This article was originally published in Boro Magazine in February 2020.
I walked into a terrarium class thinking I’d make a glass vase with dirt and a succulent, and walked out with a mini mystical world featuring a fairy that reminded me of myself.
Luludi Living Art, a studio and plant shop in Astoria, offers people the opportunity to create a variety of terrariums and put their own spin on them. These traditionally include plants in a glass globe, but when you make your own, it becomes something personal.
“Terrariums are like looking at your own piece of artwork in that mini living world,” said owner Liza Fiorentinos. She adds that plants are proven to boost your mood, especially when you’re involved in building their home. “It’s a wonderful feeling, especially in New York.”
I was one of 10 women participating in the workshop. Most participants seemed to come with a friend or family. We all sat around a table and passed colored moss, pebbles, rocks, plants, tools, and, the biggest conversation starter — buckets of toys — back and forth. Fiorentinos and another instructor circulated, offering tips and answering questions.
“People are usually nervous about working with plants, so when you add a creative aspect to it … I think people feel like they can make it their own and they’re not so intimidated,” she said.
Queens resident Kenya Salley, who has watched YouTube videos about how to make terrariums, came with two friends for her birthday. She thought, “Let’s see if I can do it.”
Participants can choose to build a home for succulents, which require dirt, or air plants, which don’t need to be rooted and can live on top of pebbles or moss.
Given my low success rate with succulents, I chose two air plants. I laid down a couple of inches of pebbles. The instructors reminded me to add enough height so the display would be visible. When making these, Fiorentinos asks people to envision where it will be for the vantage point, will you be looking at it eye level, down on it or up at it?
She says participants build camaraderie during the process, and she was right. The other participants and I passed back moss and pebbles, and checked out each others’ terrariums.
“There’s laughter and shared excitement,” she says. “People just naturally want to support each other.”
I didn’t have a vision in mind, but I didn’t expect to incorporate toys. But, a plastic tree matched the colors of my pebbles and moss, and once I place it inside the glass, I realized I needed some creatures to sit underneath. I found a toy fairy with a very lifelike face who was stretched out and leaning on her forearms, and chose her as the centerpiece.
Things moved quickly after that – she needed sidekicks. I announced I needed a dog figurine to add in, and multiple people passed them to me as they sifted through the toys and found them. Then another woman helped me pick which looked the best. An orange puppy I placed inside was cute, but didn’t stand out. The woman next to me agreed when I said I needed a lighter dog to pop. I ended up with a small white puppy and a white goat flanking my fairy.
I saw classmates with a Caribbean color scheme, an underwater world and a grassy plant home for a toy horse.
About halfway through, Fiorentinos encouraged people who were overthinking or doubting their creations to do what she calls a “walk-away”— get up, walk around, and come back.
“When I do [classes] with kids, they finish in 15 minutes,” Fiorentinos says. “They know exactly what they want to do. Adults get stuck being creative.”
She has vision boards around the studio to inspire her students when they walk around. Often when they come back, they have a new perspective and can finish building their terrarium, Fiorentinos says.
For Michelle Quniones, who came with her mother and sister as a Christmas present, it helped her finish her piece.
“I added a few more rocks, I’m pretty satisfied,” she said.
Fiorentinos reminded people the terrarium isn’t permanent - you change things out as it’s a living space.
“If you go on a vacation and bring a shell home, you can put it in there,” she said.
In Luludi’s crystal terrarium class, participants choose a crystal before it starts based on a goal or something that want to work on. Fiorentinos encourages them to remove or replace it if it’s longer an issue.
Fiorentinos says she offers sand art terrarium classes, crystal terrarium classes, herb classes, kids’ classes, holiday classes and more. She attracts all types of people like bachelorette parties — one walked in as I was on my way out — dates, men, women, families, hedge fund workers who want to be creative and unemployed people who want to feel good. She’s done terrarium classes for companies for groups as large as 500.
For those who want to bring more plants into their life, she suggests ZZ plants or any kind of violet because it blooms on an ongoing basis if the space has good light. In lower light, try a peace lily, ivy, vine or spider plant. She also loves the crispy wave plant.
Don’t be afraid to get a fake plant, she said studies show they can boost moods as well as a real plant. As part of her business working with corporate clients, she often installs fake plant scapes in buildings.
Fiorentinos, who started Luludi after working in the corporate media world, started the business to do something creative.
“I love people, I love plants — I love the combination of the two,” she said. “And to see how their world starts and what it ends up with.”
When we all left, we had a live plant wrapped up in a box with care instructions, and for me – the confidence to bring plants into my home.