Saturday, April 28, 2012

A Terrarium for the Great Room (and update on projects)

While I have been dealing with some unexpected medical issues, I have tried to keep busy off and on with some projects that I found on Pinterest. Some of these I will share with you over the next day or so, but a couple are going to have to wait because they are gifts. (I don't know if their recipients read this blog, but I don't want to take any chances!)

First of all, tonight I put together a terrarium for our great room (which has been completely rearranged and painted - more on that later!). I have been drooling over all of the terraria projects I have seen on Pinterest so I decided to try to make one myself. It is pretty easy to do, provided you can find the plants for one. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find small houseplants? I mean tiny houseplants? It is very difficult, especially in the small town where I live.

Most of the information I used to build this came from About.com.

Let's start with the container. I decided I wanted a closed terrarium - so I knew I was going to end up with an apothecary jar or something like it. I found this large glass jar at Hobby Lobby (my home away from home!) and was able to buy it for 50% (so it was $25).


I like the height and size a lot. It was the only relatively large container I found that had a lid.

On the bottom of the container, I used two small bags of pebbles (brown, black, tan) that I bought at Dollar Tree.  Because the container has no holes, you need rocks for drainage. Then, on top of the rocks I placed a small layer of activated charcoal (found in aquarium supplies). This step  is only necessary if you are building a closed terrarium as the charcoal will help control both moisture and odors in the closed environment.

On top of the charcoal, I placed 1-2 inches of sphagnum moss. This moss keeps the soil from filtering down through the rocks over time. (You can also use some sort of garden weed fabric here, but I think the moss is much prettier.)

Then comes the potting soil and plants. I used a potting soil from Miracle Grow that has moisture control. When planting the plants, I got as much of the potted soil off the roots as possible to make them easier to plant.

What plants did I use and where did I get them? I was actually looking for some succulents online for an outdoor project and discovered this place: Black Jungle Terrarium Supply. The plants I bought were:
  • Peperonia sp. Ecuador
  • Pearcea hypocrytiflora
  • Triolena pustulata
  • B. imperialis
  • Jewel orchid
Yes, I actually followed the rule of odds and planted 5 small plants, several of which will bloom flowers over time. Truthfully, I am not sure that any more plants would have fit...but I would like to add either a type of moss or fern. (Maybe I will just have to build a second terrarium...)

Truthfully, the plants weren't cheap, but they all arrived in great shape and the store was having free shipping on live plants. I also ordered 8 succulents that looked healthy upon arrival.

Here is the finished product:


You can see the different layers (rocks, moss, and potting soil) in this picture. Here are the five plants:



Let me know what you think!

By the way, I hardly used any of the package of moss or potting soil I purchased. This seems like it would be a great project for a group to do together with the major cost coming from the plants and container chosen.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

I wanna be rich! :-)

Okay, I am just now recovering from the shock of not winning the Mega Millions lottery. And before you wonder why in the world I would play, just consider the possibility that the expected value actually crept up above $1! The odds of winning were 1 in 175 million and the jackpot reached $640 million!!

On a brighter note, I decided if I couldn't win hundreds of millions of dollars, I could at least try Million Dollar Spaghetti that I found on the blog Being Grown Up.

Truthfully, I was going to make this dish last night. But as my (bad) luck would have it, I was missing some key ingredients. So, I went to the store today to stock up.

I did change the recipe only a bit by using low-fat cream cheese, fat-free sour cream, low-fat cottage cheese, and reduced fat cheddar. It was still delicious. I think the next time I make it, I will skip the butter on the bottom layer and just use non-fat cooking spray.

Here is a picture of the finished product:


The verdict? The name says it all!! It was delicious...my hubby even had two (large) helpings! This will definitely be made again.

Maybe my luck has now turned for the better! Of course, since I likely won't be playing the lottery again anytime soon (it usually is just a tax on people who are bad at math!) , I guess I will just keep on working...