Create this easy DIY floral terrarium using only a few supplies. This tutorial will show you how to make a beautiful terrarium for your home!

Hey there Fantabulosity readers! I’m Christene and I blog over at Keys to Inspiration. My blog is all about helping you discover creative, simple, and affordable ways to design a home you love!

One of my passions is creating home decor and teaching others how to create too. Even if you don’t think you’re a crafty person, I can show you how easy it is to create beautiful things for your home on a budget.

During the summertime, I like to keep my home decorations really simple. Afterall, the focus of summer isn’t on what’s going on indoors, but all of the natural beauty outdoors!

So when it comes to decorating my home for summer, I’m always looking for ways to incorporate natural elements. I love to decorate with greenery and flowers throughout the year. And summer is no different.

One of my favorite aspects of summer is seeing all of the gorgeous flowers in full bloom. I wanted a way to bring some of the beauty of summer florals inside of my home. I’ve done basic flower arrangements before, so this time I branched out and created a more unique display.

Let me show you how I made this beautiful floral terrarium.

Easy DIY Floral Terrarium

Materials:

• Terrarium
• White Sand
• Assorted Florals, Greenery, and Succulents
• Scissors or Wire Cutters

Choose a Terrarium

First, you will need to choose a terrarium. You can find terrariums at most craft stores, home decor stores or on Amazon HERE. Terrariums come in a variety of different shapes and sizes.

For the purpose of this project, it really doesn’t matter which kind of terrarium you choose. Just find one that you love and will fit in with your home decor.

I have been eyeing this gorgeous gold one from Joann Fabrics for a while now. Last time I was there, I had a great coupon so I scooped it up!

With this terrarium shape, you can position it to have the opening on the top or the side. I decided that I wanted the opening to be on the side.

Pick a Base

Next, you will need to add a base layer of natural material to your terrarium. You can use things like rocks, pebbles, mulch chips, or even glass beads. But I decided to use a simple white sand as my base.

I thought that it would be simple enough to let all of the florals stand out. And I just love the combination of white and gold. It’s so pretty!

Speaking of florals…..

Choose your Florals

You can’t have a floral terrarium without a bunch of different florals.

Personally, I am a sucker for flowers and greenery. I just think they add so much life into a home. If you’ve ever taken a tour of my home, you’ll notice that I love to use florals and greenery to decorate. I tend to stick with the faux options though because I have a black thumb!

For this floral terrarium, you will need to gather a bunch of different floral options. When I was choosing my florals, I went overboard and got a lot more than I actually needed. (Hey…I wanted to keep my options open!)

The number of florals you’ll need will depend on the size of your terrarium. When choosing florals, you’ll want to get a wide variety of textures. The key to making your terrarium look good is lots of different textures!

Here are the best options to look for:

Greenery

Simple greenery stems are great filler pieces. And in my opinion, you can never have too much greenery! Stems like these are perfect for the background sections of your terrarium.

Terrarium with Succulents and Air Plants

I don’t know why, but I’m always drawn to the weird looking plants. Succulents and air plants definitely fall into that category. They tend to have harsher edges and have a whole lot of texture. They also come in a variety of colors.

Flowering Stems

These are your showstoppers! You are going to want to get a few stems of gorgeous floral buds. I love the soft look of these garden roses, so I picked up a few of them. For your terrarium, you are only going to need one or two big showstopper florals. You want these to the be the focal point in your arrangement. You can also grab some smaller floral stems to be accent pieces.

Textured Accents

Remember how I said that texture is important? For your terrarium, you are going to want a wide variety of different textured floral options. Look for stems that have different colors, shapes, and heights. And pay attention to the scale. For my textured items, I tried to choose smaller scale buds and leaves. That way, I didn’t have all of the same sizes throughout my terrarium.

Tips on Finding Florals

My go-to stores for finding inexpensive florals are always craft stores. I am a regular at Michael’s and Joann Fabrics because both are so close to my home. But I also like to venture to Hobby Lobby.

You can always find deals on floral items at craft stores. And, there are almost always coupons available too so that you can save even more money! For this project, I actually got all of my florals from the clearance section because they were marked as “spring” florals. I saved so much money by not just shopping under the “summer” section and instead, looking at last season’s items.

I bought a mixture of full-sized stems and some wreath picks. Joann Fabrics always has a huge wreath pick section for each season. Most of those textured floral items are actually wreath picks and some were only $0.50 because of the clearance deals! #CraftingWin

Assemble your Terrarium

Now that you have all of your floral stems, it’s time to start assembling your terrarium. To prep your florals for arranging, take a pair of scissors or wire cutters and cut the stems down to shorter lengths.

This next part of the project is more of an “art” — there aren’t really any exact steps to follow. And I know that might drive some of you, who are like me, crazy! I’m the type of girl who loves to have step-by-step detailed instructions. But some projects you just have to tweak and adjust until you get the “look” you are going for. Here’s how I assembled my terrarium.

First, I placed a large succulent in the middle of the terrarium. I wanted something to anchor the whole arrangement that was simple also interesting to look at.

Then, I grabbed a few of my greenery stems and cut them into smaller sections. I placed a few of these in the back of the terrarium to start building a backdrop.

Then, I added a textured floral stem to the middle back part of the arrangement. See how the different scales and colors are already starting to add interest to the terrarium?

Next, I cut one of my red textured pieces and placed it off to the side, sort of sticking out a little. Look at that pop of color!

Then I added one of the off-white textured pieces to the other side. This time I angled it slightly out to the side but also forward.

Next, I decided to add my showstopper — my gorgeous garden rose! I placed the rose off to the side, but also in front of the other floral items. It really draws your attention and it’s so pretty!

Then, I added in my smaller floral buds. This stem had a bunch of pink florals all on one stem but in a smaller scale than my garden rose. I tucked it into the middle back part of the arrangement.

At this point, I thought that the left side needed a little more color. So, I grabbed another one of my red textured pieces and nestled it in behind the large succulent.

And then I filled in some of the space right underneath it with this smaller blue-green stem. This was one of my favorite pieces because it added a whole different type of texture that the other florals didn’t have.

Finally, I added one last piece — a unique looking succulent with really sharp, harsh edges. This piece helped to break up all of the soft florals with a more rigid texture. I also love the light blue-green color!

Once my terrarium looked full enough from all angles, I decided that I was done.

I absolutely love how this little project turned out! It was really simple and easy to put together. And overall, it’s just beautiful!

You can use your terrarium as decor almost anywhere in your home. I decided to display mine on our console table in our dining room. This is one of my favorite spots to decorate for each season.

A floral terrarium would also make the perfect centerpiece for a summer gathering. You can throw it together and have a unique display that your guests will love. The best part is, it won’t die like real flowers. 😉

I hope that you enjoyed this easy DIY tutorial and that I’ve inspired you to create a floral terrarium for your home.

Let me know if you end up making one for your home. I would love to see pictures too! Have a great week!

Christene Holder

Christene is the author of the blog Keys to Inspiration. She is passionate about all things home. Decorating, organizing, creating, renovating — you name it, she loves it! Christene and her husband Ben moved into a builder grade townhome in 2015. Both “makers” at heart, they decided to take the DIY approach and design their dream home.