DIY: Lightbulb Terrarium

This project will show you how to make a sealed terrarium using some supplies around the house.

Don't worry, It won't be sitting in a tiny bowl forever.

This is still a work in progress.  The terrarium itself is complete, but we haven't embellished it yet.  This is the start to our very first steampunk terrarium.  So far we haven't spent a dime on this project because we found all of the objects around the house.  If you don't have them, it should still be a pretty inexpensive project.

Materials:
A lightbulb - we used an old burnt out one (it does not have to be clear, you can easily clean off the white coating)
A towel or small blanket
Screwdriver (any kind as long as it has a handle)
Salt
Small gravel
Potting soil
Small plants and moss
Some sort of water-tight sealant (we used J-B Weld)
Tweezers
Long, thin stick (or chopstick, etc.)
Water

Start out with a burnt out lightbulb.  You will want to be careful here so you don't get cut.  Hold the bulb with a towel or small blanket.  With the other hand, gently tap on the end (where it screws into the light socket) with the handle of a screwdriver.  Okay, you will have to tap a little bit more than "gently" but be careful.  Because this black part is glass, you may want to wear safety glasses when doing this to protect your eyes from little bits of glass that chip off.

You will want to continue gently tapping until this part falls inside the bulb.  The flip the bulb upside down and gently shake out the contents of the lightbulb.

If you didn't start out with a clear bulb, this is where you get to make it clear.  Pour in a little bit of salt into the bulb and put your thumb over the opening.  Swish, swirl and shake until it starts to turn clear - then do it some more.  Once you think you've got it all off, dump out your salt and rinse with water.

I was taking these with my phone because the camera was dead.  Don't judge me.

Very carefully, slide some small gravel into the bulb.  You don't want a lot of gravel in there, just a thin layer on the bottom.  

Mmmm... soil

Top the layer of gravel with some potting soil - we just stole a little from a potted plant on the porch.  Then carefully slide a little bit more gravel in.

We found some moss growing in the backyard at the base of some trees.  We carefully peeled off a little bit of bark with the moss on it

We also carefully uprooted this little clover-y thing that we've got all throughout our lawn.

Now its time to carefully plant.  Gently push whatever small plant you have into the lightbulb and use a long, thin stick (or chopstick, etc.) to press the roots into the soil.  Drop in some of the bark with moss on it.  You can use the stick to rearrange and get things just how you want them.

This would have been much easier with a medicine dropper...

Now its time to water.  If you've got a medicine dropper, that would work fabulously.  Having children, we always have a ton of these taking up space in the drawer - except when I need one.  We used a medicine spoon instead.  It worked okay.  You want to add water VERY slowly so as not to add too much.  You just want the soil to be moist, not saturated.

Tada!  Check out the inside!

The last step is to use your waterproof sealant to seal it all in there.  We used J-B Weld.  Just be sure to cover the entire opening.  You don't want any water getting out.

Sit back and enjoy!  You shouldn't have to do anything else from now on.  It will water itself since its all contained.

Stay tuned to see us finish the Steampunk decorations.