Terrarium Gifts – Give a Living Gift

What is the perfect gift for all occasions that just about anyone would enjoy?
The good old terrarium!



Whether it’s a gift for Christmas, birthday, house warming, teacher’s gift, you name it! All you need to do is add the little personal touches at the end.




You’ll need:

• A clear glass container
• Rocks or pebbles
• Potting mix
• Plant cuttings or small bought plants 

*I used bought plants and added some of my own 




Steps

1. Clean your container so there’s no dust or dirty marks.
2. Your first level is the rocks. They’ll create drainage for the plants. Put about 5cm layer down
3. Add your potting mix. You’ll need a good amount for the plants to be able to grown. 
4. Position your plants/cuttings before you plant them so you know where everything will go. Plant them one by one and compact the soil around them.
5. Give your new terrarium a little water.

Tip
Let your recipient know how to look after their new terrarium by making a little swing tag or writing in their card these few things: Lightly water your terrarium once/twice a week. Trim any plants that are growing over the edge or are getting too bushy.

If you liked this you may enjoy our other posts:

  Terrarium in a Tank - Make your own little garden

  Make a Dinosaur at home - fun holiday activity

Linking up with Jess 

Christmas Craft -Really quick and simple crafts for kids

Cute Reindeers

These cute little guys can be made to hang as ornaments from your Christmas tree, stuck up on the wall with some blue tack to create a little reindeer family OR stuck onto wrapped Christmas presents as a nice extra decoration.

For each reindeer you’ll need: 3 x pop sticks (plain, coloured, short, long – any kind you like!)
2 x googly eyes
1 x small pompom ball
1 x pipe cleaner
craft glue 

1.Glue two pop sticks together to make a ‘V’ shape.
2.Glue the googly eyes half way up each pop stick.
3.Curl the pipe cleaner around and around the centre of the third pop stick then bend the two ends of the pip cleaner to look like antlers.
4.Glue the third piece on, placing it above the eyes.
5.Glue the pompom ball to the bottom of the V to make a nose and leave it all to dry.

I showed Miss Two how to make the first reindeer, and then let her glue and stick all the other reindeer's together (with my guidance). She loved picking her own colours and being in charge of creating her reindeer's.
While she was busy picking and gluing the eyes on, I made the antlers as they were a little too difficult.

Tips: You can glue the pop sticks in advance if you have young children or if you’re unable to leave them in their position to dry.

Christmas Wands

These wands are the perfect accessory for your little ones Christmas costume, as the star on the top of your Christmas tree OR the kids can play with them as a magic Christmas wand.

For each wand you’ll need:

1 x polystyrene foam star (I got a mixed pack of 6 from Kmart for $3)
1 x stick
ribbon/s
red paint
glitter

1.Poke a hole in the foam star with the stick.

2.Put a bit of glue on the hole. Position your ribbon over the tip of the stick and push it back into the same hole. This is to keep the stick stable and secure the ribbon.

3.Let your child paint the star all over, turning it over to paint both sides.

4.Give them some glitter to sprinkle over their freshly painted star and then leave it to dry.

This has by far been the best Christmas craft I’ve made with Miss Two. It’s very quick easy to make and they look great. Best of all she loved making it and loves playing with it.

You can also to this idea with almost any foam shape you like, just add ribbon and paint!

Reindeer Muesli/Chocolate bars

My kids loved making these. 

You just need coloured Christmas paper, tape, pipecleaners, eyes, pom poms and glue and something to wrap. we used snack bars but you could use any tubular or rectangle packaged gift.

1. Wrap your item in the coloured paper like a present and tape together

2. Cut the pipe cleaner in half and tape to the back.

3. Glue the eyes and nose on.

Great little gift for classmates or friends.

Mistletoes

Other than getting the kids footprints in paint these are so easy and so cute.

Once you have your footprints and they have glue them to some thicker card of a different colour. It makes them stand out and makes them last a little longer.

Pop a hole in the top and thread a string or ribbon through the top. We used a pipecleaner. 

Tie a prettybow and glue or staple it to the top and its done! 

Do you make Christmas craft with your little one?

 

Just incase you missed it, you may like our How to Bow like a Pro article.
Make your own ribbon bows and save heaps.

Christmas Foam Trees - Easy Toddler Craft

3D Christmas Tree Craft for Kids

Glitter Christmas Trees

You’ll need:

• Small polystyrene foam cones (I got a pack of 6 from Kmart for $3)
• Soft confetti or small/fine glitter
• Craft glue or double sided sticky tape
• Clear contact
• White card or pre-cut paper stars
• Scissors

Before you start this project with your child, make sure you have everything set-up. It’s best to prepare your foam cone with the craft glue OR double sided sticky tape before they begin so it’s nice and tacky, ready for sticking.

Put some the confetti/glitter into a tray to keep it all in the one place (and to minimise mess!). Your child can then roll the cone over and over again getting all the little pieces to stick to it, creating a lovely homemade Christmas decoration.

Once it’s dried it’s best to cover it in contact to keep all the little tiny pieces on there – you’ll definitely need to do this if you've used double sided sticky tape as they will drop off over time.

Cut out, or help your child to cut out a star for the top of the tree. You can also buy pre-cut stars for very little cost from most craft places.

Make a small cut at the top of the tree. With a touch of glue, stick a star in place.

Fuzzy Christmas Trees

You’ll need:

• Small polystyrene foam cones
• 20+ pipe cleaners for a cone
• White card or pre-cut paper stars

*This is a little tricky for the younger ones and I had to do most of it with Miss Two but she still helped by choosing the colours and poking them in the foam.

Start by poking the end of the pipe cleaner in one part of the foam and with tension, tightly wrap it around the cone then push the end tip into the foam to secure it. Continue this until you can’t see anymore of the foam.

Make a small cut at the top of the tree. With a touch of glue, stick a star in place.

We have a few foam cones left so our next attempt is going to be a lolly and a chocolate Christmas tree!

What other creative ideas can you think of to make these cones festive for Christmas?  

Tuesday is IBOT link up day with Jess http://essentiallyjess.com/

Terrarium in a Tank - Make your own little garden

One of the things I love to do most is gardening - on a small scale. It’s something that I've become used to with all the moving and living in rental properties. 

After making this I think I am hooked, 

I've already started planning my next beach themed terrarium!

We have had our little fish tank for years and years. It’s been home to hermit crabs, tropical fish and now….. plants! It’s travelled from Darwin to Brisbane to Sydney and has done us well. It only cost $30 when we bought it but recently one of the top glass covers broke making it unsafe and pretty much useless for any pets. 

So if you have an old fish tank, vase or glass jar you’re not using then give this ago and make it useful again. It doesn't cost much, it looks great and there’s very little maintenance to keep it going.

Terrarium in a Tank -  A little Garden in a Fish Tank

You’ll need:

A Tank or container of your choice 

Rocks or similar (pebbles, seashells, glass stones)

Moss (sphagnum moss is best)

Potting mix

Plant cuttings or buy some small plants

*I used cuttings from my succulents; these are my favourite plant to cut. The original plant just keeps growing and putting out new shoots and the cuttings start growing roots immediately. They’re hardy and they are cheap to buy.

*Charcoal - if you’re keeping it indoors or putting a lid on

How to create:

1. Clean your container so there’s no bacteria or dirty marks.

2. Place your rocks in gently to make the bottom level, this is for drainage and prevents root rot.

3. * If your terrarium is going to be living indoors or has a lid - Add a layer of charcoal. 

This will prevent the soil from becoming smelly. You can buy it from most pet shops for around $5 - $8

4. Cover the charcoal/rocks with a layer of moss. This will keep your levels clear and looking neat by preventing soil from spreading through the rocks. Sphagnum moss is the best. Keep any left over moss for the top. 

5. Add your potting mix.

6. Position your plants/cuttings before you plant them so you know where everything will go and then plant them one by one and compact the soil around them.

7. Give your new terrarium a little drink then place any leftover moss you have in between the plants.

Maintenance:

Lightly water open containers twice a week and closed containers once a fortnight. 

Trim any plants that are growing over the edge or are getting too bushy. 

Have you tried growing new plants from cuttings before?   What plants worked for you?

Its Tuesday so we're linking up "IBOT" with some other great Blogs over at http://essentiallyjess.com/

You may also like our Build your own Dinosaur Garden.  

Decorate your own Trick or Treat bags!

You’ll need:

• Paper bag/s
• Orange paint & paint brush
• Halloween stickers - I found this packet at the two dollar shop, they also sell them at most craft stores.

I squeezed some paint onto one side of the bag and let Miss 2 brush it all around.

She then picked out the stickers she wanted, I helped peel them and passed them to her to position where she liked. 

We left them to dry and that afternoon turned them over and did the same to the other side. 

Once they were dry I wrote ‘Trick OR Treat?’ on the sides.

Now my two little monsters are all ready to go trick or treating on Thursday 31st of October!

Awesome Toilet Roll Monsters!

You’ll need:

• 3 x toilet paper rolls
• 10 squares of toilet paper
• 2 x large black pipe cleaners (OR 10 x standard pipe cleaners)
• 1 x A4 sheet of orange paper
• 3 x pipe cleaners - for arms
• Stickers - for the eyes, nose and mouth (OR use googly eyes, paint, texta)
• Craft glue

Mommy Monster 

Squeeze some craft glue on the roll and wrap all the toilet paper around then glue the fold down.

Twist a pipe cleaner around to create the arms. 

Decorate using stickers,googly eyes, paint or texta.

Pumpkin Monster 

Cut the paper in half, length ways.

Glue the toilet roll and wrap the paper around gluing down as you go. Glue the fold down. 

Twist a pipe cleaner around to create the arms. Decorate the eyes, nose and mouth using stickers, googly eyes, paint or texta.

*I folded a pipe cleaner to make legs but the legs made it wobbly and I think it looks better without them.

Fuzzy Monster

Twist the two black large pipe cleaner ends together to make one long one. 

Using craft glue or double sided sticky tape, wrap the large pipe cleaner around and around the whole roll.

Twist a pipe cleaner around to create the arms.

Decorate using stickers,googly eyes, paint or texta.

Check out our Halloween Paper Pumpkins

Super easy paper pumpkins!

For each pumpkin you’ll need:

• 1 x A4 paper
• 2 x paper fasteners
• 1 x green pipe cleaner
• Pencil - to curl your pipe cleaner and pierce the paper strips
• Orange crayon - to colour the paper (OR use paint/pencil/texta)
• 2 x googly eyes (or you can draw them on)
• Black paper - for the mouth and nose
• Fishing line or string - to hang

Cut the paper into 8 even strips. I did this by folding the paper in half and cutting along the fold, repeating this until I had the 8 strips.

Using the tip of the pencil I pierced a small hole at each end of every strip of paper.

Give these strips to your child to colour in orange.

Show them how to poke the paper fastener through the holes, point out that the coloured side needs to be facing down. Open the fastener to secure.

The next bit is a little fiddley so you may need to help out. Bend the strips around and poke them individually through the second paper fastener. Open the fastener to secure.

Using the pencil curl the green pipe cleaner. Twist it once under the top paper fastener.

Tie the fishing line/string where you tied the pipe cleaner.

Sticky tape or glue your googly eyes, nose and mouth on.

Your paper pumpkin is ready to hang anywhere you like.

*Make a few and use A3 paper to make a little paper pumpkin family!

How about making some Halloween Cookies :) - Click Here!

Green Eggs & Ham – for your little Sam-I-Am

Dr Seuss Green Eggs & Ham

  

  

 This is my daughters FAVOURITE book, it gets read several times a day and taken everywhere. I’ve even found her sleeping with it a few times!

So I made this little dish for her very worn, over read book.

This would make a great platter for a kids party or an event like Book Week.

You’ll need:

• A dozen eggs
• 2 tsps American mustard
• 1/3 cup whole egg mayonnaise
• Paprika
• Salt & pepper
• Green food colouring

• 600g sliced ham (we use honey leg ham)
• 1 packet cocktail forks
• *optional flat leaf parsley for decoration

Hard boil the eggs.

Cut the eggs in half, length wise using a sharp knife. Remove the yokes and put them in a bowl to make the filling.

Place your halved egg whites on a serving tray with a bowl in the middle for the ham rolls.

I used parsley on the base of the tray to help keep the eggs in place and for garnish.

Mash up the yokes with a folk then add mustard, mayonnaise, paprika, salt and pepper. 

Once it’s all combined start adding your green food colouring a little at a time, mixing as you go until you get your desired shade of green. *You can use the Natural Extras green but it doesn’t quite give the nice green for Green Eggs and Ham so I used the standard food colouring in the end.

Pipe the filling into the eggs using a piping bag (or place your filling in a large zip-lock bag and snip one corner).

When that’s finished cover the tray with cling wrap and place them in the fridge to set the filling.

To make your ham rolls you take a slice of ham and roll it into itself, secure it in the middle by putting a cocktail folk through it on a 45 degree angle.

I trimmed the ends of the ham to give them a neat look (and kept the cut off for sandwiches).

Place your ham in the bowl with the cocktail folks pointing upwards.

Your green eggs and ham is ready to serve!

Have you seen our other great Childrens book and recipe posts see Each Peach Pear Plum Pie here