So Fairy Special

You may recall that I recently kept my mom's African Violet  on life support for a few weeks while she was away.   I'm happy to report that it left my house in stable condition.

Inspired, I went and bought a few pansy's to put outside and my daughter helped me plant them in some urns we have on our front steps.

We got to thinking how we liked planting them and how we'd love to do more.  Living in a condo has the blessings of never having to do yard work, but it also means we can't really make a garden or plant a few things ever.

We started brainstorming and with spring vacation approaching, we came up with the idea of planting a fairy garden on our back deck.  We decided we would get a container and create some magic.

I couldn't have imagined how much fun we were going to have doing this project together.  Anytime we were out over the week, we would pick up little things that we thought would be cute to add to the garden.  By the end of the week we had an adorable little collection of crafts and knick-knacks.

My daughter got right to work, painting a few things we had picked up, I was so impressed with her creativity.  

 

A small Adirondack chair for the fairies to rest their weary wings on.

 

 A small house to catch a few Zzzzz's

Some wooden tulips for decoration (and in case our real flowers don't make it)  My husband thought they were piggy heads :)

 Some of the things we gathered over the week, nothing cost more than a few dollars.

 The little artist , hard at work.

 Step one. Plant one adorable child.  We got this big container at Wal-mart, it looks ceramic, but its made of plastic.  My husband drilled a few holes in the bottom for drainage.  Look at me, talking like a plant person.

 Some soil, I totally underestimated how much it would take to fill this thing, there were a few trips to the store.

 Starting to place all our treasures..so exciting!

 A lovely stone path leading up to the house, complete with a welcome sign.

 An aerial view.  The plant next to the blue mushroom is a strawberry plant, can't wait to see if we get a few berries.  Next to the house is a solar stake, so the fairies can see at night.

 Little ladybugs, because according to my daughter, they are good friends with fairies.

 I love the way she painted the chair, it's so colorful!

My proud little gardener! 


The best part was really the next morning when she checked on the garden and yelled, "THEY CAME!!!"

She knew this because one of the leaves on the strawberry plant had moved.  (Never mind that the pinwheel in the garden was spinning madly, fairies moved that leaf, NOT the wind)

She was so excited, I didn't really know what the outcome of planting this garden would be , I hadn't planned on it becoming something so real for her, but I love it.  I love the time we spent together making it, I love that we'll both be working to keep the plants in it alive and I hope it becomes as sweet a memory for her as it is for me.