magical miniature gardens & homes :: book review and giveaway

FTC Compliant Disclosure:  I was sent a copy of this book by Page Street Publishing Co. to facilitate this review., however, all opinions expressed below are entirely my own.

Dear lovely readers -- I have been in on a secret for a few months and am excited to share some ever-so-lovely fairy sized news with you today. Donni Webber of the blog The Magic Onions has written a book:  Magical Miniature Gardens & Homes.

If you are a reader of The Magic Onions, then you're already aware that, since 2010, Donni has been our ambassadress to the magical realm of fairy gardens. You can click HERE to see the enchantments which Donni has wrought & inspired. Who then would be better qualified to write a book on the topic of tiny, magical gardens?

 

What I love best about this book, and what I feel makes it unique, is that Donni explains how to make everything instead of relying on purchasing pre-fabricated items.  The book contains instructions for making everything from bedsteads to benches, toadstools to wishing trees; and while these gardens might look intricate, each item, for the most part, can be constructed from objects and craft supplies you might already have lying around the house.  Moreover, Donni's instructions are so very clear and uncomplicated for making each tiny item, that crafting is fun as opposed to intimidating.

Bravo to Donni and the editing team at Page Street Publishing Co. for putting together a book in which the crafts are accessible to children and which sparks their endless capacity for creativity (the book is wonderful for adults who love delving into imagination, too!!).

 

Now for the give-away.  Please leave a comment below for an opportunity to win a copy of Magical Miniature Gardens & Homes (and just for fun, if you wish, you might, in your comment say what your name would be if you were a fairy).  I will choose a winner via random number generator on Monday, December 5th.  Note: unfortunately, due to the high cost of international postage, this giveaway is only open to residents of the US and Canada.

Thank you to Donni for creating such a wonderful book and opening the fairy realms to all.  Thank you also to Page Street Publishing for spreading fairy magic and for kindly offering a copy of this gorgeous book to my readers.

Comments for this post are now closed and a winner has been selected for the give-away.  Thank you for your interest!

garden stepping stones :: tutorial re-post

 

After allowing our vegetable garden to lie fallow the past two years due to drought in California, we decided to plant a modest garden: 3 tomato plants and 6 blue-lake green bean vines.  With careful, targeted irrigation through a drip system, we hope our little plot won't require too much water.

I was so excited to once again fill this dedicated vegetable garden space with green things that I decided to do some sprucing up and make our little plot a festive place. I planted a passel of climbing nasturtiums to fill in & ramble over the spaces we would not be planting...

And also decided that some new stepping stones were in order... hence a repeat of this tutorial from last May.

MATERIALS REQUIRED
An assortment of glass tiles & flattened glass marbles

Clear vinyl pot saucers (we used these)

A bag of cement. Try to get the kind of cement that is smooth -- i.e. no little rocks.  By accident, I bought cement which is full of little rocks and it's annoying -- not as easy to work with.

A bucket for mixing cement

A plastic bag for lining the bucket (optional)

Rubber gloves and some cleaning rags

STEP 1 :: Line your bucket with a plastic garbage bag for easier clean up (this is optional). Scoop several cups of cement into your bucket. Add water and stir. For best results, put on rubber gloves and mix by hand.  Keep adding small amounts of water or cement as needed until the cement is the approximate consistency of thick cake batter.

STEP 2 ::  Scoop cement into your clear vinyl pot saucers until 1 cm below the brim.

STEP 3 ::  Have children add tiles & marbles, etc... to decorate.  Be sure the items are pressed in firmly with the edges slightly submerged or the items might fall out once the cement is dry.

STEP 4 ::  Once the design is completed, use a damp rag to gently wipe any cement smudges off the tops of the tiles and marbles.

STEP 5 ::  Allow to dry several days, remove from the molds and find homes for your beautiful stepping stones in the garden.

on my front porch

heralding spring...

fairy garden 2014

For the past 5 years, Donni of The Magic Onions has hosted a fairy garden competition, and for the past 4 years this has inspired us to maintain a fairy garden of our own.

Looking through photo archives of past fairy garden contests at The Magic Onions, I always admire the elaborate villages created by participants, imagining inch-high fairies entering the tiny garden worlds created by mothers & children...

Our own, simple fairy garden, located in a terracotta urn next to the front door of our house, has been a source of wonder and amusement for my children, too.  Both my 3 year old and my 10-year old like to rearrange the rocks, help choose the plants and come up with ideas for small embellishments and improvements. 

 

This year we added thyme, strawberry plants and a strand of brass bells which ring in bright, sparkling tones to delight our local fairy population.  And much to our amazement, this year, a wee mushroom house (with a teeny, tiny door) sprouted up right in the center of our little fairy garden...

Sometimes we leave small gifts for the fairies, and sometimes they leave gifts for us.  In our recently updated garden the fairies left us an antique key.  It seems fairies like lost-objects & treasures from the human world (especially lost-objects which are old & quaint).

You can find information about how to enter this year's fairy garden contest at The Magic Onions, and for some ideas on how to build your own fairy garden, you can have a look here.

Thank you, Donni, for inspiring so much magic, and for your devoted work as ambassador between the fairy world and our own.

hold on to your hat

It was a "hold onto your hat" kind of morning as little one dashed though our favorite gardens (and I dashed after him) in the rain.

Note: If you have emailed me about the pegdoll-style swap and have not had an email back from me in response, please email me again.  My email has been buggy this week and a number of messages have gone astray.

a morning walk and a... peacock?

 On this misty, moisty morning we went for a walk and spotted... a peacock!?

 Little one wanted to say hello and chased after...

But the clever peacock eluded him and ducked behind some hedges.

 

We consoled ourselves by gazing up into the branches of apple trees...

And admiring ornate gateways...

And exploring hidden gardens...

Vegetable Garden

Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow,
Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow,
Do you, I, or anyone know how
Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow?

In early May we set our vegetable garden in the ground -- though really, it's not much of a vegetable garden. All we seem to successfully grow over at the side of our house are blue-lake green beans, strawberries and tomatoes.

And now we head into Indian Summer for a final month of growing and ripening... 

About four weeks ago I caught a low-grade flu.  It was odd to run a fever and sniff and cough my way though most of August.

My green bean gathering duties were sorely neglected; those beans grew and grew until, one afternoon, my husband walked in the door and handed me a rather spectacular pile of green beans.  I sauteed them in a bit of olive oil with garlic, salt, pepper, a few bits of herbs and a finishing dash of lemon juice.  They were delicious.

I hope your harvest this summer has also been good!

Picking Mirabelles

These golden plums have as pretty a name as they deserve. Mirabelles... doesn't the name suit these beauties?

Here in my neighborhood there is currently a surplus of mirabelles and yesterday we were graciously invited by a friend of a friend to come and pick to our heart's content.

With everyone scratching their heads about what to do with so many golden plums, I hit the internet for some solutions.  There are these tarts and this tart, and oh my, this tart.  There is this jam, this conserve, and if all these recipes are not enough, here is a link to a Pinterest Board featuring savory recipes created using mirabelle jam.

Now, if you will excuse me please, I have, among other things, five pounds of plums to contend with (if you'd like a few, please stop by -- I have plenty to spare!)

A Fairy Garden: 2013

Once again Donni of Magic Onions is hosting her yearly Fairy Garden Contest.  To learn more about Donni's Fairy Garden Contest, you can have a look here.

And for a little tour of our current fairy garden at we bloom here, read on...

This year we've added a new & improved house built of twigs (with pine cone roof) to shelter our local sprites...

And for a festive flair, we've added an enchanting string of golden acorns.

Stones have been added here...

And there...

We recently spotted a tiny, winged visitor...

And in another pot nearby, we discovered a snoozing gnome... Who knows what we might find tomorrow in our little fairy garden?