Savage Garden Preparation

I hinted at a future for the glass case I brought home over a month ago, and over the last few days I was afforded a chance to get in to prepping it for its future as the home of my carnivorous plant garden!

The first thing, learned from a beautiful glass-and-basemetal dodecahedron purchased at Urban Outfitters, was to coat EVERY seam and between the glass edges with silicone. Otherwise the moisture will creep in and cause rust and leaching. I had a BEAUTIFUL D&D themed terrarium complete with miniatures in aheated battle, mindflayer and minion vs. undaunted adventurers.... Like seriously, there was a halfling in there. But because of the rust and leaching, every plant died a horrible death and the metal became VERY rusty. I want to try to clean it up and redo it, but that'll have to wait until after the move.
To that end, silicone went down EVERYWHERE. I mean it. Including places that were not glass or metal in the case.

I squeezed the silicone tube so much and so often I actually bruised my fingertip. But the expenditure of time and energy was worth it, as I am 99% sure there will be no rusting or leaching this time and my plants will liiiiiive!

I left that to dry and cure overnight, then tackled the next issue... The base was just base metal and there was no way I was spreading silicone over that much open space. We already had on hand some spray paint for outdoor metal, so that was drafted to help waterproof the base.

 First paper was taped to the glass to keep the spray paint from coating it. I used washi tape to fix it to the glass so there wouldn't be residue to have to wipe off the glass afterward.

This really has nothing to do with the project, it's just really adorable and I love using it for washi tape instead of regular.

Office supply snail is ready for your washi tape needs!

Then there was nothing to do but do the painting. I took it outside and sprayed away! It was dark so the pictures aren't great, but you get the idea.

It'll be drying outside overnight. And in the morning if there aren't any fumes, I can start prepping the soil mix and drainage field for the terrarium. I'm really excited that this is coming together so fast!