A DIY Holiday Terrarium

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Remember when I ordered the craft supplies from Consumer Crafts recently? Well, I’m back sharing the fun holiday project I made using them.

This was such a fun project, and I love that after the holidays I can remove the little house and replace it with other items for a new theme.

What you need to make this terrarium:

Glass jar or apothecary jar
Clay pellets (available from hydroponic stores) – or you can use stones
Charcoal (aquarium charcoal available at pet stores)
Potting mix
4 succulents
Painted Tin House in burgundy
Darice Timeless Minis – assorted, I used mini dollhouse Christmas decorations, painted mini sled with snow, mini rag doll, mini mailbox, mini trimmed xmas tree, mini snow shovel, mini red wagon.
Americana Decor Chalky Finish Paint: gray, teal blue, spruce green and white.
DecoArt Snow Tex
Artificial snowflakes – iridescent
Mod Podge waterproof sealer
E-6000 adhesive
Darice round and flat brushes
Wood mini block and small piece of ply wood
X-ACTO knife
I also added a couple of rocks and bark chips from the garden
Flame-less tea light candle
Double-sided velcro tab

Start by placing a layer of clay pellets across the bottom of the glass container, and then add a thin layer of charcoal on top. Cover with about 3-4 inches of potting soil.

Arrange your plants and miniatures inside the glass, but don’t plant anything until you know exactly where everything will go.

I didn’t want the house just sitting on the dirt inside the terrarium because I wanted to include minis inside, so using a small piece of plywood, I cut it a little larger than the house to act as the base.

I absolutely loved the shape of the miniature house, but I did not love the color for this project, so using the white chalky finish, I gave it a few quick coats, leaving the roof black.

Then I painted the wood base for the house using the gray chalky finish, adding a little more color to the front (which would be the porch) and a rug by the Christmas tree. I also painted a small wood block in the teal blue and used a gold Sharpie to make it look like a present.

Once dry, I applied the Mod Podge waterproof sealer to everything, and then when dry I attached the mini Christmas tree, rag doll and wood block to the wood base for the house.

Next, using a paintbrush, I applied the DecoArt Snow Tex to the house, mailbox, wood base and a large garden rock and set aside to dry for a few hours.

Once everything was completely dry, I planted the succulents and then added in the minis.

I then sprinkled a little iridescent fake snow over the top of everything.

There’s a reason why I didn’t attach the tin house to the wood base.

Using a piece of double-sided velcro, I attached a small flame-less candle inside the roof of the house. At night, I can remove the tin house, pull the candle out, flick the switch on and light up the little house so you can see the Christmas tree and presents inside.

The kids absolutely love this new addition to our holiday decor. Now we just need to buy a Christmas tree and drag the rest of the decorations out of the garage.