Remember how I said I was going to do more crafting in the run-up to Christmas? Well, this little homemade Air Plant Terrarium is the first thing I made after deciding that we were having a handmade Christmas.
(I feel like I should probably say at this point that this is a super basic craft that you can make more complicated if you want depending on what you want to use to pop into your little terrarium. I almost feel bad calling it a terrarium. ;-))
I started with this little mini project because I really wanted to make something to get me going but obviously, it’s way too early to start properly decorating for Christmas. I thought I could make this little easy air plant terrarium now with an Autumn theme and then just add some fake snow a bit closer to Christmas to make it all festive. Maybe.
What is an air plant?
In case you’re wondering, an air plant is a clever little plant that gets the majority of its nutrients from the air around them. They don’t need to be planted in soil and they’re very low-maintenance plants as they require so little attention – making them the ideal plant for me who struggles to keep plants alive.
How do you care for an air plant?
Although they are super easy to care for, air plants do need a good mix of light, water and air. They tend to thrive in nice bright areas away from direct sunlight. They need to be ‘planted’ somewhere where there’s good air circulation to prevent rot. You also need to keep them away from direct heat sources such as fire and radiators or the plants might dry out too much.
As far as watering them is concerned you can do this one of two ways – either give them a misting spray two or three times a week or you can soak it in water for an hour each week and dry upside down before popping it back in it’s home. Make sure you dry it completely though to avoid rot.
Where can I buy an air plant?
I bought mine from my local garden centre for £2.99 but you can get them all over, including Amazon.
How to make a festive homemade air plant terrarium
So, this next part depends on entirely what you fancy and if you have a theme that you want it to fit in with. I’ve had a play with mine and started with an empty jam jar as a container but my little air plant is quite a tall one as far as air plants go so I switched it up to a small vase that I had in the cupboard. If I’d have had one empty, I would have used something like a Dolmio pasta sauce jar as they’re pretty much the same size as my vase.
I went with mini pine cones to fill the base of my terrarium which I bought from Hobbycraft (but you can buy from Amazon too).
Once the base was filled with my little mini pine cones, I just placed the air plant gently on the top of them and left it at that to start with. I did wrap some festive red twine around the top of the jar but I mostly just wanted to leave it quite simple to let the plant settle into its new home.
I will do more do it nearer to Christmas though. I have some fake snow that I might try and sprinkle in and Hobbycraft have some mini decorations that they have in their fillable baubles section that I think might work well to add to the festive feel.
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