Terrarium Craft: Create 50 Magical, Miniature Worlds

by Amy Bryant Aiello, Kate Bryant, Kate Baldwin (Photographer)

Overview

A terrarium is nothing less than a miniature world—one that you can create yourself. It might be a tiny rainforest, with lush foliage and bright tropical flowers. Or a desert, with strange succulents planted among colorful stones. Or a Victorian fernery. Or a minimalist composition with a single, perfect plant.

Or it might not contain any plants at all. It might be made with crystals, feathers, bones, seashells, bits of wood, porcelain trinkets—anything that catches your fancy and helps create a mood or look. Whatever they contain, terrariums are the ultimate in modern, affordable, easy-care décor.

Terrarium Craft features fifty original designs that you can re-create or use as inspiration for your own design. Each entry comes with clear step-by-step directions on how to assemble and care for your terrarium. You’ll also find helpful information about selecting a container, using appropriate materials, choosing the right plants, and maintaining your terrarium. (Hint: It’s easy! In fact, many terrariums are self-sustaining, requiring no maintenance whatsoever!)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781604692341
Publisher:	Timber Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	05/11/2011
Pages:	196
Product dimensions:	9.06(w) x 7.94(h) x 0.56(d)

About the Author

Amy Bryant Aiello studied photography and installation art at PNCA in Portland, Oregon, where she and her husband own Artemisia (artemisiaon28th.com), a popular boutique specializing in terrariums, indoor gardens, and fine art.

Kate Bryant lives and gardens in Portland, Oregon. She has contributed to gardening books, newspapers, and magazines including Portland Monthly, in which her column and gardening blog, Plantwise, are featured.

Kate Baldwin is a food and lifestyle photographer in Seattle, Washington, whose work appears frequently in advertisements, magazines, and books, and can be seen at www.katebaldwinphotography.com.

Read an Excerpt

Our natural world is filled with boundless beauty, from the most delicately random arrangements of bark, moss, and lichen on the forest floor to graceful heaps of seaweed, driftwood, and shell tossed up on a beach. In this book, you will learn how to distill the beauty of these natural elements into artful terrariums.

The fifty terrariums shown in these pages—loosely grouped by inspiration into forest, beach, desert, or fantasy—incorporate a range of fascinating components, including exquisite plants, lichen, moss, bark, stone, sand, and shells. Every project contains a materials list, as well as detailed instructions for composing and caring for the terrarium (all of which builds on the practical information covered in the first part of the book). And while each of the compositions is beautiful enough to be worth recreating, they were really designed to inspire—to serve as catalysts to ignite your own creativity and personal vision. Far from being meticulously planned, they were made with what artist Amy Bryant Aiello had available at her shop at the time the book was created. Even the process of making them was intuitive, if not somewhat spontaneous—pieces were added, swapped out, and gently prodded until they looked right, even during the photo shoot. The idea is to play with the materials and enjoy the process itself, while accepting the delicious imperfection of it.

A walk in the woods, along a beach, or through a dry canyon would be ideal for getting in an experimental frame of mind. Natural scenery—wind-tossed sand, tawny beach grass, or mossy rocks—is the best inspiration for creating these terrarium collages. In essence, making a terrarium really begins with your own relationship with nature. As you gather your materials, let them guide your creative process. Start with materials you love, keep an open mind, and allow them to take you somewhere unexpected. The beauty already exists—you are the curator, selecting which pieces will be included and assembling them in a way that delights you.

Once made, set your terrarium where you can enjoy and observe it. If you aren’t a gardener or even if you think of yourself as a “brown thumb,” you can find living plants that are easy to care for—or even captivating dried mosses and lichens that require no attention at all, save for admiration. Add a significant personal memento and a terrarium can even be a kind of altar, encapsulating dreams, passions, and memories. Simple to care for yet highly expressive, such terrarium designs bring the natural world closer to home—and us closer to nature.

 

Editorial Reviews

Recommended for indoor gardeners and crafters alike.” —Library Journal

“Terrariums are back, but in much more stylish forms than their aquarium-type predecessors.” —Akron Beacon Journal

“This how-to book is delightful [and] inspirational.” —Cleveland Plain Dealer

“Beautiful photographs, creative designs and thorough instructions.” —San Francisco Chronicle

“Provide[s] examples of how to turn a common houseplant into a striking showpiece.” —Washington Gardener

“Terrarium Craft earned our admiration not only because of the elegance of design by Aiello and photos by Kate Baldwin, but also for the clarity brought to step-by-step instructions…a bevy of beautiful designs. The trouble will be choosing just one. The solution: Do several.” —The Oregonian

“Original and fun [with] tons of “why didn’t I think of that?” ideas.” —Fresh Home

“Simple growing tips and chic design know-how in an easy-to-follow, lovely-to-read format. Creating your own terrarium will definitely be next on your crafty to-do list.” —Dwell Magazine

“Stunning projects.” —West Coast Crafty

“Spark[s] your creativity and inspire[s] you to make your own magical little glass world.” —SharingNaturesGarden.com

“Terrarium projects perfect for next fall/winter when I can’t get outside to play in the garden!” —Danger Garden Blog

From the Publisher

a bevy of beautiful designs. The trouble will be choosing just one. The solution: Do several.

Washington Gardener

Terrarium Craft earned our admiration not only because of the elegance of design by Aiello and photos by Kate Baldwin, but also for the clarity brought to step-by-step instructions.

The Oregonian

Terrariums are back, but in much more stylish forms than their aquarium-type predecessors.

Akron Beacon Journal

Stunning projects.

West Coast Crafty

These terrarium projects will be perfect for next fall/winter when I can’t get outside to play in the garden!

Danger Garden Blog

Original and fun [with] tons of “why didn’t I think of that?” ideas.

Fresh Home

Crafty brown thumbs will appreciate the projects.

CTLPerformingArts.com

Spark[s] your creativity and inspire[s] you to make your own magical little glass world.

SharingNaturesGarden.com

Simple growing tips and chic design know-how in an easy-to-follow, lovely-to-read format. Creating your own terrarium will definitely be next on your crafty to-do list.”

Dwell - Bonnie Poquette

Simple growing tips and chic design know-how in an easy-to-follow, lovely-to-read format. Creating your own terrarium will definitely be next on your crafty to-do list.”

Dwell

Few terrarium books have been published in recent years, but many glass gardening enthusiasts persisted past the 1970s, and they will enjoy the 50 projects in this book—updated terrariums evocative of forests, beaches, deserts, and fantasies. Projects break the mold of traditional, covered, humid terrariums and have a modern look even when incorporating antiques or mementos. As in any good craft book, each project includes at least one large, stunning photograph, a materials list, and enumerated directions. Crafty brown thumbs will appreciate the inclusion of maintenance advice for each completed project. The resource list is helpful for locating supplies not found locally, but suggested substitutions are readily given since the authors encourage creativity and spontaneity. Aiello is the owner of Artemisia (a Portland, OR, boutique specializing in indoor gardening) and Bryant is a columnist for Portland Monthly. Some projects incorporate succulents, a plant group excluded from Tovah Martin's The New Terrarium, which offers fewer projects but more thoroughly discusses plants, containers, history, and resources. VERDICT Recommended for indoor gardeners and crafters alike.—Bonnie Poquette, Milwaukee

Library Journal

Aiello and Bryant…have a knack for creating magical moments…
—The New York Times Book Review

Dominique Browning