in the middle with .25″ flaps on all sides. Cut the corners while you’re at it.

5. Place adhesive on the backs of all the pieces you cut except for the four front panel pieces. I used my Xyron 9″ Creative Station and Xyron 1.5″ Sticker Maker. 

6. Line up the back pieces with the front pieces (with artwork facing out) and press down on the rectangular sections to adhere them. Do NOT stick the triangular sections together. 

7. Line up two sides perpendicular to each other and reinforce/connect the corners with one of the scored 1.5″ x 2.75″ rectangular pieces. You’ll do this twice. Adhere the triangular sections that have adhesive to each other. Again, do not adhere the triangular sections that do not have adhesive. These are the “legs” of the plant stand and should be left alone.

8. Now join the two halves using the two other little rectangles to connect and reinforce them. Allow the bottom triangles to stick to each other to form the base of the plant stand. It looks good in there!

9. Finally, we’ll add a reinforcement to the bottom. Flip the plant stand upside down and place the last piece of reinforcement (that 4.25″ square with the .25″ flaps) on the bottom so that the flaps go up and attach to the sides. Press with your fingers all around to make sure that all the sides are gripping each other securely with the adhesive. 

I made a plant stand with the B 52s and Madonna. What can I say, I’m a child of the 80s!

Here’s how the other sides look. Oh, a word of advice: since the album covers don’t hold up to water, I would water the succulents outside the plant stands and not put them in until they’ve stopped dripping water. You can also line the plant stands with plastic wrap. Or you can also put fake plants in them. 

These are just another example of how versatile Eileen Hull’s Sizzix dies are!