When Life Gives You Plants, Make A Terrarium.

I'm slightly obsessed with terrariums, which probably stems from my horticultural tendencies. I just think they are so neat!  A couple weeks ago I was having some fun Google imaging terrariums and came across some pretty awesome ones. Here are some I loved...

You can reuse old light bulbs!
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A modern look.
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I'm making this next Christmas for sure!
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Fun for a fiesta.

This is a great jar!
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These next pictures I found are from a couple of weddings. I absolutely LOVE how they incorporated terrariums into it all, and the jars they use are fabulous! 

This is my kind of style!

Loving all the different containers (and moss).

I decided I needed to make one! Christmas was just around the corner so I decided to make a few and give them as gifts.  I suggest if you make one yourself, to do so outside or somewhere you have plenty of space and can allow for a little bit of a mess. It was extremely cold and rainy outside the week of Christmas, so I covered my bathroom floor with newspaper and made do with the space I had. 

The Making of My Succulent Terrariums

I choose 3 different glass containers (bought at Wal Mart).  For succulents you will need open containers that will provide good aeration. 

You'll need pebbles, succulent soil (both bought at Home Depot) and activated charcoal (carbon) found at pet stores in the aquarium section.

My little succulents from Home Depot (and my mom's garden).

To get started, put a small layer of pebbles at the bottom of your container, this helps with drainage.

Add another small layer of activated charcoal. This will also help with drainage and to keep the terrarium fresh.

Add a top layer of your succulent soil.

After the soil layer is in place and you have planned the arrangement of your plants you can use a plastic spoon to dig a small hole. Next, remove your succulent from its growing container and loosen up the root ball a tad. Once removed, you can now plant your succulent where you want it in the terrarium. When your plantings are finished you can add a finishing touch of bark, rocks, miniature figures, etc. I choose to add moss and some of the extra pebbles I had.

 Here are my three finished products!

When the terrariums were complete, I used a spray bottle and just slightly moistened the plants and the very top of the soil.

This was tons of fun, and I would highly recommend making one of your own. They are great to have around and can add a lot to a table, desk, shelf, counter etc. I hope to acquire some apothecary jars in the near future and maybe make some terrariums with ferns, moss and coleus plants. The types of jars I like tend to be pretty pricey, so I'm just going to have to keep my eyes peeled.

I may sound a little nerdy for saying this, but I don't care. 

Plants rock!