How To Create Your Own Magical Miniature Fairy Garden

We love all things magical here. Fairies, gnomes, elves, goblins. We believe they live amongst us and love playing imagination in the whimsical world. Our resident fairy, who Kyan named Loxy The Loving One lives in our garden. Loxy's little fairy garden provides a place for him and his visiting friends a place to rest and gather. Loxy also has shoes on because Kyan insists "he needs them because Baba and you work in the garden a lot and there might be nails and stuffs laying around."

WHERE TO START

• Unassuming places. Places you wouldn't normally look are the best. A forgotten corner, somewhere you like to ignore in your garden. It creates a bigger air of wonder and amazement. Putting a fairy garden here also helps you brighten up a spot that is easily neglected. I love finding fairy gardens that almost disappears into its surroundings. It makes it so much more magical.
• Decide if you want a Sunny Fairy Garden or a Shaded Fairy Garden. If you don't know, I suggest looking at some fairy plants and decide which ones you like and then find a location for it. We like part shade gardens since Southern California is mostly sunny, the fairies can appreciate some shade, especially in the hot summer. Some plants you really like may not be suited for the location so make sure before you go out and buy.
• Trees, rocks, overhanging bushes, abandoned ceramic pots, sinks, bird baths are some places fairies like to make home and gather. We put ours in the middle of three trees.
• Include your child in the research process. Ask him/her what he likes and allow him free imagination. Discuss about the theme you want for your fairy. We went with "Camping in The Wilderness".

(image via here)

Image via a japanese blog I could no longer find the link to.

image via here

image via here

WHAT TO USE

• Collect thick branches and rocks from around your yard and make chairs and tables from them. 
• We got this large rustic arbor and planted climbing small leaf fuchsia on both sides to create a shaded, magical entryway. The only other small leaf vine suitable for climbing an arbor that I found available in our region was miniature ivy which we will use for another garden with this cute gated arbor.
• We planted fairy plants like irish moss, white star creepers, ajuga chocolate chip, baby's tears in our morning shade, afternoon sun fairy garden. You can find them at most nurseries and we got ours from Armstrong Garden Center.
• Our Serrisa bonsai tree that blooms white rose like flowers, suitable in full sun to part shade (shown in picture next to Loxy) is thriving and growing rapidly in that location. 

Most of our fairy plants and accessories were purchased at M & M Nursery in Orange, CA. They have a large selection of sun and shaded fairy plants and the gardeners there are very knowledgeable about their plants and their fairy gardens. Beverly Turner from M & M Nursery was very helpful and she knows her fairy gardens. She also co-authored her first book on Fairy Gardening.

Once you dive into this magical world of fairy gardening, you will quickly learn that there is a ton of accessories you can buy for your garden. Shopping for them is the fun part for me. Buying them all is certainly not practical and unnecessary even though I want them all. I lusted over this cute little fairy gypsy camper. I also enjoy looking at what is being sold online and then find ways to use materials from nature or up-cycle things we would normally trash to create the scenes I want. 

camper via here

Building our fairy garden with Kyan was fun, engaging and funny to say the least. I encouraged him to pick out the fairy he wanted, the arbors, plants. He learned that different plants have different sun and water needs, he learned about climbing vines that bloom in shade is rare, that baby's tears look really cute and comfy for a fairy to lay on and little toadstools make good chairs. He helped pick the spots for the plants with me, dug, planted and talked to Loxy about where his friends can sit by the campfire and find shade under the tree that will grow bigger and bigger.

It is a cute and magical experience for both of us especially when you get to have conversations like:

Kyan: Why isn't Loxy flapping his wings?

Me: Because he will only flap his wings when you are not looking.

Kyan: OK, I'm going to look away and then look at him from the corner of my eyes and see if he's flapping.

Me: OK.

Kyan: No, mama, he's not flapping. He knows I'm looking at him. I'm going to peep at him through the window...

What about you, can you see Loxy flapping his wings?

My Colorful Obsession - Painting Our Home

That's us celebrating getting the keys to our new home. I found our house by trolling Redfin.com. I was on my computer and saw the listing the second it was listed. It was a short sale. Less than 48 hours later, the house was taken off the market and they stop showing. We had been searching for more than six months and had not seen anything that checked most of our boxes (and we have MANY boxes), until we saw this one. Our offer was accepted quickly by the owners, but the whole escrow process with the bank was one nervous breakdown after another (first we had to beat out 10 other offers, then we had to watch our future home get put on an online auction because the bank wanted to make sure they are getting the best possible price they could). We eventually pulled through with the help of our extremely competent and professional realtor, Kelly Laule from Better Living Socal and closed the deal. Without our realtor, we would have never gotten this house. From putting in an offer to getting our keys - 4 months.

The 1st order of things for us was to paint the house. I asked Kevin what colors he liked and he said "beige". I gave him a second chance and he said "earth tones" - much better. 

I love colors and I love playing with colors. I started pouring through paint color inspirations for a clean, modern but warm feel. I wanted colors that called out to us, nature tones that felt soothing but not boring. I didn't want any strong colors because I knew I would tire of quickly. For weeks, I wake up and go to bed thinking of colors. My Architect friend, Ker How from A Solid Plan who's helped me over the years with design challenges, patiently nurtured my obsession and gave great ideas on how to create the feel I wanted for our home.

I studied the different types and brands of paints available to us - the low / no VOCs (Volatile Organic Compound), the gloss, satin, eggshell, flat, the clay, acrylics, high and low pigment paints. During my research, I stumbled upon Farrow & Ball paints. Farrow & Ball paints are eco-friendly, low VOCs, highly pigmented and gives a luscious flat, clay finish that cleans up beautifully with just a damp cloth. Their colors worked seamlessly together into the spaces I was trying to create. I ended up picking all the colors for our house from the Farrow & Ball fan deck, loaned to me generously by Cindy from Farrow & Ball at their Costa Mesa Location.

F&B Fan Deck

Before

During

I took a long time deciding on a few of the remaining colors. By the time I had decided on the rest of the house, there was no time to place an online order and wait for delivery. I took the fan deck to my local Orange Paint Store and met with the very talented and patient Junior. They use Benjamin Moore paints at their store. I went with the low VOC BM Aura line, which was also a high pigment paint and he helped match the colors from Farrow & Ball as close as he could under my meticulous scrutiny. I love how the colors came out. I really enjoyed using Benjamin Moore paints. But there's an unmistakable, glorious, flat yet chameleon-y softness and depth about Farrow & Ball paints that put them a class above other paints. 

Decisions, decisions, decisions. I wanted a dark entry (F&B Mole's Breath) that would transition into a bright and light living space.

F&B Blue Gray and F&B Parma Gray

The F&B Blue Gray is a slightly cool mix of blue, green and black pigments. It has this magical quality of changing between blue and grey depending on the light conditions and time of day resulting in a very relaxed feel that belongs. 

I drew inspirations for our kitchen from these: 

image via Houzz

image via Houzz

And decided on this:

Top to Bottom on Kitchen: Farrow & Ball Cornforth White, Mole's Breath, Parma Gray. Far right: Hardwick White Left: Blue Gray

F&B Cornforth White on the kitchen cabinets. It is a beautiful neutral light gray we use it throughout the house. It cleans wonderfully too, much to my surprise, since it is not a gloss finish.

Side Entry F&B Hardwick White at night 

The bathroom was a difficult one for me because it was right by the entry and you can see the wall colors from the front door when you enter. The counter area also has natural skylight coming through and the shower tub area was completely dark. I found my colors for our bathroom when I saw this:

Our hall bathroom F&B Dix Blue & Mouse's Back (in shower tub area)

I kept asking Kyan what color he wanted for his bedroom and he kept picking colors like the really bright St Giles Blue or the super moody Cook's Blue.

F&B St. Giles Blue

F&B Cook's Blue

And we finally ended up with this:

The lovely and mysterious Parma Gray. Kyan's room has very little natural light and Parma Gray here looks completely different at different times of the day. 

BM Black Chalkboard Paint, F&B Cooking Apple Green Door

F&B Teresa's Green in Guest Room. Fresh warm green with a blue base. A therapeutic, calming feel but still manage to be cheerful. Also a great choice for children's room. 

F&B Charleston Gray (accent wall), has no cool tones and is a dark gray that creates a warm, enveloping and muted room. Paired  with F&B Elephant's Breath (Warm Mid Gray with hint of Lavender) for a contemporary and fashionable feel in our Master Bedroom. 

I knew I wanted a blue/orange theme for the living area, keeping in mind "earth tones". The whole living area is open and tricky. I pulled the same warm neutral dark gray from the entry into the living area to create interest and to tie in the colors I wanted. I kept trying to add some lavenders and purple tones, which I thought I would really love, but they just feel so melancholic to me. After all the furnishings and accents pieces went in and we finally put up the centerpiece artwork Kevin found at a garage sale years ago, I noticed the uncanny coincidence of how nicely the colors on the artwork complimented the colors I had chosen for our main living area. That really put a smile on my face. 

Living Room, F&B Blue Gray & Parma Gray. Entry Mole's Breath

With a child in the house, painting with low/no VOCs is the only way to go. Read here if you want to know why VOCs are harmful. I did not get any headaches and never found myself having to go out for air during the whole painting project. We love the Benjamin Moore Paints we used and will not hesitate to use them again. Farrow & Ball Paints are simply a dream to use, touch and admire. I absolutely love the flat, clay-like finish and the dreamy softness it offers at different times of the day and highly recommend it.