How to DIY Glass Jar Terrarium

Succulents are everywhere these days and I love the look of them.  I’ve made a few succulent planters using plastic succulents, they not only look nice, but you can also set them out and pretty much forget about them.

I was in a thrift store the other day and came across a wide mouth glass jar that was part of a canister set.  It had a wooden lid with a rubber seal that was dried out and would no longer seal.  Didn’t matter to me, it was the perfect size for a small succulent terrarium.

People tell me that succulents are easy to take care of, so I decided to take the plunge and adopt a few succulents and make my own DIY glass jar terrarium.

I stopped in a local nursery to find some baby succulents.  I did find a few and they were a little pricey.  Not surprising since they are so popular right now.  I picked out three little succulent plants that were $5 each.  As I was walking away, I spied this little succulent garden, that had three different types of succulents in it already for only $6.

Supplies I Used:

  • Glass Jar (s)
  • Succulent Plants
  • Succulent Plant soil
  • dowel rod
  • hand saw
  • sand paper
  • E6000 glue
  • Painters Tape
  • small rocks or pebbles
  • coffee filter
  • scissors
  • decorative rocks
  • moss
  • spray bottle with water

My glass jar measured 7 inches in height.  I wanted to lay the jar on its side.  To keep it from rolling off a shelf, I cut two 4-1/2 inch long dowel rods using a small hand saw.   To clean up the cut edges, I rubbed the cut ends on a piece of sand paper for a minute.  The dowel rods were then glued to the jar about 2 inches apart .  I used a piece of painters tape to hold them in place while they dried.

After 24 hours, I felt the E6000 glue was strong enough for me to start working on the terrarium.  I left the painters tape in place just to be safe.  It’ll be removed after the recommended 72 hours of drying time is up.

I used some left over white pebble rock from my tin can planters that I got at the dollar store for a rock layer on the bottom of the jar.

The coffee filter was cut to size to fit over the rock.  I misted it with the spray bottle of water and laid it over the white rock layer.  I used this to keep the soil from sinking into the rock layer.

Note:  After the soil is in place you won’t see the coffee filter.

Next, add soil, plants, decorative rocks and moss.  I used a few of the rocks we gathered on vacation last year.

A few pieces from a sheet of dried moss added a little more green.  Once I had everything in place, I used the spray bottle of water to mist over everything.

I was pleased with how it turned out, however, I had a problem . . .

I had only had room for one type of plant in the glass jar. Guess my jar wasn’t big enough.  So I found another jar that I picked up at the dollar store a few months ago and repeated the process.

I still had succulents left . . so I emptied one of my ‘faux’ succulent planters that I made by using glass candle holders from the dollar store and filled it with the remaining succulents.  Now all my baby succulents had a new home.

We keep some of our vacation rocks in mason jars, so I had an open mason jar on the table.  After I filled the glass candle holder with the succulents, I got an idea and wanted to see if the mason jar ring would fit on the glass candle holder – and it did!

The mason jar ring obviously can’t screw on the candle holder, but it sits nicely on top to give it a different look.

I was so pleased with how these turned out!  Now . . .I just have to keep my new babies alive!  Can you believe all these came from the same little planter I brought home?

If you enjoyed this project, please Pin the image below to share!  Thank you!!

Glass Jar Terrariums 16
Glass Jar Terrariums 14

Back to top button