Oh, She Crafty Huh?! DIY Terrariums

I am trying to be creative and crafty and make things in my spare time and not just buy things for double the price of what I could make them for. I feel like I waste so much money buying crap that I could easily make if I choose not to be lazy and just DO IT! So, project #1 of I AM NOT LAZY is...

DIY Moss and Fern Terrariums

I LOVE terrariums and the look of them and decorating with plants in the home. I am still in the process of making our house a "home", (does the process ever end?) and I decided to make my own terrariums. My dad, my stepmother Debbie, and I went to Crabtree Falls hiking on Sunday. Crabtree Falls is about an hour from Lynchburg and we wanted to go enjoy the last of the Fall colors and weather before it gets too cold to do so. Debbie and I were talking about our terrariums, (hers very much alive and mine very much dead) and she needed some moss. Well, I decided to give it another go and redo my terrariums. We collected a bag of moss and other small little fern looking plants from our hike.

On our way down the mountain to have our picnic of shrimp, cheeses, pickles, and crackers, here walks my brother Tucker the hill to meet us! He drove from JMU to surprise us and nobody had cell service so we had no idea that he was there.

Tucker stayed and had a picnic with us. It was so good to see him since he NEVER comes home, which I totally understand because JMU is the most wonderful place! He is studying psychology and is a Supervisor at UREC, the campus recreation center.

Anyway, back to the terrariums before I start rambling about how I wish I was still at JMU and how proud I am of my baby brother... I went to Michael's and bought three different glass containers (all under $15) and two small bags of pebbles yesterday. I already had a bag of soil and some charcoal so I just laid everything out of the table on pieces of paper to start putting them together.

I tried to get Ryan to help but he was preoccupied with Redneck dog dilemmas on the phone. Seriously?! It is always some dog discussion going on with him.

First you want to line the bottom of the glass containers with the pebbles to act as a drainage system so the plants don't drown. I bought one bag of black pebbles and one bag of mixed beige colored rocks.

The next layer is the charcoal which should be in fine pieces. This
only needs to be a very fine layer and this will prevent any mold from forming from the moisture.


Soil is the next layer and I used a fertilized soil that feeds for up to 6 months. It has wood pieces and other nutrients in the soil. Add half the soil then place your moss and plants where you want them in the container and add the rest of the soil around the roots and lightly pack it down to hold the plants in place. Add a little water and there you have it, you made a terrarium!

YOU ARE NOT LAZY! See... you can make these in about five minutes if you just do it! The most time consuming part is finding some the specimens to plant. Go find a creek or go hiking on a mountain, they are great places to look. Here are some photos from our hike!

 
 
    Left: Photo of the falls halfway up the trail.
    Above: A Walking Stick Insect on the milepost sign.
    Below: Debbie, Dad, and I taking a break for a pic.