FAIRY GARDEN FUN –IT’S EASIER (AND CHEAPER) THAN YOU THINK

Three beautiful little granddaughters after spending decades as the lone female in a family of five.

Can you think of any better reason to celebrate with the creation of a fairy garden?

What could be more glamorous, or fun?

Making a fairy garden was an especially fulfilling project.

The beauty is it keeps providing fun as the Goddesses of Glee get older and appreciate it even more.

The first step was deciding where, exactly, to put it.

We chose a place close to where we usually have our summer barbeques but far enough away so we can still have a conversation.

We opted to set the fairy garden straight into the ground rather than a container favoured by many fairy garden creators. The area is about 4 square metres.

The next step was clearing. It’s funny as we’re in the process of getting rid of all our lawn.

Hubby is not a fan of mowing and we’re not dedicated enough at consistent watering to really maintain one.

But the fairy garden has a lawn, of course. Guess who uses scissors to cut it? More about my crazy obsessions another time.

So we cleared the land (well, Hubby did) and created some ‘hills’ and ‘valleys’.

The best way to describe it is with some excerpts from the Blurb book I made for the Goddesses to commemorate the fairy garden – Fun Fairytales.

THE BEGINNING OF A FAIRY GARDEN

“There was much excitement when this magical place was being built. It’s possible the most excited people were the architects – Grandy and Queen Courtney”.

The fairy garden “started as a lump of dirt, artfully landscaped by the resident digger, Grandad Mark, but as the architects went to work all kinds of magic happened”.

A palace appeared for one Goddess, while a valley was named after another. Then a lake, named after the third Goddess, became a haven for ducks and frogs.

“Soon the princesses realised what a special place this is and now look forward to meeting there for magical play.

“There are other fairies to play with as well as dragons, leshies (they are tree protectors), owls, scarecrows, angels, wizards, gnomes, and even the Seven Dwarves, as well as the ducks and frogs who live in the lake.
“There are tree houses to explore, castles and a wishing well and even a waterfall.

“When they feel like working, there are plants to tend to and grass to rake and cut.

“When the princesses feel like resting they can sit at their own special table for tea parties or have fun fishing in the lake which is full of interesting creatures.

“Or they can spend time reading the wonderful letters left to them in their own fairy mailbox

“The princesses own footprints magically lead the way to this adventure land”.

Once the fairy garden was landscaped and turfed it was just a matter of a few creative afternoons with one of the DILS (daughters in law) and collecting items already dispersed around the yard to decorate.

I occasionally add some flowers in pots but these invariably get removed as the Goddesses get more interested in gardening so I may lay off that until they are a bit older.

HOW TO MAKE A FAIRY GARDEN THAT DOESN’T COST YOU AN ARM AND A LEG

I’m a bit of a collector of stuff and I had a lot of broken pottery from my dragon making days so filling the garden was easy.

I also pick up bargains when I see them.

Much as I love the beautiful items sold at fairy garden speciality places, my budget can’t afford this luxury so I improvise and the Goddesses are more than happy with the result.

I used a funny little container (the kind some restaurants use to hold their salt and pepper shakers)  that I found in an op shop as a little table.

I turned it upside down and glued a square of Perspex on top.

The stools around it are old kitchen drawer knobs painted with nail polish to look like toadstools.

One of the palaces was an old pottery bird feeder spray-painted pink.

Little mosaic tiles are brilliant for pathways while blue marbles glued to a strip from a plastic tablecloth were used to form the river.

The lake was made by glueing lots of blue marbles to an old, shallow, oval-shaped dish I had.

The frogs in the lake are those cheap plastic ones you can buy in bags at the cheap shop. The ducks are just novelty erasers.

The little tree-houses were tiny tea boxes covered in sticks.

The pathways between tree houses are made from coloured matchsticks glued to wire strips.

The stepping stones “the princesses own footprints” were made by mixing cement and putting in foil pie dishes.

When the cement was starting to set we had the Goddesses put their feet in the cement to make their footprint, then decorated with beads.

With a little imagination, it’s easy to transform old things you’re no longer using, or op shop finds, into magical items fit for any fairy garden.

If you’re looking for fairy landscaping inspiration, visit Homedit here.

For step by step instructions to make the waterfall and slide as well as a fun fishing game for the lake, and a beautiful wishing well, click here.

For more fabulous fairy garden ideas, visit Happy DIY Home.

Wishing you magical fairy fun, and a gleeful week, Tamuria