A Fairy Garden Gift

A gift for friends

July 25, 2013

I have made a "Spectator's Dream Garden".  It all started with a purple ceramic pot!  This is a gift for two very special people.  I would like to share a little with all of you before I gift it.  The couple I'm making this for are big sports fans and their team colors are "purple and white".

First:
I made a very small house.  The form was originally a birdhouse purchased at Hobby Lobby.  I cut the hole into a doorway.  I thought this was going to be an okay house, but if I had to repeat what I had done I would have glued the door to the entrance instead of hinging it.  I didn't know exactly what I was going to do at first so I focused on the front of the house.  I thought it needed a chimney so I used a wine cork and decided it would work.  I covered the wine cork with small rocks before attaching it to the roof of the house.  The house is very small and the roof is the most prevalent part.

 Once I decided to cover the chimney with rocks I glued the final chimney to the unfinished roof.  I wanted to build around the chimney.  I took broken pieces of bark and randomly glued them to the roof.  Not making any specific type pattern.  Once I thought I had a sufficient amount of bark on the roof I began to glue dried moss in the open cracks.  This made for a "hobbit house" look.

 I glued small rocks on both sides and the back.  This completed the house.

finished little fairy house

Second: 

I built a bed.  I like making beds with twigs so I decided to take a different twist on things.  I started with a matchbox that opens and closes.

I then built around this piece.  

The little drawer opens and closes

I made a headboard and compared the bed to a dime.

Third:

Moving on I built two chairs.  These were very small so therefore I've selected to not be too picky!  I made tiny chair cushions to put on the chairs so the fairies can relax on that hard furniture.

Two small chairs with cushions and a matching pennant 

I didn't stop with the chairs!  I made a little banner displaying their team colors too.  Since this garden was much smaller than the first one I made I decided to get started laying out my plan before building anymore furniture.  

Starting the layout

At this point I was debating on the pennant.  I thought it was too large for the scene.  I removed the pennant and added the chairs (ran outside and quick made a table with a flat river rock supported by a wine cork) went back inside to place those items and think!!!!!!!

Without pennant? No, I think it needs the pennant.

Poor lighting, but with the pennant.

Some of the air plants I added to the garden.
This one was placed in a drilled-out wine cork.

Always "Hens and Chicks"

The garden has come together nicely.  

I hope they like it!

Fairy Garden

Fairy Garden

July 18, 2013
Recently I returned from visiting my sister in Dallas, Texas.  While I was there she and I visited various greenhouses and this is what inspired me to make a fairy garden.   I looked and viewed several ideas before deciding how I wanted to make mine.  I didn't go about this in a normal fashion.  First I built the house I thought I would like!  A bit backwards but the garden was going to center around the house so I needed to complete this first.  My sister's house is on the left and mine is on the right.
Once I made the house I began looking for a container.  I was very disappointed when looking for containers as their prices were astronomically high.  I then decided I would look for a container after I bought various plants that I liked.  Upon purchasing the plants at a local greenhouse I also came across the prefect planter and it was priced right!  Since I spent the majority of the money on plants and container I had no other choice but to make furniture.  I started simple.  

I decided to make a table (from rocks) and chairs.  The chairs are a single wooden sewing thread spool cut in half.  The chairs were painted pink to draw in fairies.

The cup and saucer were purchased from hobby lobby and glued to the table.  Once the table and chairs were completed I then decided to make a bed.  I have a type of disorder that I think I can make anything and do it fast............that isn't always a good thing, but in this case I put together a bed relatively quickly.  

 The quilt fit very nicely on the bed.

 Behind the bed to the right you can see the wishing well that I put together.  This didn't go near as quickly or smoothly!  I burnt my fingers 3 times and had to redo the top to make it scale with the house.

 I used a sewing thimble for the bucket.  Now I needed an arbor.  My sister sent me a photo of an arbor she said she had made for her fairy garden and my jaw dropped.  It was exactly what I wanted.  I never told her I had put one together very quickly and it looked really bad (I dumped it back into the supply bag).  I used some vines from an old grapevine wreath.  I soaked them and selected smaller branches that possessed a little arch to them.  Once I made my rectangular form for the base I was able to glue the arched branches from base end to base end.  I then clipped small arched branches to glue randomly across the
arbor to make a crisscross pattern.

 

Base of the arbor

 I still didn't know what type of container I was going to use or what type of plants I would find.  I live in a rather remote part of the country so I was going to have to do with what I found.  I came across the container while browsing for plants.  It was perfect for me as it was unconventionally shaped.

 I don't have photos of the plants I used, but I will try and list them for reference.  I bought succulents, a bonsai tree, and moss.  I clipped the succulents and drove a pencil in the dirt to make a hole for each plant I was planting.  Once I decided where the house and tree were going everything started to fall in place.  I built a walk from the front door to the end of the planter.  I branched off and made an arbor to cross through before getting to the table and chairs.  I placed the bed with the quilt under the tree as I would prefer to sleep in the shade verses full sun.  On the opposite side I placed the wishing well.  Near the wishing well I placed a bench (made from an old piece of wood with rocks used as legs for support), and a ceramic mushroom.  I placed dried green, brown, and cream colored mosses throughout the design to cover bare spots.  I had two small tongue depressors used as signs.  I used sharpie to write, "Welcome and Believe".  I glued the wood to hair pins and stuck them in the foliage.  I had a small seashell my son had brought back from a trip.  I glued it to a hair pin and stuck a dragon fly charm on the edge.  It is the bird bath.

Seashell birdbath

Finished garden