Once upon a time I found a treasure at Goodwill. A red metal gumball machine (a reproduction, not a vintage one), and it liked me and needed to come home with me.
It came home and sat in my closet for a month or two, until I started redoing my son’s room with accents of red. You may have seen it on his dresser, although nothing was in it!
I don’t know how it happened, but one day inspiration struck! I swear I heard a whisper on the wind…"I want to be a terrarium!”
When I was a little girl, my mother had a terrarium that was one of those big glass jars turned on it’s side and made to look like a pig. I used to think it was so cool! But a gumball machine…even cooler!
I started by taking everything apart. At that point I was committed, because I couldn’t remember how to put it back together.
I raided my kitchen cupboards for something with which to make a waterproof bottom. The likely candidates:
The whipped topping container won out! I cut it down, drilled a hole in the middle, and squished it into the bottom of the gumball machine.
I used waterproof silicone sealer to seal the edges and the hole in the middle.
Next step was to fill it up! I put a layer of small gravel on the bottom, followed by activated charcoal (apparently it inhibits mold growth and odor—both big pluses in my book).
Next came the dirt, and the plants! I searched on the Internet for low-light terrarium plants, and then got some help at a greenhouse to find them. My son’s room doesn’t get a lot of sun on the best days, and in Seattle, there aren’t that many bright days period!
I could have spent a lot of money on cute little accessories for my my son’s terrarium. I found all sorts of cute miniatures meant for fairy gardens that wanted to come home with me!
I limited myself to one small turtle on a rock. My five-year-old thought he was real, and then she wanted a terrarium of her own!
I think his dresser looks much happier with a touch of green, don’t you?
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