321 – Explore the idea of fairy gardening! When we were young, there came a time when we began to suspect the reality of the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus. No matter what conclusions we came to, we probably never doubted the existence of fairies and fairy gardens. As a child, whenever I saw a place with moss, tiny flowers, acorns or other evidence of fairy homes, I knew that the fairies lived there. You can see the fairies of my childhood that are still often the main images of fairies depicted at www.flowerfairies.com
These beautiful fairies, as portrayed by Cicely Mary Barker, only confirmed what I had suspected all along – that there were all kinds of fairies, more than we will ever meet in our lifetimes. I even read that fairies turned themselves into crows when they want to get into mischief!
322 - Make a fairy garden using common materials. Creating a fairy garden is not only fun, but once you have gathered your materials is definitely a meditative process. Some of the things commonly used in fairy garden are: acorns, buckeyes, small mirrors, moss, coral, stones, pine cones, marbles, shells, glass discs, and rocks – with or without words. Dried or silk flowers, and anything else you find that will work will be fun to gather. Making a fairy garden is simply creating an environment that fairies would love to visit.
323 - Activate a fairy garden with glitter so fairies know it is time to start visiting. If you put a coin in the fairy garden when you are finished, you will be able to tell if the fairies have been there because they will always take the coin.
324 – Make a secret fairy garden in someone’s yard when they are not home! Then you can tell them that there is a fairy garden in their yard and they have to find it. I made one for my daughter, Maribeth, and she was happily surprised to find her fairy garden in a corner of her patio on a little hilly area.
325 – Plant bulbs around your fairy garden. One time I snuck over when my daughter was gone, and planted daffodil bulbs all over her yard. Then at Christmas, I told her that one of her gifts was going to bloom in the Spring. Since she lives right across the street, it was extra fun to see her yard burst forth with bright yellow daffodil beauties. I planted some of the bulbs around her fairy garden. Good bulbs to plant for fairy gardens: grape hyacinth, snowdrops, miniature daffodils, crocuses – anything that strikes your fancy!
326 – For your indoor fairy garden, you can put floral foam in the bottom of a basket, bowl, or dish, cover it with dried moss, and delight yourself with a moveable fairy garden. These are also great for gifts. You can also make a fairy garden on a shelf or windowsill, etc. A dear friend had a close relative pass away, and I had made a fairy garden for her just before that happened. They took the fairy garden to the funeral home, along with other flowers. I had put a penny in it, and told everyone that if the coin ever disappeared, it meant that the fairies had come to visit. I snuck over and with the fairies’ help, I removed the penny. After the funeral service, my friend’s granddaughter started yelling as she ran across the room – “The fairies have been to visit! The fairies have been to visit.” It was the first time I ever witnessed sheer joy in the midst of so much sorrow.
327 - Make a fairy garden for someone with materials gathered from their yard. When my neighbors, Art and Peggy, moved away after they had become like family to us, I made a fairy garden using pine needles, pine cones, little stones from their garden, and a twig for a tree with a tiny teddy bear with angel wings perched on it. I added some other fairy materials. I put the fairy garden in a beautiful coppery bowl that reminded me of Peggy’s flamboyant red hair and personality. Unfortunately, Art died soon after they moved, and I put a stone with Art’s name and a heart into the fairy garden, which made it all the more treasured to Peggy. Sadly, Peggy died within a year of Art, and I put some of the rose petals from her casket into the fairy garden. The journey of that fairy garden ended with one of her son’s keeping it.
328 – Once you have become a fairy gardener, you can get business cards made to give to people who might be interested in learning to make fairy gardens also. (that email address is not correct - it should be carolbaileyfloyd@gmail.com) I got mine at 123print.com – enormous selection and low prices. I have shared the idea and techniques of fairy gardening all over N.E. Ohio at garden club meetings, libraries, and other groups. Doing that is one of the most fun ways I have ever earned money.
329 – Choose a special spot for your outdoor fairy garden. I have two right now that are in plain sight, and one that is yet to be refurbished around the corner of my house between bushes and our house in a more hidden area. The children in the neighborhood love to visit my fairy gardens, and one day a painted stone ladybug appeared mysteriously. I found out that Andrea, one of my neighbors’ granddaughters, put it in my fairy garden because she enjoyed visiting it so much. I try to keep making changes to the outdoor fairy gardens, so the kids will have some fun and keep visiting.
330 – Make a fairy garden with a child! This is one of the best fairy garden adventures ever! A child’s creativity is usually wide open. All you have to do is encourage them to gather some natural materials, give them other fairy gardening supplies, and they will delight you with their fairy garden assembling techniques! Then have them put a coin in the fairy garden for the fairies to take, and sprinkle the fairy garden with glitter to activate it so the fairies will know it’s time to visit. The son of a friend of mine made his fairy garden using little cars around his basement. One way he knew that the fairies had come to visit was if the cars had moved in the night!
331 – Have a fairy garden making birthday party for your child. The supplies are inexpensive, and anything you gather in the woods or neighborhood is free. I carry a sandwich bag with me when I walk for treasures that appear on the sidewalk. I don’t go into people’s yards (well, hardly ever!). Once your friends know that you are a fairy gardener, they will probably started giving you gifts from their yards.
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