Terrarium Kits

Using terrarium kits to make your own plant terrarium is a great hobby and past time that more and more people have started to discover and enjoy. You can buy your own kits, but if you are the crafty person, you can also make your own completely from scratch.

Here I will show you examples of both. If you prefer to work with a ready-made kit and you're looking for terrarium kits- where to buy them, then you can peruse the great list of kits for your enjoyment.

Image: Gothic House Carnivorous Terrarium

Alternatively you might want to learn how to make your own terrarium: there is a section below for it as well. Whether you use a kit or build your terrarium from scratch, you can be sure of hours of enjoyment with your new wonderful hobby which combines art and nature. Most of all, it is a hobby that kids can and will enjoy as well!

I've first come across this craft back in the late 1970s when you had those huge globe terrariums on stands, however I never imagined I would once want to make my own....right until about a year ago when I got an interesting book for my birthday: called Terrarium Craft: Create 50 Magical, Miniature Worlds.

I've then realized how magical this world is, and how easy it is to make your own terrarium in the first place. While you can make your own from scratch, there are many kits available that make it so easy to do the hob in less than an hour.

I know you might be eager to get started in looking at the various terrarium kits or learning how to make your own, but for those visitors who are not quite sure what this all is about, here is a short introduction to terrariums.

There are in fact two types of terrariums: one for animals (such as snakes), and one for plants. As I am not very fond of snakes, I'll be focusing here on the plant terrarium :)

The main idea of a plant terrarium is to hold the plants in controlled conditions which replicates almost to the letter a real life environment. As a child I imagined a terrarium as a small globe holding a favorite city within it just as the real world gives home to the actual city as well.

Terrarium will have soil, sand, pebbles and natural elements that are also available in the real world. In most cases you hold your everything in a glass container (so it is see-through), although I've actually seen terrariums made of wood as well. In a terrarium you control everything: from the temperature (humid, dry, cold or warm) right down to the light.

As for the size, I've seen terrariums from the very tiny ones that you can keep on your desk to really huge ones (remember the old ones in the 70s? I've seen some really big ones back then).

One of the great things of the terrarium as a hobby is that it can be taken care of by kids as well. In fact building terrariums is a great way to introduce children to gardening from early on and makes for a wonderful starter hobby.

Photo credits: Amazon

It is said that the art of building and maintaining a terrarium has been started with Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward who in 1842 wrote a book called On the Growth of Plants in Closely Glazed Cases. He came upon it quite by surprise when in fact he wanted to watch an insect chrysalis turn into an insect. The only way he could think of doing it was by glass bottle with a wide mouth.

To his surprise soon he started seeing growing grass in that little bottle of his. And the rest is history...

The earlier types of terrarium were made of sheets of glass framed together with metal which were so popular in the Victorian England. It seems that this particular type is making a great comeback right now as there are many manufacturers making them and offering them in the market. See the image on the right for a visual example.

This is a great little kit for making a terrarium that is so easy to use that even kids can do it in record time and it will be fun for them to take care of. This particular kit includes the moss, pebbles, the glass container and the air plant.

Ideas where to keep this mini terrarium? You can keep it in your office on the desk, on the kitchen table or even hanging from above. Makes a great gift too.

This is one of the terrarium kits for Easter. It makes a perfect gift for any family member or dear friend. While bunnies are in style, little peeps are popular as well (maybe even more so!). You won't go wrong with this kit for next Easter.

It includes a pink and a yellow peep, hot pink Spanish mos and the air plant. It comes with the glass container (size 4.5 inches). You can either hang it from above or keep it on the desk or any other flat surface.

I love this teardrop shape container for a plant terrarium. The kit includes the actual container, the air plant and the sand. Did you know that the Oaxacana plant blooms violet flowers? It's pretty awesome. This is why the kit makes for a really adorable birthday gift to anyone who loves plants.

The dimensions of the teardrop glass are 3.5 inches wide and .25 inches tall. You can keep it on the table or hang it from above.

If you want to make your own terrarium, but you don't want to use a ready-made kit, there are a few things you need to get. For starters you need the container (usually glass bowl). You then need fresh moss (depending on the terrarium you make, as some need only sand). You need the plant (or plants) to add to the bowl and a few other things, some of them which you can find in your own backyard or on the beach (pebbles).

Have fun putting together a terrarium. Below you will also find some great video tutorials to get you started with this awesome hobby and craft.

Here are the instructions on making your first small terrarium in easy steps with a minimum of materials to get started

1. Add a layer of small stones or pebbles at the bottom of your glass container.
2. Next add a layer of soil (the container should be about half full with soil).
3. Put the plant(s) in the container. Here is where you are getting creative in your arrangement.
4. Add the remaining soil around the plants and then tap the soil down gently to hold the plant firm in place.
5. Add a bit of water to the terrarium.
6. Place your new terrarium to a place with a bit of sunlight, but not too much.
7. To care for your terrarium simply check every few days if the soil is dry (stick your finger in the soil). Is the soil dry? Then add a bit of water to it. Is the bottom of the bowl full of water? Then avoid adding water to it for a couple of days.