It's Fairy Week...Let's make an outdoor Fairy Garden!!!

Awhile back we tried our hand at being true off griders.  We lived in this little one room cabin in the woods with no hydro and no running water.  I bought a little washtub, that I romantically thought we would use as or bathtub, when I look at the size of it, I have to laugh.  However, it's the perfect size for a little fairy garden!!

 

If you want to make your own outdoor fairy garden here is a list of supplies you will need:

washtub, or other large size planter

Black earth, or potting soil, (a couple big bags should do)

gemstones or crystals

shells, (every size goes)

twigs, pinecones

plants, (we used succulents, tulips and violas)

We started by filling the tub with soil.  Then we planted the succulents, tulips and violas

Ruby did most of the work herself, planting the plants, (I just helped to divide them), and putting in all the decorations.  She made a little sand box, which is outlined by her gems, and used a big seashell as a pond, (complete with a crab shell floating in it).  When I went to the store today, I found some violas on sale outside, so I picked some up as a surprise addition to the fairy garden.

And here it is...totally finished!  We even found a little log end, and some acorn tops, perfect for a fairy sized table and chairs set!  I think the goal here is to get it started, provide the inspiration and let the kids be totally involved in the act of creating it!  Every now and then during the day I would catch a glimpse of her adding something or other to her garden, filling the pool with water and rearranging crystals!  I'm sure it will be a little corner of magic on my porch.  I can hardly wait until the fairies find it and enjoy a lazy evening splashing in the shell pond!

In ending I wanted to share a lovely little poem I found by Robert Louis Stevenson. 

The Flowers

All the names I know from nurse:

Gardener's garters, Shepherd's purse,

Bachelor's buttons, Lady's smock,

And the Lady Hollyhock

Fairy places, fairy things,

Fairy woods where the wild bee wings,

Tiny trees for tiny dames--

These must all be fairy names!

Tiny woods below whose boughs

Shady fairies weave a house;

Tiny tree tops, rose or thyme,

Where the braver fairies climb!

Fair are grown up people's trees,

But the fairest woods are these;

Where if I were not so tall,

I should live for good and all.