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Turn your old socks into a no-fuss cactus garden.

What You Need (for one cactus)

• old sock
• plastic-foam ball and googly eyes (available at craft stores)
• plastic grocery bags (optional)
• craft glue
• rubber band
• green paint
• flower pot
• pebbles (enough to fill pot)
• toothpicks
• construction paper

What You Do

1. Push a plastic-foam ball into the toe of a sock. (The sock should fit snugly around the ball.) For a tall cactus, add plastic bags or other stuffing after the foam ball. Wrap a rubber band around the sock to keep everything tightly in place.
2. Paint the sock green. (You may need a few coats to completely cover it.)
3. After the paint has dried, place the sock in a flower pot, then fill the pot with pebbles.
4. Glue on googly eyes. Then break toothpicks in half. Press the pointed ends into the sock until it is covered with "spines."
5. Cut flower shapes from construction paper. Stick them on a few of the toothpick spines, as shown.

Now show your blooming cactus to your friends and family. You just may knock their socks off! 

By Michele Reyzer
Photos by Mark Godfrey

 

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