Build Your Own Organic Diorama Terrarium - Part 3

This tutorial was written by Thyrza Segal who sells her own custom made (and quite beautiful) terrariums. She also offers workshops on terrarium making. Check out her website here: PlantScapes where you can also see and purhcase her Polymer Clay accessories and aliens.

Step 9 - Décor

Small landscape boulder Some people prefer to just have plants and no décor- some people like to have all décor and no plants.

Here are a few décor ideas:

Adding a large rock or seashell will act as another focal point- like a plant. It is like a "landscaping feature".

Picture at left: Small landscape boulder

Does she have a little pet dinosaur? Aliens are easy because they can be any scale You can either make fimo creatures and plants or buy stuff to put into your terrarium.

It is helpful to drill a small hole in the bottom of anything you use and add a bamboo stick into it so that the decor can be stuck into the soil and not roll around if you move your terrarium.

The big thing to remember is to not crowd your terrarium with too much stuff and also to keep the scale in mind .

Does she have a little pet dinosaur? Aliens are easy because they can be any scale.

I like the weird alien pitcher plant better to balance the size of the girl and to give 360 degree interest.

I like the weird alien pitcher plant better to balance the size of the girl and to give 360 degree interest.

mixed glass beads with aquarium rocks and smooshed them against the glass to hide the soil layer.

For this terrarium I mixed glass beads with aquarium rocks and smooshed them against the glass to hide the soil layer.

The strange blue “flowers” in the background were created by gluing stakes into large interestingly shaped beads.

The strange blue "flowers" in the background were created by gluing stakes into large interestingly shaped beads.

If using polymer clay:

-I get mine from Loomis on Main around 1 st Ave.
-Fimo Classic is strongest but Sculpey or Fimo soft is easier to work with
-Make sure your sculpture works with the scale of your terrarium or you will ruin the illusion .
-Make a hole on the bottom of your sculpture with a bamboo stick before you bake it. Glue the stick in after the sculpture is baked . The stick will hold the sculpture in place in the terrarium.
- Handy sculpting tools for me include a seam ripper and a light colored pencil crayon.
The seam ripper makes it easy to cut and handle tiny bits of clay and the light pencil crayon will make holes without leaving any colour behind.
-Bake for 20 minutes at 265 degrees. If you don't cook it long enough it is crumbly and will break easily. If you cook it too hot it will burn. I broke down and bought an oven thermometer from Home Hardware for about 8$
-Do not use the Triple Thick Krylon spray to protect your creature after you have made it (even though it says right on the can it is good for polymer clay)- in fact- never use a spray varnish of any kind
There is something in the spray cans that will react with the plastic of the polymer clay and your creature will get very sticky- sometimes more so over time. sticky creatures+dirt= mess
- put 2 coats of Minwax Helmsman Spar Urethane Varnish on any polymer clay figurines that are going to be in the humidity of a terrarium. This will prevent a white-ish discoloration that happens with humidity and unvarnished polymer clay. .

There are different thoughts on this as the varnish I suggest is oil based. Most people say you can't use an oil based varnish on polymer clay because it will react with the polymer and get sticky-maybe not immediately but after a few months. All of the water based varnishes I have used get impregnated with moisture and my creatures look like they are covered in white glue after a week or so. I am going to take my chances with this marine grade varnish. I will give an update if I have any problems down the road.

Enjoy your work!

The Finished Terrarium

Thyrza This article is written by Thyrza Segal who sells her own custom made (and quite beautiful) terrariums. She also offers workshops on terrarium making. Check out her website here: PlantScapes where you can also see her polymer clay accessories and aliens.

The New Terrarium: Creating Beautiful Displays for Plants and Nature