building a fairy garden

I'm not exactly sure how we managed it during this busy busy time but we were able to squeeze in some fairy garden design and assembly!  I believe that more will be added to it over the course of the next few months but for now we're really excited with the results!

It's tucked beside the brick herb planter at the entrance to our side garden in a potted lilac bush.  The pot is about 20" in diameter so we had limited space but lots of ideas!  

Many of our ideas came from Living Crafts and Pinterest.  And The Magic Onions is having a Fairy Garden contest that is fun to check out as well!  Some of the gardens out there are amazing!  Hours and hours spent by creative individuals aimed at creating true works of art.

My daughter looked at several photos and quickly made a list of "must haves"...

#1 - a river made from blue glass pebbles (with a walnut boat!)

#2 - a bridge (we tried a few different materials and then decided on popcicle sticks)

#3 - a gravel path (made with tiny speckled rocks that we collected from the beach), an arbour (like the one in our own 'secret garden') and a fairy mailbox

#4 - a table and chairs with 'food' for the fairies

(this includes heart cookies, a cupcake, a loaf of dark rye bread with a shell knife, and dark rye buns)

 

A few other things were added to the list as she sketched out her plan and we talked about ideas...a fence, a toadstool, a ladybug, a bee hive, a hanging basket for flowers, and a shell bath filled with water!  What lucky fairies!

 

Our biggest challenge was trying to make everything as waterproof as possible as we live in a wet and humid climate.  Glue doesn't hold long term so we decided to stitch the fence and bridge together.  I drilled holes in the sticks and we sewed them together with embroidery floss.

 I think the boys of the house thought we were a bit nuts as we scurried back and forth collecting supplies, but they had to admit when they came out for the unveiling that it's a pretty special little garden!

 

And you know every time I pass it, I can't help but smile and check to see if the fairies have left a sign that they have been by for a visit!

If you have created a fairy garden (or any other fun area in your garden with your children) please share a link in the comments.

xoxo

~ joey ~