Coffee Pot Terrarium

This cute coffee pot terrarium is the perfect bit of household plant decor to have nearby when I have my morning cup of coffee.

It puts me in a good mood for the day just to look at it!

Using recycled items in my DIY projects saves me money and also helps our environment but not filling up landfills with waste.

If you love succulents as much as I do, you will want to check out my guide for buying succulents. It tells what to look for, what to avoid and where to find succulent plants for sale.

And for everything you need to know to grow succulents, be sure to have a look at my guide for how to care for succulents. It is loaded with information about these drought smart plants.

Any one for a cup of coffee ~ terrarium style?  I am always looking for household items to recycle into charming plant containers.  

Since the weather is cold outside, I am concentrating on indoor plants for the moment.  

Terrariums are the perfect way to house indoor plants. Normally the air inside, especially in the winter months, is very dry and this can create havoc for indoor plants.

The enclosed container keeps the humidity at a nice point and means that they plants don’t need watering as often.

Luckily, I didn’t have to buy much to do this project.  I have a HUGE planter with cuttings of succulents that I took at the end of the summer and they have all rooted, so I had a ready supply to choose from!

I still went shopping though.  I just HAD to have a few new ones for my project! 😉

I bought the living stones and an air plant to go along with the ones I already had on hand. I chose plants with shallow roots, since my planting area is not too deep.

For this project, I chose a variety of succulents and few other types.  I’ll be using sand as the planting soil since it drains well and rocks for the bottom layer (again for drainage, and also to use as decorations for the top.)

The layers will add a nice decorative touch to the see through glass part of the coffee pot.

Let’s make a Coffee Pot Terrarium.

You will need these supplies:

• Coffee pot carafe
• A few succulents.  I chose hens and chicks, 2 types of living stones, Moses in the cradle, an air plant and a sempervivum.
• Sand
• Terrarium rocks]
• 2 Large polished rocks

Start by placing a thin layer of rocks in the bottom of the coffee pot.  The rocks will give an extra layer of drainage since there are no holes in the bottom for the water to run out.

Next place some of the beach sand.  I added quite a thick layer, since I wanted it to show above the silver band on the coffee pot to give me decorative layers on the side.

Also, these ARE living plants, so they will need some soil to grow.  

Now comes the fun part!  Start adding the plants.  I removed most of the soil from around the roots so that I could put more plants into the carafe.

Also, never let it be said that I don’t like getting plants for free!

I divided both of the living rocks plants and added them to my big succulent container. This reduced the size of the plants in my coffee pot terrarium and also gave me two new plants for free!  Win- Win.

These are the plants that went into my terrarium.

I had two slightly taller plants.  Those went in the back of the terrarium for height. The other smaller plants got placed here and there at the front.

This is the top view to show how I placed the plants. I love the way the living stones look like rocks before I even put the rocks in there!

Once I got the plants the way I wanted them, I added some of the smaller rocks on top to cover the sand and add another layer and a couple of the bigger smooth rocks and my coffee pot terrarium was ready for some watering!

I only added a small amount, since these are succulents and I don’t want too much humidity in there. I love the way the 2 living stones blend into the rocks!

The different heights of the plants give a nice balanced look, and the layers of sand and gravel gives some pretty layers when you look through the glass on the sides of the coffee pot terrarium.

Pour yourself a cup of succulent terrarium decor and a cup of coffee, too!

Can you believe it is early February and it’s 73º outside at 2 pm?  What a strange winter this has been, but I’m not complaining.  

I think I’ll enjoy my book and my new coffee pot terrarium for a while!

For more Cacti and Succulent planting Ideas, see my Succulent board on Pinterest and check out these posts:

• Bird Cage Succulent Planter
• Raised Garden Bed made from Cement Blocks
• 25 Creative Succulent Planters
• Diy Strawberry Planter for Succulents

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