This is what we did on a HOT Monday morning…

MAKE TERRARIUMS!

I’ve been wanting to make one for the longest time, and I’m so happy we got around to creating these beauties. Big sis and I were saying how great these would be as house warming gifts or birthday presents. The big plus is that they are sooooo easy to make!

Materials:

• Cactus/Succulent Potting Soil
• Rocks – Purchased Mosser Lee Decorative Rocks which only allowed us to make two terrariums. I had to resort to some Pottery Barn rocks which I already had and some rocks from my backyard.
• Succulents
• Glass Container
• “itty bitty” figures for decorative purposes(as my niece would say).  This is optional!

Close up of our succulents:

Ok, so here we go.

Pour a layer of rocks into the glass container. I had a cute lil helper handy too!

Break up the roots from the succulent pots . We think it looks better to have a variety of succulents in one container. Prettier.

Pour a layer of potting soil on top of your rocks. We also mixed in some of the soil from the pots.

Tip: Do not over do it with the soil. Once you arrange the succulents, you will need to pour more soil to keep the plants in place.

Scatter some more rocks on top of the soil. If you have moss, you can add that as well. I just purchased a small moss bag at Wal Mart for $2. I decided to add moss in the smaller terrarium.

Darn! I knew I should have bought another bag of the decorative rocks. I had to use some black rocks for this terrarium because I ran out.

Top View:

Top view of the bigger terrarium:

My niece was so nice enough to give me her plastic ducky because my daughter absolutely ADORES duckies!

Top view of big sis’ terrarium:

Easy, right? Did I mention they only need to be watered once a month. Another plus!

-lil sis

Edited to add big sis’ tips

1. pour a bit of activated charcoal before the soil to prevent your terrarium from stinking! this step is completely optional and from what I’ve read, it really is only a necessity for closed terrariums

2. use your bare hands or a spoon to shovel the dirt in. Gloves…way too difficult!

3. if you get dirt on your succulents and start to panic (like me), just get a straw and blow the dirt away

Edited to add FAQ’s

Q: What kind of lighting do they require?

A: Terrariums require bright, indirect sunlight!

Q: How frequent do i need to water the plant.. how long will the plant live?

A: They only need to be watered 1x a month. Be careful not to water the actual plant but around it, if that makes sense. Sorry cant say how long they live…it all depends on the conditions of the plant, environment, so forth. Mine have lasted 6+ months.