I <3 Terrariums!

Last week my friend LaVange posted pictures on flickr of some cool terrariums she found at a restaurant in Philly. In the pics, carnivorous plants, sprouts, ferns, and beds of soft moss share a tiny landscape within an apothecary jar, cake stand, or other clear glass container. Suddenly I had visions of filling every window sill in my apartment with mini landscapes (all two of them). Vange sent me a few great links with directions on how to make terrariums so over the Thanksgiving weekend my mom and I gathered up the materials and made a few.
I'm in love!








The plants were bought at Lowe's and the moss was found in the woods. The jars and giant brandy snifter were purchased at Goodwill and my kid sister Katie kindly donated the fishbowl and Buddha statuette.
To make your own terrarium, just get some small stones and layer the bottom of your container. Aquarium gravel is good. Next, place a thin layer of sphagnum (best word EVER) moss over the stones and then a layer of potting soil. You can mix sand into your potting soil for better drainage (I didn't) or put activated charcoal between the soil and the sphagnum (I didn't). All of these supplies are available in the pet section of any big box store, your local pet, craft or house plant store. After you've layered the dirt and such, you can stick small plants, cuttings, seeds, moss, stones or what-have-you into the dirt. Think of it as a tiny yard that you're landscaping or a mini conservatory. Use rubber animal toys to jazz it up. I'm not quite sure how the moss will fair over the long term but I've heard that if you feed your moss beer, it will thrive. We'll see how that goes.

Anyhoo, thanks to Vangie for the inspiration and Katie and mom for the help! Here are some websites Vange sent along to help in my terrarium quest. They might have better directions than mine to help you out if you feel like making one of your own.

http://www.ehow.com/video_9374_make-terrarium.html
http://www.cottageliving.com/cottage/gardens/article/0,21135,785211,00.html
http://www.helloyarn.com/wp/?p=412
http://janellespieces.blogspot.com/2007/06/terrarium-plant-worlds.html

p.s. you should make your terrarium whilst listening to Bon Iver (which means 'beautiful winter' in French). It's a band that made their album during the winter in a cabin in Northern Wisconsin and it's perfect winter terrarium making music. Thanks also to Vange for sharing it with me. :) Click here to listen.