Light Fixture Terrarium

A few weeks ago I stumbled upon a great idea for ugly light fixtures: make a terrarium!  The example that I saw was for an 80s brass light fixture terrarium, and I knew that I wanted to try something like this myself.

Just over a week ago I was driving through a town about an hour away from where I live (ah, commutes for meetings...lovely) and found a Habitat for Humanity store.  Of course I had to stop, and I found some amazing things: a chair that I'll fix up, a few tv trays crying out for modernization, some cabinet doors that whispered their longing to be functional art, large tiles that will soon start a new life as trivets, and an old light fixture.  Total spent: $12.  The light fixture was one of the more expensive items at $2, but it was so interesting-looking that I had to bring it home:

This light fixture is not my style at all: frilly, gold, frosted.  But it spoke to me and begged to come home to a life where it would be appreciated.  I decided that this would be the terrarium, at least my first attempt at such a project.  It's probably not ideal because of the frosted glass, but the size and shape are awesome.

Today I pulled out the supplies that I needed:

The rocks were from the dollar store (I only used a few), I broke off a piece of the living room's jade plant (they root and multiply so nicely), the leaf plate I've had forever but rarely use because it's not for food (and what good is a plate if it can't be used for food?), and the glass bowl was my grandmother's or mother's.

I placed rocks and the jade branch in the bowl and filled it with water.

Then I set the bowl on the plate and covered it with the light fixture.  Done!

I may need to add a few more pieces of jade eventually because it's hard to see the jade right now, or at least it's not as dramatic as I would wish.  It's hard to see in this picture...

but I can see the results when I sit a few feet away and look over at the terrarium.  Perhaps it would be better if I could figure out how to add a light inside with the plant.  For now, it's good enough.  Total cost: $3.  Time: About five minutes. Enduring lesson: I need to find another (closer) Habitat store to look for more light fixtures!