pb&j craft everyday: Our First Fairy Garden

placing the plants and "little buddies"

Inspired by The Magic Onions Fairy Garden Contest- 2012, we started collecting items for our first fairy garden.

I decided we had better go with a succulent garden, because we needed some very hardy, resilient plants that were resistant to death-by-Mommy. (Our Grace Garden was so very beautiful, but it was too difficult to keep alive- my black thumb worked its magic on that one.)

The aloe plant in the back is actually the only plant I have ever kept alive for more than a year- the Hubs bought me that plant when I got my second teaching job, and I have convinced it to hang on for dear life this whole time! The tiny aloe plant on the right was picked out just the other day by Little Man during our trip to the greenhouse at the IMA. He carried it all around the paths, cupped in his little hands, talking to it quietly: “Hey, you little buddy. You see that statue over there? Hey little buddy- you want a sip of water?” The rest were picked up on a clearance rack at Lowes.

All the rocks came from Little Lady’s extensive rock collection: she donated almost all of her “gray rocks” (the ones she finds in parking lots, so gravel), as well as some of her favorite, very well-loved painted river rocks, and her “beautiful crystals” for the special pool in front. "Can I make some of these rocks be headstones to remember our friends and family who've died?" Sure! The pool is especially magic because when water is poured in, it disappears right before your eyes! (This would be because the pool is a small terra cotta pot with a hole in the bottom, shhh!)

The tiny house was a garage sale find- we knew we’d need that for something special! A tiny basket in the back holds the plates- spiraled craft sticks formed into plates for the fairy tea parties, and a small foam apple hides behind a plant in case anyone needs a light snack. The purple flower because, of course, purple is the favorite color these days. Why the tiny lock even though there’s no door? “Because the little friends who come will have a magic key- that’s how they’ll know how to find the garden!” A sign on the side of the house, plucked from my scrapbooking supplies, reads “Dream as if you’ll live forever.” Some pussy willows and a stick from Little Man’s collection provide some depth- “the forest,” they call it. Voila: our first fairy garden!

Now here’s where things really got interesting. Watching the littles’ creativity fly as we assembled the garden was delightful- listening to them talk about it afterwards was spectacular, insightful, and inspiring…here is a snippet of conversation overheard from the kitchen:

LM: “Look- my dinosaur can take a bath in the magic pool!”

LL: “So can my horse- actually, this is a hot bath for the animals to come relax when they’ve had a hard day.”

LM: “Who else is coming to the fairy garden?”

LL: “Well, actually, anyone can come to the fairy garden, whoever wants to come can bring their friends, like animals, and bugs, and squirrels, and bunnies- no, bunnies will eat the plants- no bunnies, but frogs can come, and elves, and mushroom people…”

LM: “Can Jesus come too?”

LL: “Oh yes, of course- Jesus can go anywhere! He can take this path right here and take care of the animals. The little house needs a welcome sign, Mom.”

LM: “How ‘bout a sign that says ‘welcome buddies’ so all the buddies can come and stay here?”

LL: “Oh yes, that’s right- Mom? We need to get the art box out again…”