How to Make Leather Succulents

This hot summer is giving us all the desert feels, so it's no wonder that succulents are top of mind! When we were looking for a good leather project for our new Glowforge, we came up with the idea to make these awesome 3D leather succulents.

Leather is a GREAT material to shape and sculpt, and this leather succulent project is a perfect one for beginners! We take you through several beginner leather-working steps, from cutting leather to wet forming/shaping it, painting it and glueing it up! Best of all, these leather succulents look great in little pots OR even hanging on a tote for a bag charm. How you ultimately use them is up to you!

We cut these on the Glowforge, but you don't have to have a laser cutter to do this project. You can absolutely cut these out by hand and then follow along with the other steps. But if you're considering buying a Glowforge, you can get up to $500 OFF your purchase by using our referral code (which will also give us a little something in return):

   💰 GLOWFORGE REFERRAL CODE FOR UP TO $500 OFF 💰: https://glowforge.us/f/MJVAZMME

We have a detailed video tutorial that will also take you through all these steps, so if you're more of a visual/video learner, we have you covered.

Now without further ado...gather up a few materials and join us as we show you how to make leather succulents!

Materials:

(Affiliate Links)

Glowforge: https://glowforge.us/f/MJVAZMME

Referral code gets you up to $500 off your own Glowforge!

3-4 oz Veg Tanned Leather: https://amzn.to/3cfNqeQ

Masking: https://amzn.to/3ybNDHb

Scraper: https://amzn.to/3bNNwKk

Calipers: https://amzn.to/3Py01rG

Self-Healing Cutting Mat: https://amzn.to/3vbzvgD

Exacto: https://amzn.to/3J9aIzp

Angelus Leather Paint Set: https://amzn.to/3aLRG5h

Angelus Leather Paint - South Beach: https://amzn.to/3PvVhDo

Angelus Leather Paint - Hot Pink: https://amzn.to/3uU6Igc

Glitter Leather Paint: https://amzn.to/3RE7WWI

Sealer: https://amzn.to/3ASgKSU

Paintbrushes: https://amzn.to/3zab4lZ

Leather Contact Cement: https://amzn.to/3RCWkTP

Design on Creative Fabrica: https://www.creativefabrica.com/product/8-layered-paper-succulents/ref/1386779/

Affiliate Notification

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, as well as other affiliate programs, which enable us to earn a commission when you click on our links and make a purchase. You don't pay anything extra for the items you buy...we just get credit for referring you! 

As we're keeping this project easy for beginners, we're not going to get deep into finishing the backside, etc. As such, it's important that you find a good leather to work with that's as clean as possible (or already finished) on the back.

We selected this leather from Amazon. It's 3-4 oz Veg Tanned leather, which is a perfect thickness for this particular project, laser safe and it has very few "fuzzies" on the back. 

We used an exacto knife and self-healing cutting mat to trim it down to 20" wide so it would fit inside the Glowforge.

Unless you're an amazing artist and can cut this by hand, we highly recommend finding a good template or cut file first.

We found this amazing set of succulent designs on Creative Fabrica. Not only does it have a good variety of succulents, but it also has a few that stack the way we want them to. And since we're cutting this on a Glowforge, the availability of an SVG file is a major bonus. (If you're cutting by hand, you can print the design out using one of the other file types to use as a template.)

Below are our top tips for cutting these out on a Glowforge:

1. Mask your leather. We're big fans of masking our laser materials, and leather is no different. We love having the clean cut lines and no burns on the pretty side of our leather. Make sure you burnish your masking down well, though, and cut away any extra bits around the edges.
2. Measure Your Leather Precisely: We love to use calipers to measure any non-proofgrade material. That way, we're getting a true representation of the project on the screen, as well as ensuring that our settings are just right.
3. Secure Your Leather to the Honeycomb Tray: As this leather came rolled, it wanted to roll up inside the Glowforge. We used painter's tape to secure it down so it would cut safely and evenly.
4. Decide Succulent Sizes: We made our succulents two different sizes.
5. The larger one has a diameter of 3.25 for its largest layer.
6. The smaller one has a diameter of 2.75 for its largest layer.
7. Remove Masking Immediately after Cutting: Some masking will pull up little fibers on your leather if left on too long, so we recommend removing it immediately after the leather is cut.

Glowforge Pro Cut Settings:

We cut this leather on 200 speed and 100 power. 

So we can get more dimensionality out of the final product, we want to add some bends and curls to the succulent leaves. To do that, we're going to use a technique called "wet forming" leather. And we're going to do it all by hand, rather than with a mold. So grab a bowl of water and follow the steps below:

1. Pick up one of your cut pieces of leather.
2. Soak the leather either by submerging it in water or rubbing water into the leather with your fingers.
3. Since this leather isn't very thick, we didn't need to soak it for long.
4. To get the desired shapes, we used different methods for each succulent:
5. For the wider-petal succulent, we used the taper of the paint brush to form the bend in the petals by wrapping a leaf around the brush shaft and firmly holding it for 30 seconds. We also used our fingers to add a slight curl from the base to the tip.
6. For the thinner-petal succulent, we used a small ball to get the initial shape we wanted and then bent it by hand to add further shape.
7. For the smaller layers, we pinched them very precisely to get the right inner shape.
8. Hold the leather in the desired shape for 30 seconds. If the shape holds, move on to the next petal.
9. Let all layers fully dry for 5-6 hours before moving on to the next step. 

We highly recommend painting the individual layers before you assemble the succulent. That way, there are no awkward/hard to reach places. We used Angelus Leather Paint and just some cheap paintbrushes to get the desired result.

1. If you cut your succulents on a laser, you may want to wipe any extra char off of the edges. We used a shop towel to do this.
2. Use painter's tape to cover the center on the front and back of each piece, except the very top piece for each succulent. This will make sure that there's no paint or sheen where you will ultimately glue the pieces together.
3. Use a paint brush to paint the fronts, backs and edges of all pieces.
4. Don't forget to have fun with your paint job!
5. For the wide-petal succulent, we used the following colors: South Beach and Turquoise, mixing the colors to give the layers a slight gradient from the bottom to the top.
6. For the thin-petal succulent, we used these colors: Hot Pink and Yellow, laying down a layer of pink first and then using the yellow on the tips (blended out, of course!).
7. Both succulents got a few dollops of glitter for a little extra flair.
8. Let paint fully cure for best results.
9. Spray some Leather Sheen on all layers (front and backs) to add protection and shine.
10. Pull painter's tape from both sides of each layer.

Now you'll really start to see your succulent come together! Grab your leather cement, a few shop towels and get those pinching fingers ready!

1. Add a healthy dollop of contact cement to the center of both pieces that you want to glue together (one on the front, the next layer on the back.
2. Wait until glue feels tacky.
3. Pinch and hold pieces together for 30 seconds, quickly and neatly wiping away any excess that squeezes out.
4. Repeat until all layers have been secured. 
5. If you plan on hanging your succulent, don't forget to glue a tab on the back that you can connect a string or chain to.

We hope that this tutorial was helpful. If you’re interested in checking out more of our tutorials, head over to our blog or YouTube channel.