Hey hey, it’s MJ,

            So it’s October, I have had this terrarium done since August because I waited too long last year to get miniatures and that was a huge mistake, so I went early. I made two, I made this one and a second one that will come out next week. 

            Here is the issue with this one, I forgot to take pictures of it while I was working on putting it together; like an idiot. I feel real dumb that I didn’t actually take any of the process photos. I will explain as best I can and then you are just going to have to live with only seeing the finished product. Which I love so much. 

            This was my original idea last year when I made the skeleton forest lantern. I made it this year! 

Materials:

1.  Miniatures

            -I got mine at Michaels and it is an hour drive there, I had to go twice. You can order them online but I like seeing them in person before actually committing to spending actual real people money on them.

2. Moss

            -I had to buy more moss, no matter how much of a mess that it makes because I used the last of my other moss on my succulent terrarium that I made in June. 

3. A Terrarium

            -I got this one at Hobby Lobby half off because I liked the greenhouse vibe that this one gave me. I also love that it has a handle on it. It looks like a Victorian style greenhouse and that sold me on the graveyard look that I was going for. 

4. Hot glue

            -Like a lot of hot glue, it will be your best friend. 

5. Cardboard

            -For the bottom, I regret not covering it with something, but you live and you learn, right?

Steps: 

1.  Unpackage all of your miniatures, I had a pile of plastic and cardboard on the floor next to my desk because I did two in one afternoon, this was the second one I did, but it’s the first post y’all are getting. Also, while you are unpackaging get your hot glue gun on, it will usually take a little while to heat up so getting it turned on now really helps in the long run. 

2. Cut your cardboard to the size of the bottom of your display case, I had to cute it like four times because I am a mess when it comes to cutting paper and the like to size. I used the cardboard from my Book of the Month box, it was what I had so don’t come for me. 

3. Start to figure out where you want everything, I did a drawing of what I thought I wanted it to look like and I pretty much stuck to that. I worked from the back to the front where the door is because I didn’t want to knock anything over in the process when I was putting it in.

4. Get your ground cover in, it doesn’t have to be moss, you could use turf or something like that, I like the moss because it makes it look like the graveyard is old and not as well taken care of. 

5. Start placing your miniatures, I hot glued the bottoms of every piece I put in, the moss holds the glue pretty well but I would not suggest knocking it around a lot, it’s not meant for vigorous activity, it’s a decoration. 

6. Keep placing things until you are happy. I had some of the pumpkins from last year left over so I put them in as well because I just really like pumpkins and Halloween requires pumpkins. 

7. When you are happy with it, close the door, and find a place to put it. I like using a terrarium or container that has an opening because then if something happens I can go in and fix it without much hassle because I have some snow globes that I have to fix like every year and it’s a pain to try and get them apart every time I have to reglue or fix something inside of it. 

            Like I said this is post one of two with terrariums, dioramas, whatever you want to call them. I enjoy crafting and I like the ability that crafting gives me to dream something up, or see something I like and recreate it for a lot less money. 

            The other diorama, at the time of writing this post at the beginning of September, isn’t actually finished yet. It’s like 85% done, but it needs something more, I might actually change it a little bit because I am not sure if it’s exactly what I want from that terrarium right now. I have some ideas on what to do with it but I need to find my spiderweb stuff and I am not actually sure where I put that. By the time this post goes up though, they will both be finished and out already for the season. 

            I will see everyone later in the week with another post and I hope until then everyone has a great few days. I hope that everyone stays safe, happy, and healthy! 

            -MJ