Easy-Peasy DIY : Air Plants !

Living in the city, I love trying to bring greenery into my home. Partly because I feel that although Malaysia has tropical lush forests, the city would definitely do better with more trees and greenery. However...I don't think I have a green thumb and the time to plant. Juggling between my architecture work and other activities, gardening isn't really an easy task for me. 

I finally found (hopefully) the perfect plant for busy people who want to create their own mini garden indoors!

AIR PLANTS!

These plants are so unique and interesting that they do not require any soil or daily watering to survive. No fertilizers are required either and they can pretty much live in any environment. 

So I got my air plants during my race at the Kuala Lumpur Orchid and Bonsai Show last Sunday at Far East Agriculture. They sell a wide variety of air plants and some are even in bloom. The lady and her mother were very helpful in teaching me the ways to care for air plants and even gave me a free string (HAHAHA) 

I bought 5 and got 1 for free. I didnt know how exactly I was gonna design their final homes yet so I got a few different species so that I can get a variety of designs. Here, I will show you how I made them. Not only are they easy to make, but the options are endless!

So first of all, these are the stuff that I used in creating 6 new homes : 

6 decorative pots/dishes/pretty much anything you wanted to try (I used bowls from Daiso)

decorative stones

decorative sand

miniature sculpture (optional. I couldnt find any yet. this will just make things more interesting)

wood

bowl for watering

spatula & tweezers to place the decorative sand and stone

Step 1 : Watering

First of all, I dunked the air plants in a bowl of water for about 20-30 minutes. This should be done weekly for the air plants or if you're too busy for that, you can mist them lightly daily.

Step 2 : Setting up

So while the air plants are dunking away in their tub, I set up the items and thought about how I wanted to design the final home for my talandsias. I didnt have a variety of decorative stones as I was on a budget so I got this purple coloured decorative stones from ikea and a packet of decorative sand from Daiso. 

Step 3 : Filling up 

Once the talandsias are out of their tub, I set them up on some paper towels to dry. After that, I arranged the plants in their new homes. The lady told me to make sure the leaves are exposed to the air around it. If not, it'll get too hot and the plant will die. 

And that's it! You can really just put it in anything and anywhere! They give you a variety of options to explore and design at your own free will! Haha but if you're like me and you'd like some inspiration, Pinterest is an awesome place to find  terrarium ideas. Hope you enjoyed this easy-peasy diy. I definitely enjoyed my time creating these mini homes hahaha :P 

Xx,

Sarah