Wednesday, April 22, 2009

terrariums & mushrooms

Happy Earth Day everyone! I thought I'd share a little earthy related craft for today.
Over the past week or so I've been a little obsessed with moss. That obsession evolved into making terrariums, and, naturally, hand crafted mushrooms for said terrariums. I am really loving these happy little jars of green. Wouldn't these be great little gifts or party favors?
To make them I just put a thin layer of pebbles in the bottom for drainage and then a bit of soil and just pat the moss into the soil. You mist the moss and from what I've been reading you only need to do that every two weeks or so. You need to use a lidded jar, I made my first one in a votive holder with no lid and it dried out pretty much overnight. I made this one in an old jar that had honey in it and the one with the gold lid held salsa. I'm going to start looking at the thrift stores for more.
I got my moss from outside so I've been checking in the jar every couple of days because I've been finding little insects in there (I let them free outside!)
I molded the mushrooms out of fimo clay and stuck a little wire into them before they were baked. Once baked and cooled, I painted them with acrylic paint and sealed them with a non-toxic satin varnish.

4 comments:

Aveen said...

The little mushrooms are adorable! I'm in love with terrariums too lately. I've saved up lots of pretty jam and coffee jars to make tiny ones.

Stephanie said...

This is such a great idea! Thanks for sharing how to make one, I think I'm going to try one. So cute and just the type of indoor garden I need! Happy Earth Day!

The Fern and Mossery said...

What beautiful terrariums! Check out my blog for tips on how to keep them healthy and alive for a long time!

http://www.thefernandmossery.com/

Melanie O said...

Soooo cool! I love it...and might try it! We've got some old tree stumps in the backyard with mossy sides!