Beautiful Terrariums

Terrariums are all the rage right now. And why not? They're easy and beautiful. The glass adds to the magic of the terrarium. They have been around since the Victorian period. They were used to house the (tropical) plants picked up from the tropics to protect them from the ocean air and the changing climate. They were also in the living rooms of the rich to house ferns, for decoration. The Wardian Case, which looks like a miniature greenhouse, is the most traditional terrarium. They are named after Dr. Nathanial Ward, a physician who loved botany.

http://www.hpotter.com/terrariums/wardian-case-terrarium/

Today, there are several options for terrariums, all of them glass. There are spheres, fish bowls, giant snifter glasses, and half-moon shapes with a tall back and an angled opening. I bought my terrarium at Hobby Lobby; it's an example of the latter. I loved the contemporary shape to it. I also think the glass and metal terrariums are very easy to look at. Hobby Lobby has those as well. They just weren't big enough for what I was looking for. The Anchor Hocking glass heritage jar are also popular (and inexpensive) options. You can find a 1-gal heritage jar at Wal-Mart for under $10!!

Terrariums are super easy to make. Common houseplants or small tropical plants work very well. Just make sure they're small enough to fit in a terrarium. Stein's Garden and Home, up here in Wisconsin, even has some small plants called terrarium plants. They were unfortunately sold out when I was there to pick out some plants.

I didn't have the terrarium with me while I was shopping, so I didn't have the opportunity to test out plant sizes. So, I recommend bring that along so you know what will fit. I bought three plants anyway: Peperomia ripple, Dwarf palm neanthe bella (parlor palm), and Croton petra.

I spread everything out on my kitchen table so I had everything at hand. Good thing I rolled out a piece a brown Kraft paper: I had soil spills, and I had to dump out my pebbles and activated charcoal. For those who'd like to know which plants are which, I will tell you. Back left is the Neanthe bella palm, back right is the Croton petra, and in front is the Peperomia ripple. Plants for terrariums are relatively inexpensive: usually under $5 each.

The first layer in the terrarium is your drainage material: for this, it's the pebbles (from Hobby Lobby). On top of that, you'll need and want a barrier. I cut out a circle of brown craft paper. Coffee filters or construction paper will also work. Something that water will drain trough. I learned this "trick" from the book in the picture. At first, I put the activated charcoal right on top of the pebbles, and they settled into the cracks and crevices. There went my nice layers. So I poured it all out and started over. 

Next you add the potting mix. I bought standard Stein's brand potting mix with peat and perlite. I scooped it in with my hands. Add enough to cover the root ball of the plant. I discovered not all three plants would fit, so I decided I could only use one. I chose the Peperomia ripple because it fit the best. It has textured leaves with a little bit of red and red stems.

I added some decorative elements: a doe, a fawn, and a Japanese toro lantern. So, my deer are Japanese deer, ha ha ha.

My terrarium looks right at home on my sofa table nestled into my Buddha collection. I put it in front of the window so it can get several hours of sunlight. I'll only need to water it about once a week. Use a spray bottle, on the jet-stream setting, and aim for the base of the plant.

As for the plants that didn't fit? I replanted the Croton and that sits in my mudroom, which is the brightest room in the house.

I will keep the palm on my kitchen table as the centerpiece. They like low light and that will be a good low light spot. I just need to buy a pretty planter and replant him in that.

Thanks for reading about my latest adventures into the world of terrariums and plant life.

Window Treatment

This weekend, my husband and I installed a new window treatment on the big window in our living room.

Let me preface this post by mentioning that had two windows replaced in that room. The first, is a picture window that was original to our 1910 Homestead House. That window is on the front of the house overlooking the front porch and the busy road we live on. The other we replaced faces south and looks into our side yard at the front (west end). What was there was a four-pane Anderson bow window, most likely installed sometime in the 70s. It was sagging. Badly, as a result of a poor and incorrect installation, that we inherited when we bought the house.

We chose Window World, out of Green Bay, to replace our windows. These were the only two windows untouched for a very, very long time. My guess is because they’re the largest and scared the previous owners. We were told by the window guy that the bow window was installed incorrectly, and that’s why it was sagging. There was no roof over it, like bow windows are supposed to have. He also said that bow windows are not typical for a house of this age. He recommended three double-hungs right in a row, since that is most likely what our age house would have had. So that’s what we decided to go with. And it would be a lot less expensive.

A couple years ago, we had Pella out to the house to replace it, and of course, back then, I wanted to replace the bow window with another bow window. My husband was not on board with that idea because it would be more expensive that a traditional flat window. I loved the bow window idea. Needless to say, we sat on that for quite a while.

Then, kind of out of the blue, this spring, my husband finally wanted to bite the bullet and just get them replaced. So, as of mid-July, we have two new windows. And the big one is functional! The bow window was so old, that the two outer crank-out windows didn’t want to open. The picture window is still non-operable. It’s just one big pane of glass, like the previous.

 

There was no way I was going to invest in new window treatments for a window that we both knew needed to be replaced. I’ve always loved wooden blinds, faux wooden blinds, and bamboo blinds/shades. At one point, I did look for inexpensive bamboo blinds for the old bow window, but couldn’t find a size small enough, so I knew it’d have to be custom. I scratched that, and for a long time we hung a PVC pipe on white hooks drilled into the wood frame and hung inexpensive curtain panel from Target. I didn’t have to invest a ton of money, and it got the job done. It was livable for years, but didn’t make my heart skip a beat. There was no way to open the panels, to let light in, without it looking funny, so they stayed closed. Now that we had decided to get them replaced, I knew this was the time to finally make it how I wanted it.

As I mentioned before, I’ve always loved those faux wood blinds and bamboo shades. I prefer the inside-mount, as it looks cleaner, sleeker, and more trim. There wasn’t a way for inside-mount in the new window because of the way it was installed: the windows are all connected by fiberglass and not wood, and there wasn’t a way for inside-mount on the “frames.” Plus the window is flush with the interior wall, so the hade would not lay flay because of the bottom double-hung part that sticks out.

We picked up the bamboo Roman shades at Home Depot. They’re from the Home Decorator’s Collection, in Espresso. They were about $30 each, and we picked up three. I bought them wider than the window, obviously, but not too wide that it would cover up the new white-painted trim. I still wanted to see some of that, and I still have a tailored look. We decided to mount them onto the new trim, and I would have a valance on a curtain rod to cover up the mounting hardware and to disguise the fact that they’re mounted on the outside.

And this brings me to the valance. I have the Vibrant Paisley curtain panels from Pier 1, and I absolutely love them! They’re quite busy, and not just anything will coordinate with them. I thought about a navy blue valance as that would pull the blue from the curtains and my rug. Since my living room is not the biggest, I wanted all my windows to kind of look the same. I thought about buying more of those panel to keep stationary on the sides of the window and have the navy valance on top. That way, they would all be tied together with the paisley pattern. I wasn’t too crazy about that idea, and didn’t think I’d want all that fabric. That’s when I decided that maybe I should make my own valance, and I started browsing for fabric on Hobby Lobby’s website.

And would you believe that I sound the exact same paisley pattern that’s on my Pier 1 panels?!?! Oh my gosh! It’s perfect! Now I can repeat the paisley and all my windows will look like they belong together! And how hard can it be to make a valance? I’ve done simple sewing before, and this is four straight lines to sew. So I nixed the idea of the navy valance and went to Hobby Lobby to buy 2 yards of that fabric.

 

I measured my window width and read that valances are about 15” long. In my design sketch book, I made notes and measurements for the valance.

I have my mom’s vintage Kenmore Ultra-Stitch 8 sewing machine, and that is what I used to make the valances. I knew the 2 yards would be more than plenty, and I didn’t worry about pattern match. My panels and not on-match, and since it’s so busy of a pattern, you can’t tell on those. When I made my cuts, I just started cutting from the top of my pieces. I should’ve looked at the fabric and picked the most interesting part for the face of the valance, but I didn’t even think to do that. I just cut my two pieces.

Working at my kitchen table, with the leaf in, it was difficult to cut straight lines. That made pinning the hems tedious. I had to make sure to keep it even all the way across. I am not a regular sewer, so I totally botched how long this project would take. I figured an hour, maybe an hour and half, start to finish. How hard could folding over, pinning, and sewing take? It turns out, a lot!!! It ended up taking me 2 hours, 2 hours 15 minutes! Oh well… I wouldn’t trade that in for the world! I could’ve asked my co-worker who is an avid sewer to sew it for me, but I wanted to do it myself. I wanted to say,

“Hey, look at that. I made that, and I did it all by myself.” And now I have a 100% custom window valance. I folded, pinned, and sewed the side hems first, and then folded, pinned, and sewed the rod pocket and bottom hem. This way, I figured, there would be fewer pins to contend with.

And now I have a completely customized window treatment! And I can’t stop looking at it!! I am so in love with it! I feel like this is how it’s supposed to look. This is how it always should have been.

Bamboo blinds, or Roman shades, have been super popular for the past several years. They are great for layering. Windows will look very lush with the bamboo blanketed by curtain panels on either side. They also look great alone. I prefer the inside-mount, because it tends to look a little more modern, cleaner, and more tailored. But I’ve also seen them look nice outside-mount, uncovered. If you do this, I recommend them to be the exact width of the window with the molding. The shade should end where the molding on the side ends. I would also mount it high enough so the top piece of trim is not peeking out over the top of the blind.

Bamboo blinds add so much texture to a room, especially on the walls, where the only texture is usually from the draperies. The colors are so rich, and it adds some dimension.

They are found in all styles of houses and rooms. I happen to love them in older houses. I feel like they just belong there. And I think the paisley fits right in, too. It's such a traditional pattern/fabric. 

I love, love, love this new window treatment!! I finally found a way to have bamboo Roman shades!