How to Make a {Fake} Terrarium

When I was in Target on my vacation to Toronto, I bought a cute little bell jar and it just screamed terrarium. Mostly because I'm not sure what else you are supposed to use bell jars for.  In any case, I had seen a lot of them around and rounded up some pictures for inspiration.

Source: Plantzilla http://www.etsy.com/shop/Plantzilla?ref=seller_info

Source: http://jukavo.tumblr.com/post/50347472102

I knew I did not want a real one.  I know the whole point of them is that they are low maintenance, but I had visions of killing it.  So I wanted something that required NO maintenance!

Supplies:
Flower foam
Toothpicks
Moss
Fake plants

I picked up the flower foam at the Dollar Store and I got the moss and fake plants at Michael's.  I already had the toothpicks.  All the supplies came to about $9.00.  I recommend doing this project outdoors since the moss and foam cutting can get quite messy.

I started by cutting my flower foam in half.  It was a big thick brick and much too thick to fit inside the glass. Then, I put the two cut pieces side by side and traced around the bottom of my wooden base.  This gave me a general guide on how big the circle needed to be.

I cut out the circle using a steak knife...yeah no super high tech tools here!  I kept testing it in the base until it fit.  I needed to shave quite a bit off of the sides in order to make it the right height and diameter.  It doesn't need to be perfect since you will be covering it with moss anyway.  Make sure you leave enough room around the outside for the glass to fit around it.

I stuck two toothpicks in the centre of one half of the foam and attached the two pieces together.  Then I covered the circle in moss.  I thought about using glue, but I wasn't sure as to the quality of the moss I bought and I wanted a less permanent solution.  So I used the toothpicks again.  I cut them in half and stuck them in the moss right through the foam leaving barely a point visible.

I bought a fake plant that included 3 different flowers on it.  Depending on what you buy you might be able to skip this step.  I cut my flowers off and trimmed their stems.

 Then I stuck them in the moss covered foam!  You can do whatever arrangement you find appealing.

And there you have it, your own fake terrarium that requires no maintenance!  You can just admire it through the glass :)  From far away and under the glass, no one can tell it's fake.  In total, it cost me less than $25 including the jar (which I bought on clearance), and took only an hour to create!