Halloween in the fairy garden!

September 22, 2015 / beneaththeferns / Leave a comment

The leaves are turning colors and the air is getting crisp, it must mean that Halloween is one the way! To celebrate this spooky time of year, I’ve found the best Halloween themed listings for fairy gardens on Etsy, and put them together here. Come on in and see what’s brewing! (And don’t forget to click on each picture to be taken to the Etsy listing!)

First off are two adorable little kitties created by Alison at CupOCats! The kitties (both above and below) are so cute, and I can just see them lazing about in a miniature garden (waiting for miniature mice, no doubt).

Next is another character for your garden, an adorable little gnome sculpted from polymer clay by Michelle at Creative Cottage. This sweet gnome will keep your garden safe from Muggles and ghosts, and maybe even do some weeding!

While the gnome might keep the ghosts away, he has welcomed in this baby troll artfully created by Amber at Trollflings. Who wouldn’t want those big brown eyes hanging around their garden?

On to the decorations! Of course we need lots of orange pumpkins in our fairy gardens, and Jessi at JessisArtStudio makes pumpkins that I just adore! Look at those swirly tendrils and the beads on each pumpkin…genius!

Jennifer at Gnome Woods knows how to make polymer clay behave, and here are two excellent specimens of Halloween themed mushrooms ready to join your fairy garden. They are too cute!

Speaking of cute, how about a spot of tea from these miniature teapot and cups in the shape of Halloween pumpkins? Steph from StephtheFairyMaker has created the sweetest little set that will look great with all these autumn accessories!

And of course, we have to have snacks to go with that tea! Take a bite out of this yummy cake that Caylie from StudioPasat has made. I really want to make a full sized cake like this one now! Mmmm….I can just taste it!

And where will our little Halloween fairies live! In a pumpkin shaped house, of course! This beauty was created by ArtisticSpirit, and is so detailed for the size that it is!

And finally, two amazing doors handcrafted by Kim at ClaybyKim. I love all her doors, but these capture the character of Halloween so well!

Remember to click on the pictures above to be taken to the item listing to learn more about it, and Happy Halloween!

~Jessi

Birthday fairy garden, entry #3 for contest from Fairygardens.com

September 13, 2015 / beneaththeferns / 5 Comments

With fall quickly approaching, my summer fairy gardening is coming to a close. What better time to look through what has been created this summer than a cold, rainy day such as today? To make the walk down memory lane even more fun, the folks over at Fairygardens.com are holding their annual fairy garden contest, which is a great way for everyone to come together and share their creations over the past summer. It’s sort of a “harvest” of great fairy garden ideas!

Here is my entry #3, a birthday inspired fairy garden I made for my mom. We don’t live as close to each other as we used to, so I made a little “picnic” table where our fairies can sit together and share a giant birthday cupcake!

Miniature fairy garden birthday theme pathway from efairies
The chairs are made from the tops of really expensive beers that my hubby drank… And there is even a miniature card for her.

Miniature fairy garden birthday theme bird house
I made a matching birdhouse and birdbath, I love how the copper roof on the birdhouse looks!

The plants I put in here had a bald patch, so I filled in the area with some little mushrooms!

I was happy with how the garden turned out, and really happy to be able to give it to my mum! Happy Birthday Mom! ♥

Want to see more fairy gardens, or enter your own in the contest? (Come on, it’ll be fun!) Visit www.fairygardens.com/contest/ or click the picture below to see what others have created!

Gnome home fairy garden, entry #2 for contest from Fairygardens.com

September 7, 2015 / beneaththeferns / 1 Comment

Here is my entry #2, which I made in April of this year. I had a rare span of time where my toddler was staying with her grandparents, which allowed me to create this mosaic garden path (and before baby #2 got here!). The entire path is made from little polymer clay rocks I made by hand, and glued one piece at a time to a piece of wood. The gnome home is also a project I made last year from polymer clay and wood. It was nice to see both projects finally done! (To see how the path was made, click HERE).

I rolled hundreds of little “rocks” from polymer clay to get the color variation I wanted in the swirls.

Acorn caps make great flower pots!

A chair for mom, dad, and baby fairy!

A sundial to tell when it is lunch.

Tools nicely stored.

A basket of seeds waiting to be planted.

Home sweet home.

Detail of the garden path.

As most mums know, finishing our own projects takes second seat to raising our kiddos. Every once in a while it’s nice to see something get finished though, and I think that re-ignites our creative “spark” so we can pass it on to our special little ones!

Want to see more fairy gardens, or enter your own in the contest? (Come on, it’ll be fun!) Visit www.fairygardens.com/contest/ or click the picture below to see what others have created!

Tulip fairy garden, entry for garden contest at Fairygardens.com

September 7, 2015September 7, 2015 / beneaththeferns / Leave a comment

First up is my tulip house garden, created with my daughter and our two nieces when they came to visit this May. Everyone had a part creating something… we told the adults if you want to come see what we made, they would have to make something to add to the garden too! They looked around at random leaves and flowers for a bit, and before long were having just as much fun as the kids!

The fairy garden in the early spring, and after the fairies moved in.

Fairy house nature kids craft garden miniature
Elena used lilac blossoms in walnut shells to create tiny flower pots.

Fairy gardens swing miniature how to tutorial
Emma created a swing from the fork of a tree. Her dad helped show her what knots to use to tie it!

Fairy house toddler nature craft garden miniature
Mary Helen is still a bit young to create her own fairy furniture, but would just run her hands around the garden, carefully touching each piece we made.

Fairy house nature craft garden miniature
A fairy totem pole made from tulip petals, the house is made from cedar bark.

Fairy furniture swing garden miniature
Emma also created a swing in the background from a rock, and I made a dandelion swirl.

Fairy house nature craft garden diy miniature
Aunt Lisa made the fairy garland hanging above, and Uncle Oscar created a hammock from a tulip leaf.

All in all, it was a wonderful way to spend a spring day. We are sure the fairies had as much fun living in this garden as we had creating it! Want to see more fairy gardens, or enter your own in the contest? (Come on, it’ll be fun!) Visit www.fairygardens.com/contest/ or click the picture below to see what others have created!

A rare sighting…. The home of Fae maritimus

September 3, 2015September 4, 2015 / beneaththeferns / Leave a comment

Recently I went camping on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state, and was delighted to find the very rare dwelling of the fairy type, Fae maritimus. Otherwise known as the common beach fairy, F. maritimus is well known for weaving their homes from the durable grasses that line saltwater beaches. I was very cautious when approaching this house, as I was unsure whether the residents were at home or not…

Just as I approached the home, a group of tourists walked by, and I, not wanting to draw attention to the home of F. maritimus, left the area quickly. And later I realized what a good move that was, for this house was indeed inhabited. When I returned later that evening, the owner of the home was inside, and I could see them moving around (most likely preparing the evening meal).

I watched from afar, my telephoto lens allowing me a closer glimpse of the house. I could make out that the door is crafted from seaweed, carefully hung from a reed to protect the interior of the home from the elements.

While a common type of fairy, F. maritimus gains the reputation of being rare, simply because their dwellings blend into the surroundings so well. They live on both the east and west coasts, and on the shore of other inland bodies of water.

I left before I made my presence known, as I did not want to disturb the owner of this house. I plan to return, as I admire these fairies who make the gusty sea shore their home.