home accent Archives - Soap Deli News

Learn how to create your own DIY geometric glass terrarium filled with faux plants! This easy tutorial will walk you through the steps to creating your own unique terrarium arrangement for your next home accent piece – all without the worry of watering and maintaining your plants.

I’ve been wanting to create my own faux terrarium for some time as I have a particularly poor green thumb. I’ve been known to overwater succulents and underwater houseplants so I tend to stick to throwing wildflower seeds about outside when it comes to planting.

I also wanted a terrarium for a rather dim room in my home which never seems to work out in my favor. So rather than buy a live terrarium I decided to create my own custom DIY geometric glass terrarium using rocks, orchid bark, preserved moss and fake flowers.

I kind of winged this project as I’d never tried creating a terrarium using fake plants with no dirt to root them into. But I ended up being pleased with how pretty my DIY geometric glass terrarium turned out in the end.

Ready to dive in and make your own beautiful terrarium that never dies? Keep reading to learn how. However, keep in mind that this is YOUR project. So be sure to try materials and preserved plants that speak to you and fit your own personal creative taste!

DIY Geometric Glass Terrarium

Materials Needed:

Quality Growers The Moss Collection Preserved Moss (or SuperMoss Preserved Moss Mix)
Orchid Bark or similar
small rocks or pebbles
geometric glass terrarium, of choice
green floral foam
strong multi-surface glue that dries clear
faux flower stem(s)
skewer or chopstick
scissors and/or knife

Directions:

Once you’ve shopped for and gathered your materials you’re ready to get started!

You should be able to find most if not all of the elements needed for your DIY geometric glass terrarium at your local craft store in the floral section. If this option isn’t available to you, you can easily find the items you need online.

You’ll begin by cutting down your block of green floral foam. (I used a wet foam block as this worked better for my purpose.) Cut the block so it’s about a half an inch high. Then cut the edges into a shape that fits inside of your geometric glass terrarium.

You can do this by placing the terrarium on top of the foam block and tracing a line around it. Then using a knife cut the block slightly smaller than the opening in your terrarium. You want it small enough that you can get the foam block into the terrarium after you’ve glued the elements onto the top and sides.

Now spread glue across the top of the floral foam.

Once you have the glue in place, tear off a section of the moss and gently press it onto the foam.

Clip smaller sections of flowers or buds from the faux flower stem you’ve chosen to use and position them around and in between the moss, pressing the stems into the floral foam to keep them in place.

Follow this some of the orchid bark, gluing it onto the floral foam as desired. Then, repeat this process with more moss, flowers and bark on the top and sides of the floral foam to suit using more glue as needed.

Repeat until the entire foam block is covered.

If desired you can also glue rocks as well to the top of the arrangement.

Once you are satisfied with the arrangement, allow the glue to dry.

Once the glue on the arrangement for your DIY geometric glass terrarium has dried, place some glue on the bottom of the terrarium. Then carefully place the floral and moss arrangement inside the terrarium on top of the glue, gently pressing it into place.

Finally, add a mix of orchid bark and rocks around the arrangement in the bottom of the terrarium to surround the foam block with your moss and floral arrangement. Use a skewer or a chopstick to move rocks and bark into empty spaces and desired locations.

Use glass cleaner and a clean cloth to clean up any fingerprints, debris or glue that may have gotten onto the glass of your terrarium. And that’s it! Your DIY geometric glass terrarium is complete!

Now all that’s left is to display your new geometric glass terrarium in you home!

These faux terrariums make lovely accent pieces for bookshelves and coffee tables with no need to worry about lighting!

If you liked this project for making a DIY geometric glass terrarium with faux plants, then you may also enjoy my tutorial for my DIY succulent container garden. Or for more gardening projects, be sure to follow my Gardening Pinterest board. You can also find inspiration for designing your terrarium on my Terrarium Lust Pinterest board.

Also be sure to follow me on G+, Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, Blog Lovin’, and Instagram for more great DIY ideas. Or sign up to receive new posts from Soap Deli News blog to your email via FeedBurner so you never miss a post.

Hello, lovely readers! It’s Jacie from Moss Love here – I create ready-made, DIY and wearable terrariums using live moss, air plants and marimo moss balls. I’m excited to help you make your own beautiful moss terrarium!

One of the best things about these is they don’t need direct sunlight like your typical house plant – so places that normally don’t see any greenery are in luck! Your desk at the office and that corner of your kitchen that doesn’t get sun are in for a makeover. Another bonus: they are super easy to take care of.

How to Make a DIY Moss Terrarium

SUPPLIES:

You will need:

a clear glass jar with a lid
rinsed and dried gravel or rocks (larger rocks can be used in larger jars)
dried sphagnum peat moss
peat moss soil
live moss (purchased or collected yourself)
polished rocks, colored gravel or glass, etc. for surface landscaping
a miniature habitant (the possibilities are endless…)

AND…ACTION!

First note to remember: you are going to want to leave the upper half (or more) of your jar open so your moss gets enough air. You may be tempted to add a lot of rocks (they are a fun layer to see through the glass), but halt! Unless you are working with a tall or large jar, you only need enough rocks for small drops of water to drain into (check my terrariums out for example photos). Gently add them to your jar.
Add sheet moss for filtration – push to flatten. This keeps the soil in place – use just enough so there are no holes for soil to fall through.
Add soil. Build it up on one side if you’d like a hill!
Add your moss – break it into smaller pieces if you’d like to play with mixes of height and texture. Push it lightly onto the soil.
Fill empty spots with polished stones, colored gravel or glass (I like to use blue for “water”), etc.
Add your habitant and watch your little world come to life!

CARE

First time only: mist with water until soil starts to dampen (be sure to stop there – you don’t want too much water). Let the water evaporate off the sides of the jar, then add your lid.

After that: Mist lightly every 3 weeks (if dry). Avoid direct sun. Bright indoor light or indirect sun is best. If excess drops build up on glass, remove the lid to evaporate, then replace. It is important that sitting water isn’t left in the terrarium as this can lead to mold. When in doubt, dry it out (hey – that rhymes!).

ALL TOGETHER NOW

I also offer DIY Kits with all the fixings as well as individual habitants if you want the materials easily in one go. Make one for a friend, or give them a kit to create one themselves!

xJacie