Cacti and Creativity: A Terrarium-Making Party

Scripture: Corinthians 5:17

Introduction

Succulents and terrariums are low maintenance and perfect for people who do not have a green thumb or do not have time to care for an outdoor garden. This program gives instruction for creating affordable terrariums using everyday objects.

Items Needed for Easy DIY Terrarium

• Succulent Soil
• Little rocks or gravel
• Moss
• Various succulents (we found several succulents for $1 at our local Walmart)
• Glass containers, cups, and open jars
• Plastic cups for scooping the different layers into the terrariums.

Directions

Invite women to pick up their containers. Be creative. They do not have to be the same. The women will love having a variety from which to choose.

A terrarium is all about the layers. Without the proper layers, your terrarium will not be functional and eventually rot. Your first layer is small rocks placed at the bottom of the container. This layer drains the water from the soil.

If you work in a closed container, you will need to put a layer of horticulture-activated charcoal next. This prevents mold from forming in the closed vessel. If you are working in an open container, this is not necessary. Next, put a layer of moss. You can get packs of moss in various colors from craft stores like Hobby Lobby.

Finally, put in one or two inches of soil, then plant the succulent cuttings as you like. As desired, you can cover the ground with moss, pebbles, or other embellishments.

For further instructions and ideas, check the following website: https://savedbylovecreations.com/2013/05/make-terrariums-galore-in-under-1-hour.html

Making It a Party

While some succulents are eatable, others are not. Rather than consuming the plants, make your own by decorating cookies or cupcakes. Use store-bought sugar cookies, icing, and different icing tips to create the different succulent textures.

Items Needed for Cacti Cookies

• Sugar cookies or cupcakes
• Different color icings, piping bags, or quart-size baggies.

Instructions for Decorating Cacti Cookies

If you do not have piping bags, you can easily make one by filling up a plastic quart-size baggie and cutting a small hole at one of the corners. Choose the icing color and begin to pipe leaves around the edge of the cookie slightly overlapping each other. Move-in one layer and pipe another circle of leaves, letting them slightly fall over the first layer. Continue until the surface of the cookie is frosted. No dessert will look the same, but if they cover the entire top, they will look like one of the many types of succulents.

God’s Care

My husband’s mother was raised and lived in the Rio Grande Valley portion of Texas all her life. She loved gardening and working in the soil. She would gasp in astonishment every time she would pass a plant that she had not seen previously and wanted to know more about it. She could name plants by their Latin names and learned how to care for them. When she found a plant that she did not know, she would often ask if she could have a cutting so she could attempt to grow it. She would take it and care for it as a mother care for her newborn child. She would transplant them into her garden and update us on her plants’ progress. I was always amazed because those little cuttings never stayed little for long. We would return for our annual visit, and her cuttings were no longer little but full-blown plants.

In 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV), the apostle Paul writes: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” This is what we call the “Jesus changes everything” verse. Once Jesus has entered the picture, it’s over. Everything is changing, the new creation is born, and the old has nowhere to go but be gone. When we are in Christ, we are made new. What does that mean for us? It means we are no longer those little cuttings. It means that someone has come in, loved us, changed us, and made us new. It means that we are changed from the inside out. People should be able to tell the difference. They may not be able to put their finger on it, but they should know that the person that was, is not the same.

Our God has been making “new” business for a long time. In the beginning, God created everything. But my favorite part is when He took the dust of the earth, breathed into it, and created man. From dust came you and me! But if it weren’t for that, you and I would still be dust. If it weren’t for my mother-in-law’s gardening, those cuttings would never have rooted and bloomed and brought new life to new and old places. Those cuttings which were once small, fragile, and in need of care are now blossoming and unrecognizable. It’s a whole new thing, a jaw-dropping, ever-blossoming new creation. When God comes into our life, we are made new.