terrarium making..

south dairy ashford & I-10

connie (MIL) text me on tuesday and asked if i was down to meet her at cornelius - calloway nursery with a picture of some terrarium supply she had. of course i was down. we had just talked about making terrariums the week before and there was no way i was going to miss this outing!!

i'd never been to this nursery. went to a couple when i was a kid and mom forced me to go. since it wasn't my thing, it kinda sucked. the heat is my enemy. makes me all itchy and panicky! 

the picture connie (MIL) sent me

so she sent me this picture and it got me super excitamated! plan was to meet at 2pm but we ended up meeting around 3pm. it was practically empty. we shoulda known it would be. it was HOT! not just regular hot..like sweaty and heavy breathing hot, but we made it out with some awesome goodies!

warning: i made sure to take my camera D with me for blogging purposes! so this post is FULL of pictures! i made collages using picmonkey.com to keep it minimal, but i got a little too excited lol!

books connie had for direction.

supplies we purchased.

connie added gravel to her container. cut a layer for her barrier layer (cloth or screen) so the water could go through but not soil. and then added a layer of soil.

layers are good for terrariums.

here are some useful tips

the mess we made.

connie adding to hers & my itty bitty container.

• before going out to purchase any supply. figure out what you will need. some of the supplies is a bit expensive depending on where you go.
• hit the library up for books. or check pinterest along with google. 
• buckets are your friends when it comes to collecting sand, gravel, and rocks.
• make sure to have some type of glass containers. goodwill and thrift shops always have nice glass containers for good prices.
• you will need rocks of all sizes for drainage and for decoration. these can be purchased or you can do like we did and check your backyard.
• remove old soil from plants and replace with new healthy soil.
• hills are good in terrariums. it adds dimensions.
• small toys add a character to your terrarium. thrift shops and craft stores have these at average prices.
• gloves are helpful but we ended up taking them off to better arrange our terrariums.
  
• succulents are best for terrariums because they are small and store water in their stems and leaves resulting in unique and wonderful textures and shapes. make sure to water your succulents prior to moving them otherwise they will break apart (which we learned when a succulent broke apart on us)
• sand and moss are fantastic for decoration.
• SOIL!! this is the number one thing you must not forget to add!!
• this project will get very, very messy so make sure you do it some place that can be cleaned easily. 

3 great pictures connie took of me searching for gravel in her backyard!

 here are our master pieces...

i say not bad for a beginner..but it coulda been better lol

connie blew me away! her terrarium looks spectacular. she even added a polar bear (he's just visiting the jungle)

E said 'polar bear in the jungle? that's some LOST shit right there' LOL!

the itty bitty terrarium i made.

the final picture.

what do you think?! i think we did pretty damn good. i'm hoping my next terrarium will be better. i think i was a bit shy lol well then, have you made a terrarium yet?! care to share?!
visit my flickr to see all the pictures.


..till next time ;]

p.s. blogger thought it was cute to completely delete the content in this post so it took me forever to get it back up. thanks to my right click, view source, copy & paste skills i was able to save it all! :] thank goodness for knowing my way around blogging! 10+ years son! :x