lol Blue.
I don't know if I want a fungus in the lawn, but that fairy ring with mushrooms looks so cool!
Fairy Gardens 2008
This is such a great thread that PrimroseSue has started. There are some old fashioned flowers and plants that just drip with ancient fairy magic, and so many ways to interpret this theme with flowers and garden designs - I hope I'm not viewed as hi-jacking the thread, because this is a subject long dear to my heart.
Well, toadstools are certainly one of these plants. Here's an interpretation of a fairy ring that captures the spirit of a ring without easily identifiable plants, but still suggests many ways to express a ring with plants, besides toadstools (although there are said to be 2 species of fungus in Maryland that are said to glow in the dark) -
HughesEdward Robert_MidsummerEve_Wikipedia_1908
source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Edward_Robert_Hughes
(image use allowed)
found my first fairy but she is not for outdoors : (------will keep looking for an outdoor fairy to my liking---has anyone made a fairy house out of a birdhouse? it seems like that might make a base--there are so many different birdhouses--but you would need to make a door and maybe the round bird hole could be a window above the door?
Here's a pretty neat link to different suggestions for creating a fairy house--- http://www.wikihow.com/Image:Anatomyhouse_262.jpg
Lots of good ideas on this one
thank you so much!! i wanted to make one and i wanted just that look-rustic and natural---wasn't sure how to go about it tho--i think it will be fun planning and doing! i just skimmed the directions etc because i will not start for another week or so but i sure like that site! have you made one?
Linda, the one in the first photo of this thread is a bird feeder I picked up at a craft store. I'll post a photo of the finished product tomorrow.
Karen, don't feel guilty about hi-jacking! The more fairy stuff and info, the better!!!
Well, thanks everyone, now my interest is really peaked and I have been searching the web as well. This is something my granddaughters could treasure when they come to visit and a great idea for a memorial garden for a dear friend's children.
I grow and have lots of corkscrew willow and harry lauder and have seen some while surfing that are quite unusual, which is what I go for. Last eve rustled up a corkscrew that will make a great tree to use to make and place in it a treehouse fairy house. I'll post a pic this eve if I can.
Primrose, great idea to start with a birdhouse and refurbish it. Lots of possibilities. ARe you going to keep it outside all the time, will it be covered from the elements? I figure I'll polyurethan ours and leave it out all the time, perhaps near our barberry bush.
Here's a front view. I ended up using a hot glue gun for the stones and moss, and tacky glue for the little mushroom poster on the inside. (Tip: the hot glue cools almost instantly on the stones, so you don't have time to fiddle with positioning.)
I wanted an all-natural look - stones, bark, twigs - but am not sure exactly what to do. So it will remain like this for the time being.
After I'm done planting I'll set this up with the fairies and furniture, etc.!
Here's the side view. I used snippets of lace trim glued onto the inside for the curtains.
Oh it is looking fabulous. Great job with the stones. Thanks for the glue gun tip as I have never used one and will be using for the first time when I work on mine. Do you need any special glue for outside weathering?
haighr - I don't know about outdoor glue. That was my original question on this thread and still don't have an answer. So I'm going with the glue gun and tacky and will see if they hold. Will let you know in about a year!
lulu - if you don't mind cold NE winters, come on up!
i love that bird house that became a fairy house! was it hard to make the door? what did you do to make it? once when my kids were little i took them and some friends for a hike--after a while i thought it looked just like a place fairies might like so i started telling them that i thought they lived there--well we kept seeing signs of fairies (hollow of a tree etc) and they were so into it that we ended up leaving notes for them!
Linda, it's actually a bird feeder, not a house. My dh pulled out one side below a window to make the door. Hey, that's a cute story!
Here is what I am beginning with a corkscrew willow cutting that has dried out and two boards for two levels. The top level will be the boudoir and the lower level a patio for table and chairs and bench perhaps.
Right now the base is just a board screwed into the tree and the stones are just for support and the whole thing I am thinking will be a bit underground for support and the gardens around the tree?
This message was edited May 29, 2008 9:20 PM
Oh, won't that be the most creative and cutest fairy garden, haighr!
We will need to see more pics as you progress!
That is so awesome!!! I can't wait to see it in place!
OUTDOOR GLUE-try gorilla glue-that is what I use for EVERYTHING!! I use tacky & hot glue for crafts, but gorilla for everything else in my house!!!
I love that little fairy plateau-that is how I imagine them living or in trees-too many movies I guess!!
I would love to live in a tree house, I see them on Extreme Homes on TV sometimes and they are so clever. I will use the top platform as the fairy house and the bottom will be a litle porch. I am thinking of drilling a hole in the top one and have a little ladder going down, but still have to think on it a bit. I was then thinking of doing a rope ladder from the lower platform to the ground? Not sure yet. Too much rain to go out today and begin, perhaps tomorrow. I got a glue gun yesterday at the store for put it together. I think we have some gorilla glue, need to go look for it.
i haven't heard of gorilla glue--sounds like a great product!
remember the tree house in swiss family robinson? i always wanted to live there!
i never thought of the fairies living IN trees--in my mind they lived under them in heavily wooded areas with moss and leaves and old trees --
this is fun--like being a kid again!!
Faries love to be in trees. I have seen them at my house. They have tiny trees,which we would consider shrubs..but when you are just inches tall.. a shub can becomes a giant tree to a fairy. :)
This is a lot of fun and have been working diligently all day on the Candee fairy house.
Here is some of the progress, got support beams up LOL and a door and will work on the sides and roof later.
A bit more construction both levels stained hardwood floors LOL and the fairy door.
This message was edited Jun 1, 2008 5:31 PM
Made a round bed and rose petal blanket and pillows of something!
Do you think when I get walls and a clubmoss roof the fairies will come?
If you notice under the top floor there is a limb coming out and that will be for the swing!
Another angle on the door
very nice and creative--yes the fairies will come--at least i would if i were a fairy!!
i was thinking of how to do proportions--my fairy house will be smaller --i guess you mostly eyeball it for making things the right size for your size fairy
This one is about 7" tall for the top house and the bottom porch will have a stone railing around and a table and chairs, swing and will put a light in the upper one.
I was thinking of club moss for the roofing material and will do more building around the sides up to the 5" door for walls and then they shall come and then for the lower patio and then for the gardens.
oh you are having just too much fun!! can't wait to give it a try soon
Haighr, looks like you have a fun project for the summer! And very creative, too!
I will have to get one of those "walking stick" plants~~
Will you mind if we copy your idea!?! (-:
Would love to see what you come up with tabasco, by all means use my idea, I think it is a good design. I need to get some clubmoss next trip to the cabin for the roof and need to figure out how to make a more closed sides, am thinking corkscrew willow.
It is a Harry Lauder's Walking Stick-I have one-got it in a 2 gallon pot last fall for like $12-not big enough to do anything that neat with yet though:( I have been looking for stuff for my fairy garden, just haven't been really finding much:(
Fairy - I don't know what type of stuff you're looking for, but I look in the dollhouse section at craft stores and on eBay. Then, I use my imagination also.
I am soooo envious! I would love to have a fairy garden - but no more room!
There is a fairy who lives here. I don't know her name but the house is located at the base of Amythest Mountian near Beego Lake
seandoor..Faries are tiny..you do not need much room. Gardens can be tucked under a bush...They like their privacy!
This path and bridge leading to a garden is tucked under one of my rose bushes..
and i think you can do smaller fairies too--i like what you did bea--very nice!
Beego lake looks like a nice area for fairies to retire to.
Bee, that is adorable and a great addition, will have to keep a bridge in mind.