Bring the Magic of Faeries to your Garden

One of my aunts has been very interested in family genealogy for a while, tracing the family back for multiple generations in America and abroad.  She recently used a DNA testing service that measures ancestral history based on certain blood markers and received the results that she had a strong Scotch-Irish heritage. While this mirrored what I had always heard about my maternal grandmother, I had never given it much thought.  For some reason, talking to her this time, motivated me to look more deeply at who the "Scotch Irish" were - which is a fascinating story for another day. As usual, my Google searching led me on a tangent - this time into reading about the faerie history of Scotland and Ireland.  

Fairy Garden - Out 2 Lunch LLC

Although there have been faerie type legends across cultures, from Greek to Norse, to Roman, the Celtic and Gaelic stories seem to be the most predominant in our modern society.  Leprechauns, elves, goblins, among others, are a part of these faerie traditions.  For large parts of human history these stories were accepted as fact and were incorporated into many aspects of life.  Faerie legends often had their roots in ancient religions with a nature or animist base, but they did not die out when Christianity came to the British Isles.  In fact, often, the minor deities in these traditions were recast as faerie folk with the coming of Christianity.  During the 20th century, the faeries fell out of favor as science and reason rose to the forefront. 

In recent years however, faeries have seen a resurgence in popular American culture.  My daughters' preschool years were dominated by the fictional fairy Tinkerbell and her friends.  Although she was a sidekick character in the original works by Scottish playwright J.M. Barrie and the 1953 Disney Film, Tinkerbell became the lead in a series of animated films in over the last decade.  These films focused almost entirely on life in the faerie realm, and introduced countless children to this world.  My daughters had more fairy themed costumes and parties than I care to count! 

Fairy Door - Out 2 Lunch LLC

In addition, fairy festivals and fairy house contests have become popular across the country. Children and adults of all ages participate in these events each year; dressing up and creating tiny fairy homes.  Last summer, Christine and her children created a fairy garden in their yard - it was a great way to use some left over building materials, creating a visually interesting area and allowing the children to have their own garden space.  Pictures of their garden are throughout this article.  We also featured a fairy door tutorial in a prior blog post, found here, that can be attached to a tree as a hidden treasure. We hope you use our ideas as a springboard to follow your imagination, enjoy the spring weather and create some whimsy in your garden! 

Enjoy! 

Stacy 

Up-cycled Fairy Garden Door - DIY

                  

"Above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you, because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places.  Those who don't believe in magic will never find it." 
                                                                                     -Roald Dahl

Ahhh...A fairy/elf door.  Such a simple, fun little piece, but one which sets the mind to wandering the realms of dreams, and puts just a little magic in the moment, leaving a smile upon the face.  The whimsical "what if" of a fairy door always makes me smile.  Even better, if one can catch you off-guard, hidden in an unexpected place, a moment you didn't expect!  This past summer, my children and I had a lot of fun putting in a whimsical fairy/creature garden (as they call it) along the back side of our garage.  What started out as just a fun family project, has given back more than I expected; I continuously find myself smiling as I walk along it, feeling my mood and spirit lighten.

I have lately been re-landscaping the front of our house.  One of my projects, has been to add wooded paths through the "natural areas".  I began to contemplate how fun it would be to add a fairy door hidden at the base of a tree, an unexpected whimsy, should one happen to notice it.  My budget, however, for a project, was nil!  Well, I started scrounging around the house and yard, and I must admit, the end result has me entranced!  I hope you like it too, and maybe, just maybe, get inspired to add a bit of whimsical magic to your yard!  If you do, I would love to see your pictures!

Here's how mine came together!
Materials:

• Piece of Slate, Bark, Wood, Tile, etc. for the door base
• River Rocks
• E-6000 glue
• Round plastic jewelry bezel
• Round Clear Gem Sequin
• Acorn cap
• Marble
• Bobby pin
• File

I started with a small piece of left-over slate from our pathway project, (any piece of tile, wood, bark, etc would also suffice).  In the garage, I still had some left-over river rocks in a bag from some planting projects - that would nicely frame the "door".  Next, how to make the door look like a door...Up in my craft space, I located a large plastic ring/bezel from an old button bin, and a left-over clear gem sequin from a project with my daughter.  As the gem fit inside the bezel, I decided it would form a perfect little "window".  I found a broken bracelet clasp which looked like a door ring for a miniature door.  Now, my door at home has a light beside it, and I had seen ideas to use marbles as lights in fairy gardens.  So...a search outside produced the perfect acorn cap to top a marble and a search under the living room sofas produced the perfect "lost" marble!  I am totally feeling like Tinkerbell, creating something out of "lost things" and loving it!!  A piece of bobby pin would work for a light hanger, glue to put it all together, and I'm heading downstairs for assembly!  Let's Do This!!

Here We Go: (bonus points if you read that sounding like Peter Pan!)

Step One: Making the door frame.  I began by propping my slate piece upright against a coffee mug.  I put the bottom on a rubber gripper for opening jars, (to prevent slipping), and used a circle of tape to help hold it to the mug, (to prevent tipping).  Next I put glue on the side edge of two river rocks and placed them snug against the slate on either side.  Let that dry a bit.  The next part is a repetitive stacking process: spreading glue on the bottom and side edge of a rock and placing it on top of the previous rock, snugged up against the slate "door".  I found I could usually stack about 3 rocks at a time, then needed to let the glue dry to firm up.  As the door frames on each side grew taller, I used mugs against the rocks to keep them from slipping and falling while the glue was drying.  This process took several hours of stacking and drying.  Also important to note, that I did this while my children were in school and there was no one to "thunder" through the house, which helped in holding the rock stacks steady!

Step Two: Making the door top.  Once my rocks had reached level with the top of the "door" and the side rocks had dried firmly, I began on the top.  I found a series of relatively flat, long rocks that when placed end to end would stretch across the top of the door, including over the side rocks.  These pieces definitely required careful placement and balancing until dried firm.  Two more layers provided a nice door top thickness.  Tall mugs and even mugs stacked on mugs assisted with stability until the rocks firm in place.  Let it dry.

Step Three: Making the door step.  For this part, I actually lined up the rocks I wanted to use, on my rubber mat.  I then spread the glue across the rocks and set the dried "door" on top of the rocks, propped as before against a mug.  If you find that a rock is smaller than the others and does not stick up enough to stick to the bottom of the door, lift it with a bit of paper or something underneath, (the bottom of the "door" does not have to be perfectly even, as you are going to dig it into the dirt).  You can use as many layers or rocks as you like, forming your "door" to your own specifications.  Let it dry.  Once the door could be moved and laid flat, I placed it face down and added some extra glue on the back, just to make sure everything was really stuck together!  Then, let that dry!

Step Four: Accessorize the door!  Here's where it gets really fun!  I had already decided on my bezel ring and clear gem window, so laying the door down flat, I first glued my bezel in place where I wanted the little window to be.  The gem had a mirror backing to make it shiny, but I really wanted the "window" to resemble glass, (which typically has a clear, but darker look to it).  Taking a file, I decided to see if I could remove the mirror backing from the gem.  It worked like a charm!  Filing the backing off did make the gem "whiter" with the scratches, however those disappeared and the gem went completely clear as soon as the glue filled them in.  With the window gem in place, the jewelry clasp door ring was glued on next, and then to make the "light"!  For the light accessory, I glued the marble into the acorn cap and let it set.  Next, I took a bobby pin and cut/broke off part of it, so I had a straight section.  Using a pair of small pliers, I bent the metal piece into a curve and glued it to the top of the acorn cap.  Once the glue for the "light" was dry, I glued the light post end to the door frame rocks.  Let it all dry!

I let my fairy door sit for a day to make sure everything was fully dried, then went out and placed it/dug it into the ground underneath a tree.  A couple rocks helped to fill any gaps, some moss provided "bushes", and some larger rocks I had from our previous fairy garden provided a lovely path leading up to the door.  And now?  Let the magical moments, the day-dreams, and smiles begin!

"Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night." - Edgar Allen Poe

Cheers,
Christine