So, finally we put together our terrariums. I never really caught you all up on October, but we had 3 birthdays. Naomi’s 5, I’m, & Leviah’s 1. Whew. Naomi had a probably-over-the-top party with a bouncer, cotton candy, tie-dying, & playsilks. We were camping for both her & my celebrations, & for Leviah we had friends & family come over for some cupcakes & balloons.
I got chocolate chip pancakes & really cute boots from my mom AND Drew got me something I’ve wanted for years–a terrarium. I tried to do one years ago, but with few resources had a difficult time & no success. BUT, with age comes wisdom & with trends comes more information. That & my mom gave me a really old terrarium book after my first attempt failed. Between that & a handy nature-craft kids book we put together some really adorable scenes yesterday. For those of you who MIGHT be interested in a similar project I’m going to put together a very basic how-to:
A. LOCATE: Find an appropriate container (we used a pickle jar that formerly had “bunches & bunches” of pickles that I bought months ago specifically for terrarium use, & of course my dedicated beauty–but really any type of jar will work. small jars, big jars, plastic jars, vases, bowls, glasses, cups, mugs, etc.–they don’t HAVE to be sealed off).
B. EQUIP: Acquire “ground” materials; here are our layers:
- Sand
- Small Pebbles
- Nylon Screening (to prevent dirt from seeping into & clogging drainage pebbles)
- Dirt Mixture (all available at Garden Supply places)
- 2 parts Hummos (dirt from garden baked for 3 hours at 200degrees to kill buggies & seeds)
- 1 part Sand
- 2 parts Peat Moss/Sphagnum Moss
C. GATHER: Acquire Plants
- most tropical low-light varieties will work. Even mosses, mushrooms, lichens from the back yard will work.
D. ACCESSORIZE: Acquire small accents to make your terrarium fun
- miniature house, birds, people, doll house stuff
- rocks, sticks, etc.
E. ENSEMBLE: Once all the above has been accomplished–Assemble! It’s pretty straight forward. Sand, rocks, screen, dirt mixture, plants, accessories…¡algo adorable! There are a few tools that can be handy for all of the above:
- scissors
- tray
- shovel
- paint brush (for cleaning inside walls, ornaments…)
- long wooden spoon for spreading & even distribution of dirt, rocks, sand.
There are boundless opportunities to make your little dome of delight personal, and it seems a great way to teach kiddos about the way our environment works cyclically. Plus, they’re extremely endearing & low maintenance when it comes to watering–just my style.
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That looks so cute, Lacey! I love it!
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