A PB Copycat Project

This project was down to the wire! I almost thought I wasn’t going to have it done in time! About a month ago I shared this terrarium I found at the local antique and flea mart.  For $8.00 I had to bring it home with me.

When I did that original post, I shared some inspiration pictures for terrariums, and one of the pictures I came across was this one from Pottery Barn.  I love just about everything about this terrarium {except the price; the small one is $129.00} and I wanted to try and recreate this look for mine. I already had an idea for painting and adding some dark wax, but I needed to recreate the base.

I was thinking an easy way to do that would be to find a tray with scallop edging and turn it upside down.  After a couple of weeks of looking, I finally found one at Joann’s!  It was a little long so I had to modify it a little bit to fit better, and asked my hubby to cut it down for me.  He did a great job and took great care with doing it right for me.

I tried mixing up my own chalk paint using a quart of Heirloom White that I already had and some Plaster of Paris.  I wasn’t too sure of how much I was adding, but I will tell you it got thicker and seems to have worked fine.  Once dry, I rubbed my hand over it and it even felt like the chalk paint.  Here is the tray painted.

I was getting ready to paint the terrarium when I realized it matched the painted tray perfectly! 

Since I felt like I was running short on time, it was a bonus to be able to skip that step and move on!  I went right to the wax and applied clear and dark to both the tray and the terrarium. 

Here is a picture showing how the dark wax looked on the side portion.  The right side has the dark wax, the left does not yet. 

I attached the terrarium to the tray with wood glue and let it dry for about 24 hours.  I chose not to sand it to add to the distressed look.  Ultimately, after trying a few different looks for the inside, this simple one won me over.

I don’t know if you can see it, but I added a piece of sheet moss to the bottom.  This is a faux maidenhair fern I found at Tuesday Morning at couple of years ago.

Pretty close, I think! I love the way it turned out and it cost me less than $20.00, about $100.00 less than the PB one.  The handles that are part of the tray actually work out well for moving it around.

Now I just need a console table that looks like a potting bench for my sunroom and it will have a permanent home. 

Linking to

Copycat Party at Debbiedoos

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground

Kathy