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Garden Gate:  Fairy Gardens  |
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bramble
True Blue Farmgirl
2044 Posts
2044 Posts |
 Posted - Apr 29 2005 : 9:28:16 PM
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Has anyone ever planted a fairy garden with their kids? We had so much fun with the kindergarteners, that it has become an annual tradition for Spring. My son came to help this year and it was neat (but a little sad) to see him in on the secret but still enjoying the pure joy and wonder of the little ones. The kids had a great time
collecting their building materials (all natural) and then listening to the ideas for construction along the way. It's so much fun to see their faces when the morning dew has filled the acorn "cups" and someone shouts out "The Fairies were here, they just finished breakfast!" Alot of the kids through the years have planted their own at home and I get to hear reports of fairdoms far and wide! It's nice to instill a little magic and wonder. Kids are definitely losing their abilities to create without instruction and it breaks my heart because being a child is about make believe and however far your imagination will take you.
with a happy heart |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Apr 29 2005 : 9:35:18 PM
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What a wonderful idea. I need to do this for sure this year. My youngest daughter, Erin, would love love love it. She is forever making little things from leaves and grasses and loves little tea parties (I didn't have a girly girl bone in my body at her age so it is fun to see her do all this stuff) Thanks for the reminder to do this!!!! they grow up so fast.
Jenny in Utah
Bloom where you are planted! |
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bramble
True Blue Farmgirl
2044 Posts
2044 Posts |
Posted - Apr 30 2005 : 08:03:14 AM
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You're welcome. I don't know why I didn't mention it before!
with a happy heart |
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MeadowLark
True Blue Farmgirl
2206 Posts
USA
2206 Posts |
Posted - Apr 30 2005 : 08:29:57 AM
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Bramble this sounds so cool!! Can I have the details on how to do it?
"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there." Rumi, 13th century. |
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Kim
True Blue Farmgirl
146 Posts
Kim
Pflugerville
Texas
USA
146 Posts |
Posted - Apr 30 2005 : 08:47:00 AM
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Bramble,
This would be a great idea for you to send to MJ for the magazine or website!!!
farmgirl@heart
Be at peace with yourself and the rest will follow |
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jpbluesky
True Blue Farmgirl
6066 Posts
Jeannie
Florida
USA
6066 Posts |
Posted - Apr 30 2005 : 10:40:12 AM
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My two year old granddaughter would love this fairy garden idea in the next couple of years. Let's hear more! I agree, MJF might like this idea for an article in her mag.
jpbluesky
O, cease to heed the glamour that blinds your foolish eyes,
Look upward to the glitter of stars in God's clear skies.
from God's Garden by Robert Frost |
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bramble
True Blue Farmgirl
2044 Posts
2044 Posts |
Posted - May 01 2005 : 05:52:13 AM
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It can be as simple or complex as you like. We always try to pick a mossy spot to begin with but you can plant creeping time ( a Fairy favorite I hear) as a nice ground cover. Gather stones , twigs, shells, shiny pieces of glass(we used mancala stones), acorns, and let your mind run wild! Build benches, tables, beds anything you think a fairy would like. A maple leaf on a stick becomes an umbrella, a long flat stone becomes the table...you get the picture. The idea is to use all natural things as much as possible and for plantings we use mostly herbs for their small size but rock garden plants work too like miniature dianthus, some of the sedums, and cedar seedlings if you trim them make great little trees. There are whole websites devoted to fairies but www.fairywoodland.com has alot of info (and also sells some $$$ fairy houses). We tend to keep it simple and let the children's imagination take over. My son used a "toad house" from the dollar store as the center of his garden many years ago and built around it. You could go crazy with possibilities but we like the simple approach. I've even thought about the possibility of using a seed starter tray to make it portable. The fairies themselves all relate to different things if you look up the folklore but we use the flower fairies since they are supposed to be the gentle spirits of the earth. It's a fun way to help kids get in touch with nature and use their energy for something creative. If any of you have read the Redwall books with your kids there are alot of neat ideas that the animals use that we have used too. Have fun with it!
with a happy heart |
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MeadowLark
True Blue Farmgirl
2206 Posts
USA
2206 Posts |
Posted - May 01 2005 : 06:57:37 AM
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Thanks Bramble for the info! This could all get the creative juices flowing! Loved the website and those houses are precious. I have a pine tree in which I can peel big pieces of bark off and I am thinking I could use these to fashion a house. The possibilities are endless!
"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there." Rumi, 13th century. |
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bramble
True Blue Farmgirl
2044 Posts
2044 Posts |
Posted - May 01 2005 : 3:08:04 PM
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See...the possibilites are ENDLESS!!! And lots of fun, everyone needs a little whimsy in their life! Happy creating!
with a happy heart |
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Kim
True Blue Farmgirl
146 Posts
Kim
Pflugerville
Texas
USA
146 Posts |
Posted - May 01 2005 : 4:48:59 PM
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I hope you e-mail this info to Mj bramble!
farmgirl@heart
Be at peace with yourself and the rest will follow |
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thistledown farm
Farmgirl at Heart
4 Posts
Linda
North Lakewood
Wa
USA
4 Posts |
Posted - May 12 2005 : 4:58:54 PM
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There is a little paper book called Fairies in the Bottom of My Garden by Betsy something. I'll see if I can dig it out. But until then...
Ten Sure Signs that You Definitely Have Fairies at the Bottom of Your Garden (f.a.b.o.y.g.)
1. You have f.a.b.o.y.g when your cat's whiskers seem to be neatly trimmed on one side, and she refuses to leave the house
2.You have f.a.b.o.y.g when scrap leather left in the garden is turned into high-quality shoes, belts and very small fanny packs overnight.
3. You have f.a.b.o.y.g when everything in your house and yard suddenly looks really good, even though you have deferred basic household maintenance tasks like dishwashing for three weeks and lawn mowing for six months (see fairy glamour)
4. You have f.a.b.o.y.g when you drop nails and hear little screams
5.You have f.a.b.o.y.g when the Hawthorne trees branches (sacred to fairy kind) are swaying in the breeze, only there's no breeze
6.You have f.a.b.o.y.g when you hear tiny voices speaking in the Gaelic in the middle of the night and you live in an all Vietnamese neighborhood
7.You have f.a.b.o.y.g when on the morning after a full moon you find that all the screw tops are missing from the recycling. Later on they turn up on the roof of the garden shed, half full of some sort of unidentifiable fermented beverage.
8.You have f.a.b.o.y.g when birds, snails and even the caterpillars in your yard begin to sport little harnesses and saddles made of milkweed and daisy chains.
9. You have f.a.b.o.y.g when you find tiny, funny hats in that pitcher of lemonade your daughter left outside overnight
10.You have f.a.b.o.y.g when you find the classic signs of fairy ribaldry. Little circles of fairy 'dew' on your window panes.
Linda
Thistledown Farm
Linda
Thistledown Farm
Girls,do not scrub and cook and scour, until you have no time to plant a tree or vine or flower.
Letters to Country Girls 1853 |
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Eileen
True Blue Farmgirl
1199 Posts
Eileen
USA
1199 Posts |
Posted - May 13 2005 : 09:08:27 AM
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Linda,
This is so fun!
I am sure that there are fairies in my garden.
Eileen
songbird; singing joy to the earth |
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MeadowLark
True Blue Farmgirl
2206 Posts
USA
2206 Posts |
Posted - May 13 2005 : 09:16:26 AM
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There must have been a large fairy gathering last night in my yard because there is a ring of toadstools in my grass this morning! I wonder what they were discussing???
"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there." Rumi, 13th century. |
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jpbluesky
True Blue Farmgirl
6066 Posts
Jeannie
Florida
USA
6066 Posts |
Posted - May 13 2005 : 11:57:07 AM
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I wish the f.a.b.o.y.g.s in my garden would scare the heck out of the racoon at the bottom of my birdfeeder.
jpbluesky
O, cease to heed the glamour that blinds your foolish eyes,
Look upward to the glitter of stars in God's clear skies.
from God's Garden by Robert Frost |
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bramble
True Blue Farmgirl
2044 Posts
2044 Posts |
Posted - Sep 14 2006 : 09:34:45 AM
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For those of you that might not have caught this thread from a while back ...very simple and cost free if you use your imaginations!
with a happy heart |
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Garden Gate: Fairy Gardens |
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Fairy Gardens
