Once upon a time, two little fairies flew across the countryside, looking for a place to live.

 

They had never lived in a home, but thought it was about time to find a little place in the country.

 

“Look”, said the Fairy with a voice like a bell, “I think this might be a great place to build a summer home”.

“Let’s go check it out”, said the Fairy with flickering wings.

And so, our story begins….

*Please note, no Fairies were harmed in the making of this story.  All renditions have been carefully drawn by Grandchildren, Nieces, Nephews and other wonderful children who have visited over the past several years.

As you may know, Mr. H. and I have enjoyed our little Fairy house guests and were happy to welcome some new Fairy friends.

We already had the perfect place to set up their new home and (mostly) had all the ingredients to make many of the items needed by the Fairies in their new digs.

These cold boxes were made from old windows.

We use them to harden plants in the spring (and to hold all the extra plants I grow or buy that I cannot bear to throw away).

We didn’t need to do much to prepare the boxes for habitation.

We already had holes for drainage.

We lined the bottom of the box with some gutter filters.

(By the way, don’t tell Mr. H., but when I went to the hardware store to buy another filter for the other box, I found out they cost $16 each!!  I think we will use packing popcorn next time).

To keep the soil from falling through, we also lined the box with landscape fabric.  You do understand, don’t you, that by “we” I mean Mr. H.?

Thank you Mr. H.

This box sits on our black top driveway and really bakes in the afternoon.  We hedged our bets by lining the box with watering mats and then adding soil moist granules to the soil.

We still have to water every day.

We added the soil…

…and some heat tolerant plants.

 

 

Seriously, you can put this Fairy Garden together with just a few “found” objects.  (As you may have guessed, “found” is a loose term in this house).

I had a bird house that hadn’t been painted yet (shocking, I know).  Mr. H. knocked off the top and added a door. I painted the birdhouse brown and then added some stones with my handy-dandy glue gun.  Be sure to paint the inside brown or black.  My neighbor, Vicky, was completely mesmerized by the interior of the cottage.  Spooky, but you want to go in…..

I then added moss and dried leaves.  $5.99 at Hobby Lobby (Cooper generally has a smile on his face.  I think he’s worried that his Grandmama has flipped.  I mean, who buys moss and dried leaves?)

The finished product was a perfect size for two traveling Fairies.  (In case you are wondering, this holds up well in rain).

For the walkway, I used flat stones I just happened to find in some of our borders (oh, if you happen to run into Mr. H., I “found” these stones.  Somewhere else.  Not in Mr. H.’s borders.  I would never do that.  Really).

I glued clear glitter to the tops of the stones (I used Mod Podge.  I use Mod Podge for almost everything, unless I use my glue gun.  See the sparkle?  Probably not.  It’s just so hard to capture sparkle on a camera.  But, believe me, it’s sparkly.  Very sparkly).

I decided that the Fairies might want to raise bees.   The bee skeps were made with hemp, a small pot (or thimble) and Krazy Glue.

I wrapped hemp around a small pot.  (I used a thimble for the smaller bee skip).  Oh, and I used Krazy Glue to keep the hemp together.  So, let’s review.  If I can’t use a glue gun or Mod Podge, then I use Krazy Glue (or Super Glue or Gorilla Glue).

I haven’t seen any bees yet, but it’s just a matter of time.

The rake was made from the twigs from our Harry Lauder Walking Stick tree.  Any twigs will do, but if you happen to have a Harry Lauder Walking Stick, you will most definitely want to make your rake from the crookery twigs.

A glue gun and twine hold the rake together.

I happened to have a bag full of these wood shingles.  I got them from Michaels a couple of years ago.  I can’t remember why I got them, but look how useful they are now!!

I used some wood shingles and my trusty glue gun to fashion a bird-house.

Before I put it all together, I used a hole punch to make an entrance for the little birdies.
(Yes, I could have used a wood block, but then where would the birds go)?

I made a little perch out of a piece of wooden skewer and then attached the whole thing to the rest of the skewer (I am very conscientious).

Once the house was secure, I was able to give it a paint job in readiness for some tiny little birdies to take roost.

All self-respecting gardens have gazing balls.

Marbles glued to long golf tees are perfect Gazing Balls!

A small juniper will provide shade for the garden.  I cozied up a twig next to the tree for a swing.

Yet another wood shingle provided the base of the swing.

A smaller hole punch allowed me to thread some twine through the base of the swing.   I had forgotten to paint the swing, so pulled the twine out of the holes, painted the swing a nice redwood color and then re-threaded the twine (a little glue or Mod Podge on the ends will assist in threading through the holes).

I added some vines from a wreath I happened to have (really, why do I have all this stuff?)

Some small flowers helped to decorate the perfect perch for little Fairies.

Hemp provided the base for a bird’s nest.   I just began to roll the hemp into the shape of a nest, using Krazy Glue to keep the strands together.

Moss and twigs were used to “feather” the next.  A tweezer helped with this delicate operation.

All ready for some eggs.

With a sea shell, a door stop and some small decorate beads (thank you, Martha Stewart. Thank you), I was able to make a little bird bath.

The sea shell needed a little oomph, so some Mod Podge and beads helped to glam up the situation.

I thought the design of the door stop I found (really, I found it.  It was just sitting there, waiting for me to use it.  Honest.  And, anyway, Mr. H. really wasn’t using it) was perfect for the base.  A little Mod Podge and decorative beads punched it up a bit.

I glued the top to the base and voila!!

I thought a bird bath would be cute for the little birdies taking up residence in the nest and bird house.

 

Miranda (my darling Niece) made this picture some years ago, but I thought it was a fitting welcome for our new Garden Fairies.

The Fairies (now known as Bell and Flicker) are very happy.

*Check in later this week for more Fairy Garden accessories.  I have 26 people coming for Memorial Day.  Naturally, I am going to make more Fairy things……