Activity: Make Your Own Terrarium

So, what is a terrarium?

I've always wanted to create a terrarium of my own and my mini dream came true when UNISIM offered a 'Make Your Own Terrarium' workshop held by Little Green Pot.

Early Saturday morning

The workshop was only a short 1 hour so you can definitely tell that making a terrarium of your own isn't hard work. But i can tell you that the workshop definitely opened my eyes to the world of miniature plants.

My chosen plant

The workshop instructor was also really good. He provided useful details and information (so that our terrarium wouldn't die by the next week :p). Theory-wise, it was a short jog of memory to my Plant Biotechnology days in Singapore Poly.

We were given a jar filled with the items needed and a plant each

The 'ingredients' - Small gravel, charcoal, soil, decorative pebbles and decoration

I'm so lucky that I got a snowman deco! I call him Olaf hehe

Before the hands-on, we had a mini theory session. A terrarium may live as short as 3 days to 3 years depending on how well it is maintained. (Which is really little as it is self-sustainable). These are the 5 useful tips I've learnt from the workshop:

1. Keep the environment closed: A terrarium is self-sustainable meaning the entire water cycle and photosynthesis process will happen within the jar without any external help.
2. No direct sunlight: Natural light is enough. Office desks work as well.
3. Minimal water required: Only water once every 6 months.
4. Condensation is normal. If big droplets appear, air the container for around 15 mins
5. Once the plant is too big for the container, you can either:

           - Trim the plant

           - Open the top and grow as an open condition

           - Leave as it is, the plant will find a way to grow within the container

The tools

Our hands on sessions was facilitated and we followed the steps together.
The workshop instructor was there to make sure that we're doing it right and good enough.

My favourite part was when we had to dig a hole as big as possible for our plant to be placed in. Soil was then scooped in from the sides to make sure that the roots are fully covered.

The challenging part was to flatten the soil around the plant. This will make sure that the plant stay rooted and stably upright. I had uprooted my plant once during this process HAHA but luckily i managed to get it nicely covered again without destroying my plant. 

I love this tool, it's like a stirrer but with a flat scoop used to flatten the soil.

The next step is simple - DECORATE! We were given colourful decorative pebbles and a mini deco item each. And then it's done! It's so simple right?

My happy Olaf in a tropical climate

Here are the summarise steps with pictures:

I really loved the workshop and I would recommend it to everyone. You don't even have to have green fingers and the maintenance required is almost none! These mini gardens are definitely pleasing to the eye and will make a wonderful decoration for home or office.

I am planning to decorate my future house with them! heh :D

My terrarium alongside one of the other student's

If you want to find out more about terrariums, you can visit Little Green Pot or their Facebook page to take a look. They usually hold 2 workshops per month and you can find out more information by e-mailing them.

Hope you've enjoyed this post! 

Please let me know what you think in the comments below and share the post if you like it :)

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Shopping: New2U Thrift Shop

Thrift shopping at a good cost.

Hi everyone!

Thrift shopping is a more cost-saving way to get you the items you need PLUS it's like a treasure hunt - You'll never know what you might find!

Over in Waterloo Street, New2U Thrift Shop has been established since 2000. The shop is managed entirely by volunteers.

96 Waterloo Street

We had breakfast over at Harbourfront Bagus before heading over to the thrift shop. It opens on Weekdays from 10.30am to 2.30pm, so we had some time to kill after ending our night shift.

I had Yong Tau Foo for breakfast :p

The place was easy to find and accessible. We dropped off at Bras Basah MRT and it was about an 8 minutes of walk over.

The feeling of accomplishment when we found the Thrift Shop!

The building is what you would call 'rustic'

New2U 'sells' pre-loved items such as clothes, shoes, accessories, household items, decorative items, books, CDs, etc. Basically it's the place where you can find almost everything you have at home and more.

The special thing about thrift-shopping here is that, all the items are donated by people like all of us and the proceeds will go towards beneficiaries such as the Star Shelter and various SCWO Initiatives.

The shoes here are mostly for ladies.

Neatly arranged and organised racks of clothing.

The clothes section is the most extensive. You'll find everything sorted according to tops, dresses, jackets, pants and jeans.

Also, the items are sorted for Men or Women, so you can find everything easily. Here, you'll be able to find brands such as River Island, Banana Republic, Mango, Zara and other branded clothing for prices going as low as $1.

This guy keeps going on about Germany - He was so pleased when he found this travel guide book. :P

If shopping for clothing is not your type, you'll find preloved books, toys, and even jewellery here as well. We spent most of our time over at the Books and CDs section.

Who else remembers Feeding Frenzy? Such a good game! :D

Overall, it was an interesting place to visit and buy some stuffs. At the same time, it will help others in need, so why not? :) If thrift shopping or treasure hunting is your thing, or you would simply like to get some items as props for a dress up party (do people still do that?), this is definitely the place to go!

I think this is so cute!

Time moves in another dimension here and before long, we realised that it is already noon. I didn't manage to take much photos of the household items and toys as the room is quite filled up with people.

The SG50 Sale was on when we visited.

PLUS!! For every last 2 working days of the month, everything will go for HALF its price! If you're a student, you can also enjoy 1/2 price off items on every Tuesday. (This excludes books, toys and jewellery)

Pardon our sleepy eyes. Thanks to them for introducing me and the rest of us to this place!

If you're interested to volunteer or wish donate any of your items, find out more over HERE.

New2U Thrift Shop

96 Waterloo Street, Singapore 187967

Opening hours: Mondays to Fridays 10.30am - 2.30pm

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Food: Eighteen Chefs @ JCube

There are some days in which we crave for something extra cheesy. The super shiok feeling you get when you bite into a pizza and the cheese stretches like there's no tomorrow. But today, we're sharing one of our favourite restaurants which is affordable, delicious and of course, famous for their cheesy baked pasta and rice!

We have frequented Eighteen Chef's outlet at Tiong Bahru in the past, but the outlet is closed for now. Not to worry, they have a total of 8 outlets in Singapore (CLICK HERE to view their other locations)

Found a newly opened restaurant in JCube - perfect for those living in the west!

Eighteen Chefs have quite an extensive menu from western food to Asian cuisine. You can browse through their full menu HERE. I was very sure of what I wanted to order because of my cheese craving. :)

Soup of the day - Mushroom Soup

Our mushroom soup arrived first. It somehow tasted a little like Mee Soto soup for me. :D Maybe I've got weird taste buds but the soup wasn't bad. Slightly oily and watery though.

His Frozen black and my ice lemon tea in very cute mugs

Frozen Black is basically Root Beer Float with chocolate ice cream and whipped cream. We both felt that it would be much nicer if they used vanilla ice cream for the root beer float instead. Chocolate ice cream would probably taste better with milky drinks.

Photo from their website "Be Your Own Chef"

You have to write your orders on a slip of paper, just follow steps 1-4 accordingly and you won't be wrong! Also, if you ordered an additional top-up ingredient (Step 4), you would be able to add on ANOTHER additional ingredient of the same price or less with no extra charge :D

My cheesy baked rice!

What I ordered:

Student Special

Step 1: Cheese-Baked Rice

Step 2: Spicy Garlic (added extra spicy under remarks)

Step 3: C (Mushrooms)

Step 4: Beef Slices + Scrambled Eggs

Together with home-made ice lemon tea and soup of the day, my meal set totalled to $11.80 in total which is a great price :D 

Root Beer Battered Fish & Chips (Student Price: $13.80)

He ordered their Fish & Chips, after student discount it costed $11.80 ($2 off seh!). The root beer batter used ensured that the fish was really crispy on the outside. His main was also served with a generous side of assorted greens.

I was in full concentration...

Love their wall cartoons

Their outlet in JCube is bright and vibrant. I especially loved their wall designs which was quite an entertaining read. (I love looking at and reading infographics!!) The restaurant is spacious and it had a great ambience. However, we both felt that the music was a bit too loud for normal conversation. 

:D JCube has tons opportunities for selfies

Overall, we had a great time at JCube's Eighteen Chefs. The vibrant and noisy restaurant makes it easy to have light conversations with lots of laughs (no one would notice you LOLing). And after filling up my tummy, of course I felt like the Happiest Person. I just had to take a photo with this sign :D 

I would definitely come here again given that it is so near to home! Plus my sisters will really enjoy the food and it will also be less painful for my pocket because of their student discounts. :p

Eighteen Chefs
JCube. 2 Jurong East Central 1 #02-13. Singapore 609711. Telephone: 6334 3606
Open daily from 11.00am - 10.30pm

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