Crafting Group Tackles Terrariums!

Have I ever mentioned how I was not a girly-girl growing up? I hated the color pink, couldn't understand the point of crafting, and mostly just wanted to play war with the other kids. Sewing and knitting seemed like terribly ancient things, and after all, if I wanted something, why wouldn't I just buy it? (Or, you know, have my mother buy it?)

Don't be fooled by the dress.

Now I prefer staying home and figuring out how to make things myself. And crafting can be directly traced back a few years ago to Rachel, who always dragged me out to Brooklyn to create. She was an art student and does artistic things at work so my attempts were quite pitiful in comparison but it was tons of fun. She's also the one who got me into sewing! But then she had a baby and moved far, far away. (sob)

So my crafting has been slacking, but then both Ashley and Naomi separately told me they wanted to start groups in the NYC area for crafting and I knew I had found my crafting fix! This past weekend, Ashley hosted a terrarium making party at her apartment. Naomi was there and brought 2 non-blogging friends (who seem lovely despite the lack of blog), Amanda also came, as did Hillary, Ashley's non-blogging roommate.

Did anyone take any pictures? Of course not. And for those unaware, my boyfriend has been out of town for the past 6 weeks on assignment so my pictures are not well lit, well framed, nor will you be able to make out details. But at least you can see what I did kind of?!

Anyway, Ashley purchased all the supplies. She has a lovely backyard with a table, chairs, and a trellis with grapes growing on it that shielded us lovelies from the sun where we hung out and ate cake and made terrariums.

Side note: She also purchased organic soil and warned us there were bugs in it, and then mentioned that her mother got ringworm once from organic soil. Everyone else just seemed to accept this and move on, but I was horrified. I also had an awful nightmare that night where I was laying a bed of organic soil and bugs were slowing eating my legs off. Turns out I just had 3 mosquito bites.

So.

Last year's terrariums.

I made 2 terrariums last year, with mixed success as one died. But the other is still alive! After I made those two and posted about it, I bought a 3rd container and decided to document everything so I could put up a photo tutorial... but then the plant died so there was no photo tutorial.

The bf kept wondering when I was going to toss my dead plant, and I kept assuring him that I would re-do it very, very soon, but yeah, that didn't happen. So he arranged all my dinosaurs to "worship" the fallen plant. They fell over too. It's a very sad terrarium.

The arrow points to the dead plant... that I still have. Sigh.

But now I have happy terrariums!

From Purl Soho

When I was at Purl Soho with Naomi recently, I saw this needlepoint canvas (above) that screamed death and destruction. It appeared that the cardinal was taking over the world, that the world was burning, and that someone was fleeing while burning and screaming in pain. I asked Naomi what she saw and she said something to the effect that it look like a nice spring or summer day.

Clearly my mind works differently. (And we were both wrong, me way more so, as it's entitled Cardinal on the Corn - I thought the corn was burning embers.)

Anyway, I decided to go with my original death and destruction idea and put the overturned pot in my terrarium, along with fat, happy cardinals.  I'm not sure what happened to the humans, but the cardinals have taken over. Also I thought it would be fun to hide the cardinals, as they're sneaky and evil, but that means you barely see them. Look closely!

In my second terrarium, I went with a much happier scene. I have a lovely pink cactus, some kind of succulent (that my cat LOVES to uproot) and some adorable ladybugs.

Yes, that's a coffee pot.

I'm very pleased with my terrariums, and mostly I'm so happy group crafting is back in my life. Somehow I'm supposed to wait a month for the next one. Hopefully it involves Halloween things!!

Dinosaur Terrariums for Everyone!

Back in January, I became obsessed with terrariums. I have no idea why. (Though this article certainly helped!) I've always liked plants and flowers, but they all died very shortly after I acquired them. Unless I gave them away, in which case they would come back to life and thrive under a different owner.

And don't think it was my fault! I remembered to water them. I remembered to give them sun. I didn't buy tropical plants that couldn't survive in my environment. I even tried buying cacti, but they would die by hollowing it out and just... blowing over. Seriously. I was very smart about it, but nothing seemed to help except giving them away.

This year, I've decided that I'm going to try again at growing things. I've got a small herb garden growing (that almost died a few days ago, but I managed to revive it!), a bonsai tree, and 2 terrariums. I started with terrariums because they seemed easier, almost non-killable.

I'm here to report that that isn't the case. They can die. I made one terrarium, and it had some issues. One of the two plants in there died. My boyfriend, who is very supportive, told me that any time I uproot a plant, there's a good chance it'll die. So. Not my fault. And the the other one survived anyway!

The plants on the right clearly had some issues with being uprooted. But that's okay. It just looks like a before and after for the dinosaurs. Poor guys.

I was encouraged enough (and had enough left over supplies) to make a second one, and I'm happy to report that it's really thriving.

They're simple enough to make. You'll need supplies: rocks or gravel, moss or charcoal, soil, plant(s), and a container. Optional: figurines!

Most of these things can be found at a flower shop, and the rest can be found at a dollar store. I went into one flower store on my block, and they were selling terrariums for $45+ but NOT the supplies to make them. I checked out the other flower store another block away, and the guy had the perfect plants ($7 total) as well as moss that he gave me for free. I grabbed rocks at Duane Reade, and the containers and figurines at the dollar store. I had soil leftover. I think I spent $14 total for both.

To assemble: Rocks/gravel make up the bottom layer, followed by a thin layer of moss/charcoal. After that, you careful situate your plants and add additional soil if necessary. Then you add your figurines, water slightly, and cover with a lid. And voila! Your very own little ecosystem that you never really have to worry about.

 Unless the sides get a little moist. Then you need to take the lid off so some air can evaporate. If you see signs of distress, like mold or disease, you need to remove it immediately because it can make your whole terrarium sick and cause it to die. And NEVER put it in a window because the sunlight will kill them. Something about the glass and lid and all. Just don't do it. I've left mine on the kitchen table which gets minimal sunlight and they've thrived. I'm so happy with them! And even though one of the plants died in the first one, the second plant is still fine! Woohoo!