Building Terrariums

I’m just one of those people who tend to get fixated on hobbies. I love trying new ones and perfecting old ones (see: macarons), and if you talk to any of my friends, they’ll probably be able to tell you what my current one is. Because I never stop talking about them. Like, ever.

Maybe it’s because I live in the city and have somewhat limited access to what most people would consider “nature,” but when I saw a few terrariums popping up on design websites that I liked, I knew I had to look into them. I love that terrariums can look like a mini oasis — they can range from beautifully landscaped mini gardens to more simple planters, and can even be customized to be fun and whimsical. It turns out that there are many specialty florist shops in the city who sell beautiful pre-planted terrariums. It also turns out that said terrariums are not cheap. My roomie gave me the beautiful hanging glass planter above for Christmas, and I promptly killed the adorable air plant she bought for it (guess I should have researched a little more… oops). So this week, I decided to start fresh and use this great kit that I purchased on Etsy to help me put together some new ones.

Putting together a terrarium is actually really simple once you have all of the materials gathered. You just layer small stones in the bottom of the container, followed by activated charcoal (easily found in gardening stores) and soil. Then, you just arrange your plants as you like! For the pill-shaped container that I bought, I decided to try out another air plant which doesn’t need any soil. For more on planting your own terrarium, check out this great video on Design*Sponge.

Ladylike Inspiration

And yet again, it has been months since the last post here on City Coeur. It’s not that I haven’t wanted to write, it’s just that life has become rather busy — but all for good reasons! This long weekend was nice and restorative for me, even though I spent much of it packing for my upcoming move (more on that later!). Here’s a quick outfit inspired by ladylike style with a fun summer twist!

I love this classic marinière tee from Comptoir des Cotonniers (who better to interpret this French classic?). If you look closely, you’ll see that the blue stripes are studded with tiny white polka dots! C’est adorable. The bright blue jeans add a pop of fun, and even better — they’re on sale for just $12.50 at Uniqlo this week! The Edie bag from J. Crew is such a perfect ladylike shape, and I’m completely sold on the sugar-sweet pink color. A cheery yellow scarf from Kate Spade is the perfect accessory to add anywhere — around your neck, in your hair, or even tied to the strap of the bag. Finally, I’m a bit of a sucker for peonies so this beautiful arrangement by Olive & Cocoa looks like the perfect thing to spruce up your apartment on a sunny afternoon.