Summer is slipping by too quickly! I don’t like reminders of fall’s approach to creep into the summer months of July and August, yet the kids are heading back to school already, and fall decorations are out in craft stores. I like to extend summer – my favorite season – as long as possible, so today I’m sharing my fairy gardens I planted in May and have been enjoying ever since. There is still a lot of summer to look forward to – warm weather, late season garden blooms and the State Fair in…
Fairy gardens are like miniature playgrounds, so naturally they’re ideal for kids as well as adults. I thought it would be fun to make a fairy garden for my friend Rebecca’s daughter Abbie, because she loves fairies and has enjoyed looking at fairy gardens since she was just over a year old. Most fairy garden figures are made of breakable resin or other fragile materials though, or contain sharp metal pieces. So I was really excited to find a line of figures designed for young children at my local garden center called the Flower Fairies Secret Garden collection…
Summer is in full swing, so over the next several weeks I’ll be sharing this year’s crop of outdoor fairy gardens I planted. Each year I like to mix up my fairy gardens. Some of them are similar to gardens from past years; I use figures I already have and arrange them a little differently, then add a few new accents. I also like to make at least one or two brand new themed gardens. It’s always fun to come up with something new to enjoy so I don’t get bored having the same gardens each…
Fairy fun for everyone can be found in central Indiana at a magical springtime event called Welcome to Fairyville. Nickel Plate Arts in Noblesville, Indiana puts on the four-day event with lots of activities for families such as fairy tea parties, crafts, storytelling, entertainment, face painting and – my favorite part – a Fairy Trail of miniature homes on Friday and Saturday you can explore for free. My mom and I went to the Fairy Trail last year for the first time and were really impressed with the creativity and number of fairy homes and gardens. Kids, adults and local…
Here in central Indiana we’ve had such a wintry spring! It’s mid-April. Why are we still getting snow? I didn’t even bother planting pansies this year. I think I can count the warm weather days we’ve had on one hand, plus low temperatures are often still dipping below the freezing mark. At this point I’ll just wait to plant flowers after Mother’s Day, which is usually the all-clear signal to have a go at planting summer annuals. I wonder if it will even be warm enough for that a month from now…
Last October I shared with you my Halloween fairy garden, a fun artificial garden display that I set up indoors shortly before my outdoor fairy gardens succumbed to the first frost. Well now we’ve made it through winter and I’m thinking Spring! I can’t wait for flowers and warm weather! Already the snow and bitter chill are gone, daffodil shoots are starting to come up, and the days are getting brighter and longer. To tide me over to Spring planting time, I set up a cheerful little indoor Easter fairy garden. I saw the Easter fairy garden…
Artificial fairy gardens can be just as fun as fairy gardens made with real plants and flowers. They’re a fun accent for your home all year round. And during the colder months, you’re limited to indoor fairy gardens or artificial gardens anyway (fauxry gardens?), so that’s the perfect time to try one. In past years, I’ve enjoyed making fairy gardens for Christmas and Valentine’s Day using artificial snow. This is my first year bringing my Halloween fairy garden indoors. The last couple of years, I’ve had one outside. As long as they’re…
In September I shared my farmers market fall fairy garden. This week I finished transforming the rest of my fairy gardens for fall. Fall fairy gardening is especially fun because there’s no planting required! I get to focus on decorating, my favorite part. You can pull out any dead growth caused by summer heat spells or early fall chill, and fill in those areas with figures. Likewise you can trim back and pull out overgrown plants to make room for your decorations. My main problem is overgrowth, so the layout of my fall gardens is determined by the choice…
I have a bit of a fairy garden addiction. Okay, more than a bit. I started making them four years ago, and have expanded my tiny kingdom from one in 2013 to six outdoor fairy gardens in 2017. There are two main reasons I’m hooked on fairy gardens. One is that you can plant and design an entire mini garden in under an hour, which is highly satisfying. There’s no way you can whip your yard into shape that quickly! The second is that they are absolutely adorable, and you get to shop for the cutest…