Way back in the '60's, when there were flower children and environmentalists started to teach us about clean air, I made my first terrarium. Actually, my husband and I built it together. Somehow, he managed to acquire a large, glass, water holder. I remember we were both so excited about this terrarium we were going to build. We bought special tools that helped us to plant the plants and to take care of them. We added our soil and water, then, slowly but surely, we added our delicate little plants. I think they lived for about a month before they drowned in our over enthusiastic watering. It seemed that we were both watering the plants at different times, and we didn't realize it until the poor plants had drowned. At that point we both said, "Oh well," and handed off our terrarium to some friends who were as excited as we had been about helping to improve the environment. The other night as I window shopped ETSY, I came across a store that had terrariums for sale. The store owner placed moss in a jar, along with soil and gravel, and sold the product. I had been thinking that it would be nice to have some small plants in my torching area to help improve the air quality. I also realized that I should bring down my aloe plant to help with the many burns I seem to get when glass explodes as I make beads. I thought I would buy one of these terrariums until I saw the price. I felt that they were very expensive for what was being used, and the price did not include the shipping. That was very expensive, too. As I looked around my house, I saw the old canning jars that I don't use any more. I knew I had soil. I thought I had some moss growing in my garden. It turned out that I didn't have the moss, so back to square one. I just couldn't justify the cost of the terrarium that I had found since I had all the ingredients except for the moss. The next morning, I called a couple of local florists. One of them knew exactly what I needed. It was what she called Green Moss. She said if you wet it and kept it moist, it would grow. She saved me some, and off I went to buy it. It cost me less than $3, and when I was finished I had made 4 terrariums and had plenty of moss left over for more. Now, I hope to have a bit more clean air when I torch, and even if I don't I love my terrariums!
This blog is about beads, people who make beads, my life, my dog, my friends.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Have Some Fun! Build a Terrarium!
Way back in the '60's, when there were flower children and environmentalists started to teach us about clean air, I made my first terrarium. Actually, my husband and I built it together. Somehow, he managed to acquire a large, glass, water holder. I remember we were both so excited about this terrarium we were going to build. We bought special tools that helped us to plant the plants and to take care of them. We added our soil and water, then, slowly but surely, we added our delicate little plants. I think they lived for about a month before they drowned in our over enthusiastic watering. It seemed that we were both watering the plants at different times, and we didn't realize it until the poor plants had drowned. At that point we both said, "Oh well," and handed off our terrarium to some friends who were as excited as we had been about helping to improve the environment. The other night as I window shopped ETSY, I came across a store that had terrariums for sale. The store owner placed moss in a jar, along with soil and gravel, and sold the product. I had been thinking that it would be nice to have some small plants in my torching area to help improve the air quality. I also realized that I should bring down my aloe plant to help with the many burns I seem to get when glass explodes as I make beads. I thought I would buy one of these terrariums until I saw the price. I felt that they were very expensive for what was being used, and the price did not include the shipping. That was very expensive, too. As I looked around my house, I saw the old canning jars that I don't use any more. I knew I had soil. I thought I had some moss growing in my garden. It turned out that I didn't have the moss, so back to square one. I just couldn't justify the cost of the terrarium that I had found since I had all the ingredients except for the moss. The next morning, I called a couple of local florists. One of them knew exactly what I needed. It was what she called Green Moss. She said if you wet it and kept it moist, it would grow. She saved me some, and off I went to buy it. It cost me less than $3, and when I was finished I had made 4 terrariums and had plenty of moss left over for more. Now, I hope to have a bit more clean air when I torch, and even if I don't I love my terrariums!
Very cool Terrariums Ms M! I remember building one way back in the 70's (probably about the same time as I recall listening to Wolfman Jack - lol!).
ReplyDeleteYep - good old NZ was lagging behind the times even then.
Etsy is an enabler - but in a very good way :o)
Oh, I wanted to make those when I was a kid. I think I remember my mom making one or two, but it's a vague memory. Add another thing to my list of things to try myself, wontcha, Mallory :)
ReplyDeleteMallory, I love your terrariums. I think I killed mine back in the '70s the same way you did, only I overwatered all by myself!!
ReplyDeleteTag you're it!!
ReplyDeleteI am tagging you, as i have also been tagged. See my blog for the full details.
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