The obvious best last-minute gift idea, or, How to Make an Air Plant Terrarium With Very Little Time, Money, or Effort.

Are you the worst at present buying? Are you the laziest person ever? Or were you just waiting for your holiday bonus to arrive? I have a solution for you! In fact, it just might be the solution to all of life's problems. LET'S MAKE A TERRARIUM. Or in my case, several terrariums.

I thought of this idea at the last possible second, because I am the worst at Christmas. After a very lazy and ultimately futile attempt at locating supplies in my neighborhood, I turned to my bff, Amazon.com. I ordered the following things:

• terrarium containers
• sheet moss
• small air plants
• cool looking rocks
• twine

Guess what? You don't actually need to use fancy terrarium containers for this project. I only spent money on them because I knew I'd be giving them away. Go to the thrift store, or the dollar store, and get any sort of glass jar. A giant red wine glass is super rad for this and looks cla$$y as heck. Also, who buys rocks off of the internet (besides this guy)? Me, baby. Me. But did you know that rocks are free and actually quite abundant on this planet? If you don't care about having Cool Looking Rocks, just go outside and pick some up off the ground, you dirty heathen you. The green stuff, not so easy to find. Unless you have a nursery close by, Amazon can have them at your door within two days.



First, let's assume your air plant has been traveling a long way. It probably looks a little gross and sickly. Give it a nice 20 minute soak upside down while you prepare its new home.

Next, make sure your glass container is nice and clean. If you have a hanging container like me, now would be the time to thread the twine through so the recipient has a way to hang it.

Now put a handful of your Cool Looking Rocks in the container.

About this many rocks.

If you also got your moss shipped to you, I'm guessing it looks a little sad too. Go ahead and take a spoonful, and give it a quick dip with the air plants. I really do mean quick. Just a second or two.

Now, place your moss on top of the Cool Looking Rocks.

Your air plants should be looking great by now. Take them out of the water and carefully deliver them to their new homes in a way that is aesthetically pleasing to you.

Now, wait til the last possible second, and put them in a very well-padded gift box. You can do this now that your plants have been watered and given a lil lovin'. Now that they're boxed, you can totally wrap them up and it will more of a surprise then handing someone a glass jar with a bunch of plants and rocks in it.

And there you have it! This is one of the easiest DIY projects in the entire world. It costs about ~$15 per terrarium the way I did it, and should take you little more than 20 minutes. I am kind of bad at explaining things, so let me know if you have any questions below!