Sunday, February 17, 2013

MAKING Mondays {Fairy & Gnome House}

This year, my little beans are going to be adding a fairy house to their garden.  My little one and I took a fairy & gnome house making class this weekend at our local nursery.  These whimsical houses look neat tucked into corners of the garden or under a tree.  While I'm not jumping feet first into creating an entire miniature village, I do appreciate the craftsmanship that goes into these gardens.   I can just imagine my kids playing here for hours with their little gnomes and fairies!

Anne Ashberry from Essex England created the first known miniature garden in the 1950's.  She began planting miniature gardens in troughs. which were set high, so that handicapped and elderly people could garden in comfort.

via-fairywoodland.com

via-pinterest {original source unknown}

"Hardly a new trend, the miniature garden is enjoying a revival, not a discovery. Though often dismissed by “serious” gardeners as too whimsical, perhaps they should reconsider.  Gardening on a small scale requires the same landscape principles of placement and proportion, knowledge of plants, care and maintenance." source 



We each got to pick out a stump.  I think that constructing the house from an old log was the best way to go.  It was easy and our time was focused on the design and decorating. We enjoyed taking cues from the bark as to where things should be placed.



We brought things from home to add to our house.  My little one wanted to bring her shells and buttons.  And we had so many fun trinkets to rummage through in the shop.  Everything from dried yarrow to glass marbles.


Hot glue was used for fastening as well as the occasional drill for larger pieces. 


Color seemed to be her theme!









Come spring, we get to use our class certificate to pick out our gnomes and fairies as well as creeping thyme for our house!



Partying Here....

a humble creation








38 comments:

  1. What a fun workshop! Your little Fairy house is really cute :-D

    xx

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  2. What a great way to spend some time together. I love the final result, and using the old stump with it's slightly crumbly edges looks great! I've always loved this idea since marveling at pictures in a childhood book of elves living in a tree with the windows peeking out, and little rickety staircases outside leading to weathered doors. Great for the imagination :) Wendy

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    1. Thanks Wendy!! I know...they really enjoy having areas of the garden to work...so this will be perfect!

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  3. They are so cute. I will have to think about tucking a fairy garden into my garden.

    I am so proud of myself - I finished your pillow. It is just waiting to be boxed up and mailed off on Tuesday. And of course, I need an address.

    I hope you like it. If not, please be honest and tell me if the colors are wrong. I enjoy making them and would prefer you to be happy.

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    1. Carol you are crazy! I am gonna love it! I love your work and I can't wait to have something made by you in my home! Makes my heart sing!

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  4. That fifth picture down made this whole post for me...your little bean's hands, clenched one on top of the other in excitement, and though I can only see a bit of her face, I know she was smiling ear to ear - and that she was giddy with delight! This is SO adorable! Wishing you a week of that kind of wonderful, Nicole - XOXO Tanya

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  5. So cute! I can imagine my daughter would have loved a fairy house, too, when she was younger. Any gardener who dismisses things as "too whimsical" needs their head examined. :o)

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  6. Ahhhh we made one out of an old tree stump at playcentre. I have a couple of half wine barrels in our garden that I want to do something with.......... I think you may have given me some wonderful ideas. Love your little beans creation xo

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  7. That's very sweet! I hope your kids enjoy their fairy garden. Wish I had thought of something like this when my kids were small, though I would have had to come up with something a little different to appeal to my boys.

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  8. What a wonderful idea for a workshop, and I love that they started you off with old stumps to decorate. Genius!

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  9. That is awesome!!!!!! And what a great way to spend a cooooold winter weekend!! Love it!

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  10. I would love to do one of these with my boys and get lost in our own little fantasy world! Your little bean did a great job! Love it! xo

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  11. How cute is that!!!! I love it, my little girl would LOVE something like this! Such a fun idea, thanks for sharing Nicole!

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  12. What a unique thing to do with your little one-so cute and special! :)
    Susan

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  13. What a great class to take your kids to! So much fun. Those turned out so neat. I bet you will be making more this spring!

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  14. What a sweet house and garden you all have created. Looks like such fun but I surely don't need one more hobby. I have too many pots on the stove as it is. I'll just have fun looking at yours.
    Cindy

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  15. This is spectacular! Everyone needs a little whimsy in life, and you and your daughter did a fabulous job, while getting some oh-so-special time together. I love it! Thanks for sharing at A New Creation link party!

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  16. What a fun class! And what a great job your little girl did on hers! I love this idea, although I wonder if all of my kids are either too old or too young to get into it right now. But _I'M_ not ;)

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  17. What a fun project! It turned out beautifully! Love the window accent! I think this would be a wonderful way to get young ones interested in gardening and the outside.

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  18. That looks like so much fun and the results so pretty! Something I'd do for my little garden too.

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  19. I've been looking into fairy houses for a while now and I have to say the sea shell-mushrooms are just too perfect for words

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    1. Thanks for stopping by my blog! I will be popping over to visit yours!

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  20. What a fun project to do with your little lady! I love how her fairy garden turned out!

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  21. Nice work! I love projects with the hot glue--makes life so much easier :)

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  22. Your daughter is adorable! This is such a great idea for kids...My 10 year old spotted something similar at our local nursery so I have a feeling we'll be doing a few fairy gardens as well.

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  23. One of the great things about this little project was that it was a collaboration between you and your daughter. I am sure you made memories along with your adorable fairy house. What a perfect addition to your garden Nicole!

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  24. I try to have things hidden in the garden for my grandson to discover. Last thing was a little yellow watering can just his size. I left it lying amongst some flowerpots. The surprise of discovery is part of the fun. I want to create a secret garden for him in my next garden. After seeing the special time had by you and your daughter I think I'll include him in the planning, more fun for both of us. I've never seen fairy garden classes. I'll mention it to our garden centre.

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  25. How fun for you and your daughter! I have never thought about hiding things for my grandkids to find in my garden, but that is a wonderful idea!

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  26. I actually started one of these two years ago, but never finished it! It was so fun though! I want to try it again! Thanks for the inspiration! Following!

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  27. Omigosh, this is ADORABLE! I Have to make one now!

    www.houseofhemingway.com

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  28. Oh, what a totally fun thing to do with kids!! Mine are grown (basically) but I do have a great nephew that is 7 months old....I will have to share this with his mom for down the road!
    Thanks for sharing, love it.
    Nancy

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  29. Nicole, your precious creation has been well loved at my last week's link party and on pinterest! It is featured this week at A New Creation. Thanks again for sharing!

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  30. Nicole, I LOVE your fairy/gnome garden and house. My 2 youngest grand-daughters and I made one for my oldest grand-daughter a couple of years ago. Her mom put it on a little table on the front porch and it is still there. We are planning to make some more.

    Lynn at Mimimine.blogspot.com

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  31. This is an awesome idea! I have a fairy garden, but my fairies don't have a house. Sad, I know. But maybe things are looking up for them. :)
    Kelly

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  32. How does it hold up outside? I am trying to make one out of a stump in the ground, and I love how ya'll hot glued the marbles and shells, but I worry about how it will hold up in the weather?

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  33. This is so going to be one of my summer projects....thanks for the inspiration

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  34. I have so many hollowed out logs, I intend try my hand at one of these LOOKS LIKE SO MUCH FUN!!

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