Friday, May 14, 2010

Fairy Garden Garden-Gotta Check This Out!

fairy garden garden 1
My kids and I are having so much fun in our fairy/rock gardens!  I think you will be seeing many more updates on this as we make all of the hundreds of things we have planned for these gardens.
Let me give you the first look at our Fairies’ garden.
fairy garden garden 2
I’ll point a few things out because, quite honestly we have spent way too much time on these creations! ;)
We made a garden with rows for each plant type.  Starting along the top row we have corn, next are green onions, zucchini, carrots, and then lettuce.  Along the left side are our sunflowers.
fairy garden garden 3
The coolest part of this is that all of the vegetables are removable!
Oh ye-ah!  I wanted this garden to be completely interactive for my kids.  So, they can “pick” everything for picnics or regular meals.  Even the basket to hold the bounty was made by us!
Now, when the season is over the kids can take everything out, down to even the corn stalks themselves!  Then, you will just see the rows of dirt!  They can pretend to plant their garden and watch them grow!
fairy garden garden 4
Here is all the produce we have so far.  Notice in the basket we even have strawberries.  We have a strawberry barrel in progress for those to “grow” in.
Also, the corn can come out completely down to just the corn cob, ready to eat.  Or they can pick corn cobs with 1, 2, or 3 husks still on it.
Oh and my zucchini plants...  I think zucchini plants are the most gorgeous vegetables that you can grow!  These were so much fun to make…we even included tendrils under the flowers and stamens inside!
 fairy garden garden 6
We have a campfire to cook up our bounty.  We still have to make a “metal” bucket to actually cook the food in.  We’re thinking we’ll make some more veggies that are already cut up, so that we can make stews and such.
We tried to make the rings in the logs, like real ones.  They turned out pretty cute.  Again, everything is interactive so each part of the campfire is its own piece so that it can be moved however, or wherever they want it to.
fairy garden garden 5
Here is a shot of where the Fairies’ garden went into place.  We added more pathways, sand, and even some moss.  We wont be able to actually grow anything in these fairy gardens, the kids talked me into moss being the next best thing!  I think it’s pretty clever.

A very cool thing about making a polymer clay garden is that my kids are learning a ton about vegetables.  We had to really think through what makes a vegetable really look like what it is supposed to look like.  The corn husks needed the fluff on top of the stalk.  However, we did take liberties with how the corn attaches, so that we could make it interactive.  We looked up pictures on flikr, and actual produce from our refrigerator to get colors, leaves, shapes, and more “just right”.  It is also fun figuring out what tools will make the right effect that we are going for.  It was my oldest daughter’s idea to have a false bottom on the garden, for the vegetables to be able to push into.  It works like a charm!

Rebecca
I would LOVE to see any fairy/rock gardens that anyone else has!  We are getting our inspiration from anywhere that we can!

I'm joining the fun at the following parties!
The Persimmon Perch, Skip To My Lou, Keeping It Simple,  Making The World Cuter, the DIY Showoff,

17 comments:

LollyChops said...

How completely COOL! I LOVE the details in this garden! Tell your kids that Auntie Lolly is seriously impressed!

Have you ever tried making cold porcelain? One of my readers has basically been making her own clay (and it's a LOT like polymer clay). let me know if you want the link... it might be cheaper in the long run!

Weekend HUGS girls!

inadvertent farmer said...

Ok...how cute is that? Really creative, it makes me want to sit and play too!

Great job guys, Kim

Jen @ tatertotsandjello.com said...

That is so fun! You guys are so creative!

You won the "welcome" vinyl decal on Tatertots and Jello! If you want to get in touch with Shelly Neilson @ Say Anything Vinyl -- she can get it in the mail to you! Her email is syanythingexpressions.yahoo.com

Congratulations!

XOOX
Jen

Lisa said...

I'm in love! This is the sweetest garden I've ever seen!!

Daniel & Sarah said...

That is the cutest thing i have ever seen! i bet it was fun to make all of those

RootsAndWingsCo said...

Thank you all for your comments! This has really been a fun project to do with my kids! I think we will be adding to the gardens all summer long! YAY!
Lolly, thanks so much for the link to the cold porcelain. I've never thought about doing it this way. I think my kids would love trying it with me! I'll let you know how it goes!
Rebecca

pink and green mama MaryLea said...

ADORABLE!!

Kate said...

The fairy garden is so cool! I love it. Now I can't wait for my little one to be able to do this kind of stuff with me.
http://evolutionofagardener.wordpress.com/

Unknown said...

Too much fun!! I just recently made some rock fairy bowers I think I might borrow your idea and add to their property. :-)
http://marvelouslymessy.blogspot.com/2010/04/fairy-bower.html

Anonymous said...

Is this garden actually for your kids or for their mother? Sounds to me as though you are having even more fun that they are! Good for you! I wish i could come and play. I love your fairy garden. And I am sure, if you try hard enough, you will see fairies there!

RootsAndWingsCo said...

Thanks so much for your sweet words!
Messymissy you bowers are so darling! I will also be making some fairy doors for mine!
Pam-this totally is for me! I'm not even going to hide it! Actually my love of fairy gardens started early with "the littles" , " Ralph s mouse", and a wonderful book called "gnomes" by rein poortuliet and will huygen! Amazing book! In fact I've just bought my own copy of this marvelous book from my childhood!

Kaysi said...

Super cute!! I love it!

MaryAnne said...

This is a really neat idea! Polymer clay is cool stuff =)

♥ meninheira ♥ said...

Oh please, is so, so cute!! Would you like to link to my blog party please? Now is about garden, look: http://dalleuncolinho.blogspot.com/2010/05/proyecto-conjunto-huerto.html

Hugs from Spain and thanks for sharing
meni ^-^

kathy said...

That is absolutely cute/cool/adorable /great/increadible... and I totally want one for me and the kiddos...We will play for hours I swear

http://polwig.com

Jenn @ Delicious Ambiguity said...

This is amazing! I host a link up party every Tuesday called Tot Tuesdays where you can link up crafts, activities, teaching resources, parenting stories or tips, recipes and things you’ve made for your toddler. I’d love it if you’d stop by sometime & link up!

http://www.mydeliciousambiguity.com/

Cheers!

S and family said...

How did I not see this adorable post earlier?? (gotta get online more often...)
I love this idea. How does the clay hold up in the outdoor weather?
I've got fairy gardens that are different than your mini variety (http://falling-apples.blogspot.com/search/label/fairies), but I'm going to try doing more mini-garden like yours. Thanks for sharing.