It Began with a Jar

I love thrift stores. They’re a great place to shop when looking for items or ideas for a project.

A few months ago, my older daughter and I visited a Goodwill near her apartment. She was looking for furniture, while I was eyeballing the glassware hoping to find some interesting storage containers. I wasn’t ready to move into my craft studio yet, but it’s never too early to look for accessories.

Lo and behold, I found a 4-piece set of blue glass canisters, complete with lids. I also found a large, blown glass jar (vase or hurricane, you decide). I liked it’s slightly off-kilter base and the bubbles in the glass. So I bought it too.

After I brought it home, I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do with it. I probably could have placed a pillar candle in it with colored decorator glass marbles, but I don’t do a lot of decorating with candles. As I continued to study it, I decided making it into a terrarium was just the thing.

The circumference of the jar wasn’t big enough for lots of plants, and I thought it was an interesting enough container that it should have one special plant, something that bloomed and was easy to care for. I decided to get an African Violet.

African Violets come in at least 4 different forms; miniature, semi-miniature, standard and trailing. Miniature would fit my container the best, but alas I wasn’t finding any locally. To the internet! Usually I find a lot of choices when looking for something, but not on this occasion. It didn’t matter, however. I found a nursery called The Violet Barn. They had exactly what I was looking for, and more. And that’s where I encountered a problem. I couldn’t choose just one plant. I ended up ordering 4 violets and 2 streptocarpus. The little plants were all so reasonably priced it would have been a crime not to buy more.

Now, I had some empty pots. I just didn’t want to put the other violets in pots. They needed their own glass containers, which meant another trip to the Goodwill. I did find 3 vases of various sizes. In the end I used 2 of them. One of the violets I ordered was semi-miniature and was going to need a larger vessel. After rummaging in a kitchen cabinet I found an 8” round canister whose lid went AWOL. It turned out to be a perfect fit. The outer leaves of that plant are almost touching the jar now.

African Violets are not a plant that enjoys being constantly wet. They also don’t care for a lot of water on the leaves. To provide drainage, I placed at least a ½” of aquarium gravel at the bottom of the containers. It’s natural gravel, no funky colored stuff. The next layer is charcoal, ¼” to ½” deep. The charcoal helps keep unpleasant odors away. Both can be purchased at a pet store. Buy the charcoal in a bulk container rather than prepackaged fish tank filters. Since violets are comfy with the same conditions most of us enjoy in our homes, they don’t need a terrarium container with a lid. I found the best way to water my little babies (and keep water marks off the glass) is to use a bulb baster that’s dedicated just to them. It also makes it easier to keep water off the leaves.

Terrariums are fun and easy projects. They may also be trendy again. I’ve seen ready-made ones at Lowes, but it’s just not as fun as creating one yourself. Get inventive with containers, create a miniature woodland scene with ceramic animals, or whatever you dream of.

The Project Queen

Note: In the interest of full disclosure, The Violet Barn has not paid to be mentioned here. They are a vendor with whom I have done repeat business and have no complaints with their service. My second order with them was a gift for 2 different people in 2 different states. I couldn’t find the gift shipping option in their ordering system. After I placed the order, I called them. They had no problem with splitting it. It did require some additional funds for shipping, but I expected that. I did mention briefly while on the phone that one of the plants was going to a relative who lost a loved one. When her package arrived it contained 2 plants. I’m not quite sure how that occurred. I can only conclude that there must be some very nice people at The Violet Barn.