DIY Project: Marble and Mineral Scapes

Hi Everyone! Today I’m sharing my latest DIY project idea: marble and mineral scapes. Think of them as terrariums without plants. The ingredients of choice are colorful sand, mineral specimens, marble tiles, and hardware such as washers and hex nuts. I’ve made no secret of my love for marble, as well as my excitement about the current design trend of celebrating geometric forms with materials such as glass, stone and metal. Today’s featured DIY project reflects recent trends while throwing in a bit of retro flair…

The best part: this project is super affordable, especially if you use found rocks or minerals from your childhood collection. And you’d be surprised by the rocks and minerals that show up at thrift shops! Washers and hex nuts in silver and gold tones can be purchased for mere cents at home improvement stores. And marble tiles are sold for dollars (or much less) at retail outlets such as Floor & Decor.

The mini-tiles below were originally part of groupings sold in sheets. However, they were sitting loose on the shelf at Floor & Decor. The manager told me they’d become dislodged from their respective sheets…and that I could have them for free. I jumped at that opportunity! The green diamond-shaped crystal is actually fluorite, which I purchased at a rock and mineral shop several years ago.

The details of today’s project, including a full tutorial on the mineral scape process and tips for using food coloring to dye sand, can be found over at Decoist. I regularly blog for the site, and lately I’ve been on a DIY kick for my Decoist posts. That’s right, folks–I just can’t stop making things out of marble. Remember my post from earlier this year on DIY marble tile art?

I’ll be honest–half the fun of this project was gathering the materials and planning out the vignettes that the glass globes would eventually hold. Some great photo ops here, as you can see above and below! And of course, there’s nothing like putting it all together. Pour in the sand, then add each unique element, one by one.

The end result: a quirky collection that you can leave as is or tweak in the days that follow. That’s the beauty of mineral scapes–they can constantly evolve as your design preferences change.