Katie, over at Petal and Print, shared a sneak peak of a project that she is working on for a lovely bride in California. I absolutely adore her beautiful flowers. If you are not familiar with them you should go take a gander. There are some ready mades for sale here, but most of Katie’s work is custom, giving the client a chance to get exactly what she wants!
The last time that I made a terrarium was fourth grade. I think that it was really more like an eco system because the point was to put a hermit crab into the environment and have it live there happily. After school, my lovely mother took me to the pet store, purchased a hermit crab, name unknown. We returned home, I had dinner, and settled in for the night. The next morning I woke up super excited to check on the hermit crab, and it was gone, never to be seen, or heard from again..
On Friday I saw that there were still a few spots open for a Terrarium workshop at Terrain this weekend and immediately signed Katie and myself up! I made a reservation for brunch at the cafe, and called my dear friend Melissa, who lives in Philly to join us! Our brunch was amazing, as always, and with a cup to tea we were off to the workshop!
We gathered in one of the greenhouses and were greeted with a small box and plastic bag. The box was to transport our plants from the main building, and also worked very well for transporting our new Terrariums home. Plants are very delicate and even though were were only outside for a few moments, they needed to be covered, hence the plastic bag. {This is also good advice when giving flowers this time of year!}
Christa and Tim were our knowledgeable leaders for the day, and were really very helpful. There were a few terrariums set out for inspiration, and to demonstrate different construction methods. Most people chose to plant an uncovered terrariums which gave them a wider range in plant choices, and ease in care. All of the terrariums were built with the same foundation. The base was a mixture of small pebbles, for drainage, and charcoal to purify the water, especially important in closed terrariums. This was followed by soil, and then the plants.
I kept it simple with three, and very out of my nature chose a purple flower.
We had a marvelous time and literally spent the whole day there! I have already been looking into what other workshops Terrain is offering in the coming months. There is a Healthy Home workshop on February 26th that looks interesting, I will be sure to keep you posted.
I really love my finished terrarium, and hope that I am able to keep it alive and well for some time! On a side note, there is a large difference in Terrariums, and hermit crab/lizard environments, this was mentioned a few times at the workshop incase there was a lizard lover in the mix!
I found these great handmade silk flowers when I was wondering around the web today. They are from The White Aisle and have a really interesting story to go with them. They are all handmade in Phenom Pehn, Cambodia by young women who were sold into the sex trade by their families when they were young. 100% of the profits from these silk goods go back to the project. This will enable the company to not only pay the women salaries, but set up housing for these young women so they will no longer have to go back to the brothels at night. This is a new program but I think that it really has a strong product and will be able to grow nicely. The silk that is used for the flowers, and other products, is hand loomed Khmer (Cambodian) and local to the area that the woman are working in. Each flower is individually assembled, so no two are alike, much like the ones that I produce. The company is planing on expanding their offerings from roses, to gardenias, lilies and orchids. For $10 a bud I think that it is an elegant way to add a special touch to any occasion, and it has a great cause. I cannot wait to order some and come up with great things to do with them.
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