how to make a terrarium lamp

My oldest is pretty laid back about his spaces and always has been. He’s days away from moving into his first college dorm/apartment, and we’ve been busy putting everything together to make his space cozy and inviting. He’s always been a big homebody, so I know that even though he’s low maintenance, putting a thoughtful, cozy space together for him to escape to will mean a lot to him in the long run. I’ve had a lot of fun choosing some handmade items, along with vintage + upcycled finds in smart ways to decorate. One of his only requests {besides a special piece I painted for him} was a terrarium lamp. He was showing a visiting friend our town this early spring when he stumbled upon one in a store. I promptly received a text with a photo and took note of it. When my kiddo, who never requests anything, requested this, I took heed as I was quite excited to dive into something we could create together.

I’m pretty thrilled with how this one turned out, and it was really fun to make it a project for his space.

His lamp will be in front of the window in his new room, which will be perfect conditions for maintaining a living ecosystem. Once it’s up and running, it also requires minimal maintenance. {I’ll share more on that below.} I think there’s much to be said about having something to care for. If you want to bring a bit of summer inside, this is a great project for dopamine in a lamp.

Here’s a complete list of how we created ours and what you’ll need: Know that this was enough supplies-wise to create two full terrariums. And your terrarium doesn’t have to be a lamp. His lamp was a little smaller than the big jar we had, so I did two of them so the supplies didn’t go to waste. We created one for his room and one for his dorm space. We are calling them our love ferns. JK. I’m not that mom. I’m actually a cool mom.

via

• Terrarium lamp – this is sold out, so here’s another similar one.
• I also had an extra jar, so this was the perfect piece to add more.
• Clay pebbles – AKA LECA
• Charcoal
• Mesh screen
• Compressed coconut coir bricks – a great mixture for your terrarium!
• Driftwood – {optional but adds interest} or a fun rock of some kind. If in doubt, go smaller – more on that below.
• Moss – it’s one of my favorite things {+ adds interest} – I think because I played with it often at my grandmother’s house as a child.
• These mini terrarium plants – these arrived in two days’ time, and came in excellent health
• This handy tools kit + Spray bottles

Jar: Rinse out your jar and set it aside. That way it can dry while you prep the other things.

Bricks: Start with the dirt in a bucket or a place to add water it slowly. It comes with its own set of complete directions, just do it slowly. We ended up adding too much and then adding more dirt, and it was a whole thing. It takes a minute for the moisture to set in, so it’s good to do that and then gather everything to get started.

When you’re finito, your dirt should probably look a little drier than this, as you don’t want too much moisture in your terrarium. We ended up removing the lid a few times to equalize the system.

Wood: When it comes to your centerpiece of the terrarium, I just think a nice solid element is good to add. This is totally optional. Double-check the measurements of your terrarium before ordering the wood or rock. Because I thought I would just clear the space, and then I remembered oh yeah, we also have to add all the other things.

I forgot about the base. Whoops. See, you’ll lose more space when you add the base. Rookie mistake. If you’re ordering the exact lamp that we used, this wood just fit, {it was the 6-10 inch} but that gap in size is a gamble. You can downsize and still get away with a nice piece. Their odd, gnarled sizes make them pretty, but also tricky when you have a narrow opening at the top. My jar was no problem, as I’ll show you below. The lamp was tricky.

BTW, any hardwood will do. Driftwood has survived the moisture already and is called that for a reason, so it plays well. Rocks are fun, too. I was going for lighter since this lamp must travel, and we’re probably a little crazy to make this one in the first place.

Moss: I added moss to this terrarium because I love the look. But it’s also an excellent air purifier and can help keep the environment healthy. This terrarium is its own little ecosystem, and the moss helps keep everything moving along as it should.

This little assortment of plants was just the perfect addition, they are so petite and spry! I love all the colors and variety of textures found here, as well.

First up: The False Bottom
Now that we’ve cleared out these basics, we’ll build our terrarium from the base up. This is what’s called a false bottom. A false bottom is crucial in the terrarium’s long-term health. LECA {clay pebbles} are the first thing you want to add. This will be your very lowest layer and help your terrarium drain healthily. It helps protect against root rot {which is actually what I call my hair every time I go to get those touch-ups} and gives the water a place to drain in case of over-watering. Since we’re novices with all of this, I figured we needed all the help we could get and went for it. Any tough material will do, but clay pebbles are lightweight and aesthetic. Thus, the winner for the job.

Note: You should see a couple of layers of LECA from the side. When you finish step two, you’ll want the entire base layer/false bottom to be no more than 1-2″ deep.

Step Two: Charcoal
Charcoal is the next layer you’ll be adding to your LECA. It helps prevent water and bacteria build-up, like an automatic cleaner for the system. Remember, about 1-2″ total here is what you’ll want for your false bottom and healthy drainage. This is where those tools come in handy, but you can use your pieces, as well as your hands to make sure it’s settling evenly. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but helping it out a little, is good here.

Step Three: Mesh Layer
The next step is your mesh layer, which is great for that final protective layer before you add your soil. This will keep your substrates from mixing up and contaminating the filtration system you created. It also helps keep the roots from growing down into that system. To create your mesh layer, unroll your screen and place it at the bottom of the jar on the outside. I lightly traced it with a Sharpie and cut around those edges for a snug fit.

It doesn’t have to be precise, as shown below. It’s just close enough. Place it on top of your charcoal.

Step Four: Soil
That soil should have been prepping and ready to go. We simply scooped it in until it generously covered the bottom.

Step Five: Driftwood + Plants
Then it was time to place our wood piece of choice. We settled it in, {after panicking slightly that we went too large} and placed more dirt around it to make sure it was secure.

Next, we added those plants. He selected his three favorites, which I thought had great, interesting diversity. My favorite is this red guy. And yes, we named each one. I’m not saying they were serious names. Yes, we are easily humored.

From there it was making sure those roots were healthily broken up, and placing them. Then, we added moss.
A note on moss: make sure it’s healthy and green before you place it, and watch for the protective screen underneath. You can carefully clip back any brown as well before planting. It should spread naturally.

After that, we were done. Since I’m no terrarium expert, I am interested in long-term care. I found this site to be very helpful. I even made him look over it before we committed to the entire thing since the project is a little pricey and does require some minimal maintenance while he’s at school.

He’s so happy with this project, and it was fun to do together as a final crafty hoorah. I can’t wait to show you more of his space since, yes, I am the parent who took her job very seriously and I’m not even sorry about it. Shocker. His room will have a vintage academia vibe that we can’t wait to share.

Here’s the larger terrarium with the large jar! It was also fun to create, in the meantime!

In retrospect, I will probably end up removing some of that moss. I guess that’s the beauty of these things, they’re all about learning and helping it grow. I think it will definitely be a therapeutic addition to his space.

Have you created a terrarium before? They were super trendy a few years back, but I honestly feel they’re so classic, you can never go wrong with his little hobby. And I’m always up for a functioning piece in a lamp, too.