Never make your first terrarium in a bottle with a skinny neck. Most people probably realize this, but I didn't. It was difficult - like building a ship in a bottle, but less complicated.
I had collected some safety glass from a broken bus stop, so I used it for the pebbles in the bottom. The nifty clear effect was a little ruined by the charcoal, but it still looks mysterious.
I'm gonna leave out the part where I tried to put mesh between the glass and the soil. There was no way to make it lay flat.
I learned after that you don't really need the activated charcoal. I'm pretty sure I used the wrong kind, anyway. I think, if you use it, you are supposed to use the chunks and not the powder.
I chose this bottle because it had a cool lid, little handles, and it says "KRAKEN" on the side. I did not think about how horrible the tiny neck would be.
I made this to out of wire and chopsticks to help position the moss. I also used my man's super sized kitchen tweezers.
I had to break the moss in chunks to make it fit through the tiny hole in the bottle. It was the worst when a piece fell in upside-down. I made a big mess inside and outside the bottle.
I had to make this cleaning tool out of thick wire and a cotton ball to get the dirt off the inside. The curve is so steep that it is almost impossible to reach.
It took me forever to figure out how to remove the neck piece. I tried wire cutters, pencils, wrenches, but in the end it was a fork that worked. It tore really easy once I figured out something that fit under it.
I made some tentacles out of Sculpey III, put them on toothpicks, and stuck them in with the giant tweezers.
I hope it survives!
