How to Make a Hobbit Terrarium

 For my brother's birthday this week, I decided to make him a a Hobbit Terrarium. I'd seen some amazing looking Hobbit themed terrariums on the internet and I wanted to give it a go. I decided to model mine on a generic hobbit hole, something you could find anywhere around The Shire, rather than on the Baggins' home because that would be too difficult to get perfect.

So, here's the basics of how to make a Hobbbit terrarium.

 You're going to need moss to use as the grass on the rolling hills that the hobbit hole will be set into. I used a couple of different types of moss to give it a bit of interest. These mosses were easy to get at the local nursery and have tiny little yellow or white flowers at certain times of year.
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Coloured pebbles are great for covering any soil that you don't want moss growing on. These are sold for use in decorateing vases and are cheap and easy to get at bargain shops like The Reject Shop. 

Sphagnum moss is essentail for drainage in your terrarium. This was slightly harder to get hold of, but good nurseries will carry it.

The right container for your terrarium is the start of your project. This rose bowl was perfect for what I wanted because it has quite a small opening and will retain the moisture in the terrarium. I got this one from Spotlight, but you can get similar ones in a lot of homeware shops.

 Of course, in order to make a hobbit hole rather than just a blob of moss, you need a hobbit hole facade. I made this one out of clay, painted it with craft paints, and very thouroughly varnished it with a non-waterbased varnish so that it would be waterproof. I put 4 coats of varnish on mine and I hope it stays waterproof.

I also made a couple of other things to go in the terrarium. A little bunny to hide in the moss and some cute toadstools.

Then, its just a matter of grabbing some potting mix and putting it all together. Start with a layer of sphagnum moss to cover the bottom of the bowl, add some gravel or pebbles for drainage, and some more sphangnum moss. Mold a hill with potting mix and furnish it with the moss, hobbit hole facade, pebbles, bunny, and toadstools. You can end up with something like this:

The glass bowl makes it difficult to photograph because it reflects the light so much, but you get the idea. The moss should grow in and fill in patchy bits and make it look like a  more natural grassy knoll.

Anyway, Happy Birthday, bro - I had fun making this project for you and I hope you enjoy it too.