Friday, August 3, 2012

whimsical terrariums

 

terrariums have been slowly taking over my living room, kitchen, friend's houses and my life. i hands down can not get enough of these beautiful plant creations. it is a different form of art that i have not played with until recently and i am in 100% in love. 

i am going to explain how you can make one yourself on the cheap, but first here is a few more examples of my terrariums:







not going to lie, but the terrarium i made below was a lot harder to do than the terrariums shown above. i decided to try to make a terrarium out of a light bulb. i saw a video on etsy's how to tuesdays series. 

what you will need to make a light bulb terrarium: 
light bulb (bigger the better)
gloves, safety goggles
screwdriver, needle nose pliers, 12 in. tweezers
sand or small rocks
horticultural charcoal
sheet moss
small succulent plants
soil
salt (only if you have a frosted light bulb)

i first took my light bulb and with the screwdriver and needle nose pliers poked out the ceramic part of the light bulb then gutted the inside so it was empty. my light build was not clear and had a frosted covering. to get rid of the frosting all you do is pour salt inside and shake. the film comes off quickly and pesto... you have a clear light bulb for your terrarium.


add salt then bumpers so the light bulb won't roll away

  

the order i added the supplies: sand, light dusting of charcoal, soil, moss and then the succulent plant
the only downside to the lightbulb terrarium was that the opening was so small i was unable to put any fun trinkets inside. overall, i now have a beautiful terrarium to sit on my desk. 

when i go shopping for terrarium glass i do not spend a lot of money and strictly shop at second hand stores. the best trinkets i have found to place inside the terrariums have been from second hand stores, dollar stores, and surprisingly a store called roses had the most variety of trinkets. as far as soil, moss, sand and rocks i go to lowes. i usually buy succulent plants and through trial and error some plants outshine others. i recently fell in love with air plants. super easy to take care of, they live off the air, and do not need soil. I bought tillandsia air plants through this amazon seller. they have lasted longer than any other place/ seller i have bought in the past. when i have a larger glass container to play with i add the ingredients in this order: rocks or sand, charcoal, moss, soil, plants and trinkets. make sure not to forget the trinkets! they give such a fun whimsical feel to your terrarium.


i hope you get a chance to make your own terrarium. they are so much fun!


1 comment: