mucho moss: seven steps to an awesome terrarium in less than an hour

Sherry, Katie (not my sister), Kate, and Michelle are hosting the Pinterest Challenge Summer Edition today, and I'm thrilled to be joining the party. After combing through my roughly 47 million pins on Pinterest, I finally decided to make the terrariums I had wanted to work on months ago. After seeing the pretty things on The Nester's series on bringing plants into your home and Twig Terrarium's hilarious creations, I couldn't shake the idea of how much fun it would be to make these tiny environments. I'm a total Sims freak, so the idea of creating a whole little world sounded really cool.  Probably the way real stuff appeals to actual cool people, and not Sims-obsessed dorks like me.  Ahem... SO, here's my combination post, tutorial, and link party entry.



Here are my two biggest inspirations from my Terrarium board

I read about a hundred how-to posts and tutorials before distilling them down into one seven-step method that enabled me to turn out four terrariums that I'm completely happy with in less than an hour. It actually took my longer to go out to get all the supplies and plants than it did for me to finish the project itself.  I already had the jars and accessories, but needed to pick up all the other ingredients. Several trips to Home Depot and Wal-Mart later, I had everything ready to go.

THE INGREDIENTS

1. Apothecary jars or any other pretty containers.  If you're like me, you probably have a ton of these lying around. Here, I've used a big apothecary jar, a cylindrical vase, a stemless wine glass, and a glass milk pail thingie.
2. Potting soil.  I used a moisture control blend, but any good garden soil should do. 
3. Charcoal or carbon. I used activated carbon intended for use in fish tanks. You can find this at nearly any pet store, but I found it for half price at Wal-Mart.Rocky suggested I mash up some BBQ briquettes but I was worried about what the fire starter chemicals might do to the plants.
4. Stones and gravel. I used some pea gravel and a few river stones I had leftover from another project, but fish gravel, pretty rocks from around your garden, or generally any clean stones will do.
5. Mucho moss. Sheet moss, bun moss, reindeer moss... all will give you interesting looks. Choose the one that works best for the look you are trying to achieve. 
6. Plants. Use low-light and indoor plants for the best way to keep them from outgrowing the container. Succulents are always a favorite, but little ferns and things can work equally well.
7. A plant mister. You can use a small glass (think shot sized) or watering can, but I prefer the mister. It distributes the water evenly and doesn't let me over water. Cute ones can be found anywhere. I found this one for $3.00 at HomeGoods. 
8. Bonus items - pretty rocks, tiny people and animals, interesting objects... anything you want to add for some interest and whimsy.  Get creative! I wouldn't recommend fabric items, though. With the highly moist environment inside the terrarium, you could be in for an icky, moldy surprise. As you can see from my terrarium board on Pinterest, I was looking to make something that was leafy and pretty, but also had a sense of humor to it.  Twig's pieces had the perfect balance of what I was looking for and were the biggest inspiration. I visited a model train shop with my step-dad and found some perfect accent pieces.  The house (Kim's Classic American Home) was the first find, and I have to say if I didn't love it so much I would never have paid what I did for it. Train things are expensive. I also discovered that N-scale was pretty much the perfect size for what I was going for. I was hoping to find some dinosaurs as well, as for whatever reason my vision was to have the house under attack by a T-Rex or two while townsfolk ran for the fern forest, but sadly they didn't have any. I settled for a herd of miniature cattle instead, which actually fit perfectly with the second terrarium idea inspired by this excellent piece

And now, the moment you've been waiting for...

THE STEPS

1. Assemble and prep your supplies. You'll want to start with a clean jar, both for visibility and to reduce the amount of mold and/or bacteria that will be going into your sealed environment. Avoid harsh chemicals - you don't want to kill your plans. Clean water and a microfiber rag should be all you need to get the inside sparkling.
2. Add a layer of gravel.  Scale it for the size of your container, but ideally you'll want an inch or two to allow for proper drainage. You want a nice, slightly humid environment, not swamp-in-the-summer grossness. 
3. Add some charcoal.  This helps to keep the soil nice and clean and inhibit weird things that can grow inside and smell funky. You'll want a layer about a half inch deep, and it's okay if some of it settles down into the gravel. Wear gloves or use a scooper of some kind - charcoal is messy stuff. Trust me, one ruined dishtowel later and you'll remember the gloves.
4. Add your soil. If you're going moss-only, you only need a fairly thin layer, but rooted plants will need something deeper to settle into. Small plants should need about two to three inches in order to be comfortable.
5. Add your plants. Play around with the placement while they're still in their pots in order to avoid damage to your layers and minimize the amount of shock to the roots. Once you have them mapped out, use your fingers, a small trowel, or popsicle sticks to dig a hole they can fit into snugly. Gently tamp the dirt back down around them once they're in place, being careful not to mash things too much. 
6. Add your moss. Moss is a nice cover, but not an absolute necessity. You can use additional gravel, sand, or anything else the suits the mood of your little glass world. I think I would cover everything in my house with moss if I could, so I used a liberal amount in all four.
7. Water, garnish, and serve. Once you've got all the greenery in place, use your plant mister to give everything a nice spray.  Don't waterlog it, just get it all fresh and slightly damp. I do this step before I add my decor so that my little cows and houses don't look like they've just been caught out in the rain. Once you have all your fun stuff in place, you can add the lid if you have one, and you're good to go!

I am so excited to have finally a) finished a project that was inspired by something on Pinterest and b) be joining my very first link up party.  I feel like such a dork, with everyone else having gorgeous, well-established blogs and I've got less than 10 posts under my belt, but a girl has to start somewhere, right? Anyhow, if you found this helpful or if you have any questions or comments, please leave me a note!