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Pickle Jar Christmas Terrarium

Seriously, how CUTE is this Christmas terrarium we made using an empty glass pickle jar?

Pickle jar Christmas terrarium with decorative ribbon, Christmas accessories, fake snow and a picture.

Upcycled Pickle Jar Christmas Terrarium

These handmade ornaments are so much fun to make and will beautiful on your Christmas tree year-after-year. Or make a set of these festive Christmas ornaments to give as gifts to coworkers and neighbors.

This easy Christmas craft idea is also a fun way to spend an afternoon crafting with friends for the holiday season.

With supplies like these bottle brush trees, a wooden reindeer cutout, soft white snow and a photo of my eldest from Christmas past all captured inside a large glass jar, how could this craft be anything but perfectly adorable? We started off by using our Cricut Joy to cut out the phrase “Christmas blessings” in a pop of red vinyl and then applied it to the front of the jar.

Christmas Blessings vinyl cut out placed on a pickle jar that's filled with fake snow.

We’ve made other terrariums in the past such as this beachy air plant mini garden and this super cute DIY Halloween terrarium. They are actually a lot of fun to make and assemble and knowing you can use supplies you already have at home make this craft even funner.

Materials Needed to Make a Christmas Terranium

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Materials needed to make a pickle jar Christmas terrarium.

How to Make a Terranium in a Jar:

Preparing the Supplies

Thoroughly wash out the jar and remove any labels.  If warm soap and water doesn’t remove the labels entirely, a product such as Goo-Gone works well. 

Open the Design Space site and upload the “Christmas Blessings” project template. 

In the toolbar, adjust the width of the template to 2” high. Click “Continue”.

Load the Smart Vinyl into the Cricut Joy cutting machine following the prompts on the screen and unload when complete. 

Loading red vinyl into a Cricut Joy machine.

Weed out the lettering discarding the excess vinyl and keeping only the lettering needed.

Apply a piece of transfer tape to the lettering and remove the backing from the vinyl. Then place the vinyl transfer to the bottom third of the glass jar, carefully peel away the transfer tape.

Filling the Jar

Gather the supplies you need for the terrarium.

Materials needed to make a pickle jar Christmas terrarium.

Start to layer the pieces inside the jar in this order:

  1. Fill about one the bottom third of the jar with clean sand.
  2. Pour in the fake sand on top and level.
  3. Cut down your photo of interest to size and place it standing up in the sand.
  4. Add the bottle brush trees, largest in the back.
  5. Place other accessories inside as well.
Top view of the pickle jar Christmas terrarium.
Placing a photograph, Christmas brush trees and reindeer cutouts inside the pickle jar terrarium.

Tie some decorative ribbon and greenery around the neck of the jar and enjoy your new pickle jar terrarium for the holidays!

Pickle jar Christmas terrarium with decorative ribbon, Christmas accessories, fake snow and a picture.

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Pickle jar Christmas terrarium with text overlay

Pickle Jar Christmas Terrarium

Jane and Sonja
Turn an empty glass pickle jar into an adorable Christmas terrarium.
5 from 3 votes

Materials
  

  • Large mason jar and lid; use jar with a smooth round surface on all sides (such as a large pickle jar)
  • 2 cups white sand
  • 1 cup fake snow
  • Different sized bottle brush Christmas Trees
  • Decorative ribbon and greenery
  • Cricut Joy
  • Smart Vinyl Permanent in red
  • “Christmas Blessings” project template in Design Space – #XX
  • Weeding Tool
  • Photo of choice printed and cut to fit inside the jar
  • Other Christmas accessories – reindeer cutout red berries

Instructions
 

Preparing the Supplies:

  • Thoroughly wash out the jar and remove any labels. If warm soap and water doesn’t remove the labels entirely, a product such a goo-gone works well.
  • Open the Design Space site and upload the “Christmas Blessings” project template.
  • Cut out the phrase on a piece of red Smart Vinyl using your Cricut Joy cutting machine.
  • Following the instructions on the screen, select “customize” to adjust the size of the phrase in order for it to fit on the mason jar.
  • In the toolbar, adjust the width of the template to 2”high.
  • Click “Continue”.
  • Load it into the cutting machine and unload when complete.
  • Weed out the lettering discarding the excess vinyl and keeping only the lettering needed.
  • Apply a piece of transfer tape to the lettering and remove the backing from the vinyl.
  • Apply the vinyl transfer to the bottom third of the glass jar. Carefully remove the transfer tape.

Filling the Jar

  • Fill about one the bottom third of the jar with clean sand.
  • Pour in the fake sand on top and level.
  • Cut down your photo of interest to size and place it standing up in the sand.
  • Add the bottle brush trees, largest in the back.
  • Put the photo inside leaning it against the big trees.
  • Place other accessories inside as well.
  • Tie some decorative ribbon and greenery around the neck of the jar.
Like this craft? Leave some stars!& mention @SustainMyCraftHabit or tag #sustainmycrafthabit on Instagram!

Tutorial Rating




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