How-Tuesday: Light Bulb Terrariums

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Story by weirdwolf

Published on Jan 03, 2012 in Make

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(Music by Barry London and Eric Beug)

For this week’s How-Tuesday, we’re resurfacing an old favorite. Enjoy!

Just because the first flurries have decimated your window garden, there’s no need to settle for a season lackluster and dreary. Bring a tiny lush world into your home with this week’s How-Tuesday video! Kimberly Sevilla of Rose Red & Lavender shows us how to make terrariums out of light bulbs — an urban gardener’s dream. This project is fun, simple, and completely customizable (gnomes, anyone?). Also keep in mind that you’re not limited to light bulbs, any container will work just fine (mason jars, vials, fish bowls, old medicine bottles, etc.).

Lets get started!


Materials Needed:

  • Container
  • Charcoal
  • Soil
  • Rocks
  • Sphagnum moss
  • Needle-nose pliers
  • Long tweezers
  • Screwdriver
  • Plants

Step 1:

Choose your container. Anything that is clear and can hold water, either open or closed, will work. In this how-to we use a light bulb. You will need to remove the guts of the bulb, so put on your safety goggles!

CONTAINER-565.jpg

Step 2:

Add a layer of rocks. You can use regular stones or expanded clay pellets — just make sure your rocks are clean. Fill your container approximately 1/3 full with your layer of rocks.

ROCKS-565.jpg

Step 3:

Add a barrier layer of sphagnum or green moss, a layer of activated charcoal and a layer of soil (organic soil works best). Consider what type of greenery you’re planning to nurture: which plants work well together? What type of container do you have? Moss needs only a fine layer of soil, whereas plants need a little more for the roots to grow.

BARRIER-565.jpg

Step 4:

Gently settle in your plant and decorate the interior of the terrarium with figurines, twigs or other ornamental additions.

PLANT-565.jpg

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  • Click the symbol that looks like this on the video player at the top of this post.
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