Candy Jar Terrarium Part 1: Setup
Sep. 13th, 2025 11:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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craftyToday I assembled the large candy jar terrarium. Continue with Part 2: Plants.
Upright and assembled, this candy jar is about 15 inches tall.
The jar portion is about 11 inches tall.
Inside the mouth is about 5 1/2 inches. It's much easier to work with a jar wide enough to fit my hand inside.
The outside of the mouth is about 5 3/4 inches, so the wall is roughly 1/4 inch thick.
The base is about 7 3/4 inches wide.
It came with a sticker on the bottom.
I managed to peel the sticker off the bottom, then washed the rest of the jar.
I started with a cup of dry pea gravel.
After washing the gravel, its colors show better. This is a really nice bag of gravel that I got cheap from Rural King earlier.
The bottom of the jar is about 1/2 inch thick, so the first layer of gravel is roughly 1 inch thick.
I washed and added another half-cup of gravel.
Now the gravel is about 1 1/2 inches thick.
For a barrier between the gravel and potting soil, I used Thrive Coconut Fiber Climbing Background, which is a thin flexible mat.
I traced around the base of the jar with a Sharpie marker. Keep the marker relatively flat against the side of the jar, don't stick the point underneath the edge. You want the circle to be slightly larger than the jar, so the edge will curl up. This helps keep all the substrate out of the gravel layer.
Using craft scissors, I cut the mat into a circle.
I put the mat inside the jar and pressed it down over the gravel layer. You can see how the edge curl up a bit.
Upright and assembled, this candy jar is about 15 inches tall.
The jar portion is about 11 inches tall.
Inside the mouth is about 5 1/2 inches. It's much easier to work with a jar wide enough to fit my hand inside.
The outside of the mouth is about 5 3/4 inches, so the wall is roughly 1/4 inch thick.
The base is about 7 3/4 inches wide.
It came with a sticker on the bottom.
I managed to peel the sticker off the bottom, then washed the rest of the jar.
I started with a cup of dry pea gravel.
After washing the gravel, its colors show better. This is a really nice bag of gravel that I got cheap from Rural King earlier.
The bottom of the jar is about 1/2 inch thick, so the first layer of gravel is roughly 1 inch thick.
I washed and added another half-cup of gravel.
Now the gravel is about 1 1/2 inches thick.
For a barrier between the gravel and potting soil, I used Thrive Coconut Fiber Climbing Background, which is a thin flexible mat.
I traced around the base of the jar with a Sharpie marker. Keep the marker relatively flat against the side of the jar, don't stick the point underneath the edge. You want the circle to be slightly larger than the jar, so the edge will curl up. This helps keep all the substrate out of the gravel layer.
Using craft scissors, I cut the mat into a circle.
I put the mat inside the jar and pressed it down over the gravel layer. You can see how the edge curl up a bit.
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Date: 2025-09-15 02:16 pm (UTC)