DIY Succulent Terrarium

As I've said before, I love succulents. They are such a cute, bright clean pop of green on a desk or dresser. And they are (supposedly) pretty easy to take care of. Fingers crossed for accidental plant killers everywhere.

Because succulents are very a la mode right now, buying a pre-made succulent terrarium can get pretty pricey. Here's how to easily make your own terrarium at home.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

A FEW SMALL SUCCULENTS

MEDIUM SIZED GLASS BOWL (about 6" diameter)

(mine is a small fishbowl that I bought for a few dollars at a yard sale years ago, but I also like tilt bowls like THIS and straight sided bowls like THIS. Check out some yard sales, you will be shocked at what you can find for less than five dollars)

SMALL STONES

(I bought THESE from Target for less than $5 and they have lasted me through so many projects!)

*Starving artist tip: Depending on the size of your glass bowl, you may need a little bit of extra dirt for your succulents. Make sure you use a "cactus mix" NOT regular potting mix. When I went to Home Depot, they only carried HUGE bags of this dirt so I went over to their (pretty sad looking) succulent section and found that there were a few pots of their smallest succulents that were missing the actual succulent plant! They were just teeny buckets of dirt. I asked a salesperson if I could buy two of them at a discount since there was no plant and I just needed a little dirt for a project, and they gave them to me for free! Hey, it never hurts to ask.

HOW TO START

Thoroughly wash your bowl. Drop stones into the bowl to make a layer at the bottom. 

Mine is about an inch deep.

Using your fingers, make a hole in your rock layer for your biggest succulent. Carefully upend the succulent (making sure to catch the dirt that falls out- you'll need it later) and place it into the hole. Use your fingers to continue moving rocks and pushing down gently until your succulent is nestled in place.

For the remainder of the succulents, gently loosen and remove some of the dirt surrounding their roots by kneading (very gently) with your fingertips. Nestle them into the stones in front of your largest succulent.

Carefully pour your extra cactus mix around your succulents on all sides, trying not to cover the plants themselves. Use a fingertip to mix the dirt and stones to your liking, and push mixture up slightly around the base of the succulents until they stand up straight. 

By using a smaller bowl, and removing some of the dirt from around the roots of my succulents, I had enough cactus mix for this step without even using the extra dirt from Home Depot.

LIGHTLY water your plants. Succulents do not need a lot of water, and your glass bowl does not have a drainage hole, so they will need even less. If you have an eyedropper (I do not) this would be the best way to water them.

Voila!

☮♡&ladybugs,

Ashley