Mini Gardens with Students

As promised here are a few tips on how I create my fairy or mini  gardens both at home and at school.



Here is latest mini garden I created with my son for a teacher gift in June.

Here are some mini gardens I did with Grade 4 in May.

There are a few differences mostly due to the cost of supplies.

The nice thing about these gardens are you can replant them.  So students can relocate them to a larger area when they take them home.  The houses are also reusable so you can make a new mini garden every year.  That's what we do at our house.




MATERIALS REQUIRED:

- pot of some sort, at school we used 12" plastic pots (around $1.00 a piece).  For gifts or for your own use you can purchase a larger one.  I like to use a ceramic pot that is shallow with room for the garden to grow.
- soil
- rocks, and or gravel
- moss, optional
- small plants, basket stuffers work well, plants with small flowers are nice like lobelia and alyssum 
- wood house (I'll explain more shortly)
- acrylic paint
- outdoor sealer

PROCEDURE:

The house is what makes the garden.

I have used unpainted ceramic houses that you purchase at Christmas time and then paint.  I turn the snow into moss and the wreath on the door into a summer wreath.  You can check out this post for more info on that.

Buying multiple class sets of ceramic houses doesn't work so well at school.

First off they are breakable.

They are also full of detail requiring a lot of time and patience. Not too mention the cost.  Just a little too expensive for a class project.


A few years ago I moved to these wooden houses.

This one is a little tall, (a 2 storey house) at school they are shorter about 4" tall.

I use a cedar timber.  One that would be used for fence making. (no pressure treated wood)

They tend to come in 8' lengths.  I can get a full class set out of 1 timber.  Cost wise it is about $23 or so.

Cut your 4" blocks and then cut the ends off to form the roof. I have a great carpenter (my father-in-law).

Another alternative is to use this kind of house.

This is a poetry project I use but the house is made from a 2"x4".  You alternate an angled cut with a straight cut and you get 2 houses.  The roof on this one is cardboard but you can use a piece of cedar shingle.

You can paint them separately and then nail the roof in place. These are much cheaper as a 2"x4" in an 8ft length costs about $3.00.

At school this is a 2 session project. 1 to paint the house and 1 to plant the garden.



With the cedar timber house I get students to paint the house colour first.

We then paint the roof black

and add the shingles. A nice grey colour makes a good shingle.

Hopefully the house is now dry.

It's time for the windows.  The secret to good windows is small brushes.  A small flat brush is easiest.  You use the straight edge of the brush to paint the straight edges of the window.

You may need to dry a side with a hair dryer before you can work on the next one.  An art teacher always needs more hair dryers and electrical outlets!!

Add a door, use the end of your paintbrush to dab on the doorknob.  You can add window panes.  To steady your hand make sure it rests on the house as you are painting those panes.

You can add some shrubs with a sponge or scrubby brush (old brush).

When dry add a coat of outdoor sealer.

A nice address sign adds a special touch.  Paint a flat rock white.  When dry you can use sharpie or paint (you need a tiny brush) to add the numbers.


Give it a coat of outside sealer as well.

Now it's time to plant.  Add some rocks to the bottom of your pot.

Plant your plants leaving a spot for your house.  At school kids were only able to use 3 plants due to space.

You can add some moss to fill in the spaces if you wish.

Another nice touch is a fence made from cut twigs.

You can add gravel for a path.  Place your house and sign rock and you are done.


Students didn't have a lot of room but quite a few still made a path with pebbles.

You can make this an indoor garden with small house plants. I plan on doing this so I can make that Fall garden (it's Canada and we are frosty in the Fall) and then switch it out to a Winter/Christmas scene.

The winners of the Fairy Garden books are:

Marcie Woods and Sangeeta Duorah.

Thanks everyone for entering.

I have another book giveaway next week and a great new project.
Have a good weekend!

Gail

Fairy Garden Book Giveaway

Wow, I blink and more than half the summer disappears.  What about all the work I was going to do.....well I guess that means it's been a good vacation.

I was asked by my friends at Skyhorse Publishing to review these books.  I love miniature gardens so  of course I said yes!

"Fairy Gardening: Creating Your Own Magical Miniature Garden" by Julie Bawden-Davis and Beverly Turner has lots of ideas for setting up little scenes.

I love this idea of changing them out for the seasons.  I am so doing a Halloween version this Fall. (why didn't I think of that, I can use my pumpkin idea)

The Christmas/winter garden idea they have will have to be an indoor one (gotta love Canadian winters).....it would be a great centrepiece for the Christmas table though.

There is also a section on the best mini plants to use. A great book to inspire you.

"Fairy Gardening 101" by Fiona McDonald has wonderful ideas for including the kiddos.




She also gives you the 'how to' on making your own furniture and accessories. A great resource.

The impromptu Fairy gardens and the "in the wild" ones are especially nice. Great to make on an afternoon hike this summer.

Both books are a treat and up for a giveaway.
If you want a chance to win you need to do one of the following:





- leave a comment on this post
- send me a direct email at thatartistwoman@shaw.ca
- like or comment on this post on my Facebook page.


I'll make the draw Friday Aug 14th/15. Canadian and US residents only please.
Thanks to Skyhorse Publishing for sponsoring this post.

If you are looking for more fairy garden love check out this pinterest collection.

I'll be back next time with tips and  ideas on how I do mini gardens at school.



Catch you later.......

Gail

How to Make a Miniature Garden

So these are the mini gardens I finished up today for the kids to give to their teachers tomorrow....on the last day of school...FINALLY!!!

I can't wait for some extra time to do some painting and great tutorials for this blog.

I promised to show you how to make these gardens so here we go.......

Materials Required:

a house...now I purchase houses at Christmas time specifically to make these gardens but you can find some at garage sales or make one out of a fence post like I described in this post. If you house has snow on it you can easily paint it to be moss.

paint

paintbrushes

sealer, I use Duraclear glossy

planter

soil

flowers

large pebbles

small decorative rock

twigs

Here are the houses I buy at Christmas. These are from Walmart and I think I paid $3.00 a piece.

There are some craft stores that sell these all year round so keep an eye out. Otherwise you can make a wood one or modify a secondhand house from a Christmas village.

If you are painting a plain one the first thing you want to do is brush it with an old paintbrush. This gets off the excess dust as well as some of the extra plaster bits that shouldn't be there.

Start painting...I use Folk Art acrylic paints. Now when you start to paint you want to work with the largest areas first and then work your way up to the trim. This saves in the touch ups.

Due to the white chalky nature of the plaster you will find your colors appear somewhat garish. If you try to keep to traditional house colors you will be OK once the final antiquing coat goes on at the end.

If you water your paints down a little you will get better coverage as the plaster soaks up the paint very fast.

When you reach the snow bits on the roof and the ground you want to paint these green like moss. I usually paint it a dark green first like "thicket" and then pounce on some light Hauser green and a little bit of yellow. This adds depth to your trees and moss.


Paint the inner sills of the windows black. This hides them a bit.

If you can't get all the little spaces don't worry the glaze will take care of it.

The glaze also hides any imperfections in your painting.

Now it's time for the antiquing glaze. You want a little bit of paint, I usually use Brunt Umber...add some float medium just to the side of your paint....next add a few drops of water....mix together in a small amount to make your glaze.

You then want to paint the entire house with this watery glaze. It will fill in all the little spaces and add depth to shingles, stone etc. It also covers all the little mistakes.

It tones down the colors to make them look more realistic.

Here is red roof getting the antiquing treatment.

For stone work you may want to use a bit of black paint for the glaze. It fills in all the grout lines and make it look like real stone or tile.

When finished let dry and cure. You are supposed to wait 24 hrs but sometimes I cheat if I am in a rush. I just have to be careful that the paint doesn't start to lift.

When dry cover in a coat of Duraclear glossy and set aside to dry.

While your house is drying find some nice flat pebbles. This will be your address marker.

Paint with a few coats of a light acrylic color.


Let dry.

Using a fine paintbrush make up an address for your house.....something like Lilliput Lane, Dragonfly Manor, Barnacle Bay.

The secret to using a fine liner paintbrush is to have very thin paint. Add water to black or brown to letter your sign. I then add some flowers or a vine.


Let dry and cover with a coat of Duraclear as well.

Now you need a nice planter for your garden....something with a low profile but large enough to plant a few flowers and have space for your house. I use these terracotta planters...they are 16.5" in diameter and are about 8 inches high.

Put some large pebbles in the bottom for drainage.

Plant some flowers and herbs in a semicircle around the back of your planter. You are leaving space for your house and pathway in the front.


Try to choose plants that will stay small...only about 12" high at the max. Look for ones with small leaves and flowers to fit with the theme.

I usually pick up some extra park benches at Christmas time to go with the houses but neglected to do so this time.

I decided to add a fence to the pathway. I found a bunch of sticks on the thinner side and cut them all to about 4 ".

I place decorative rock in the back of the planter where the house will sit and then add a pathway.

This time I added my twig fence as well.

Put your address marker near the front.

And that's it a cute little mini garden that makes a great gift. My kids like to set up little mini scenes in the regular flower bed as well. It's amazing what you can come up with!

Take care and I'll see you next time.

gail

Folk Art Houses for the Garden

I always have these grand plans of all these things I want to paint for my garden thru the winter so I'll be ready when the weather cooperates......but they never seem to get done.

So now I am in a rush to get them completed before fall.



We have had such a cold spring but the garden is starting to come together.

We have two squirrels that hang out in our backyard and for the most part don't cause any trouble......until now!




They have been zipping up and down the railing on the deck and have knocked over all my painted birdhouses.

Now granted these birdhouses are not the most sturdy...its hard to get nice solid unfinished ones.....I had filled them with rocks to hold up in our unrelenting wind...but they couldn't withstand the squirrel dancing.



So.......one of my unfinished winter projects was some heavy cedar houses that could withstand both wind and squirrel......no time like the present to get these done.

I purchased a heavy cedar fence post 5"x5". It was 8 feet long and cost me about $20.00. (not bad when you consider I can get about 12 or so houses out of it)

I had my husband cut it into houses of varying heights and roof lines.




I then started to paint. I use Folk Art acrylic paint for these. Out of all the craft paints Folk Art wins hands down.....great coverage and their Artist's Pigment series is great for projects like this.





Here are some others I need to finish.




I added a tree in the back.....



maybe a nice flowering tree.



Some nice details in the front......OK once I get started it just goes on.....

When finished add a couple coats of outdoor sealer in a gloss....I like Duraclear.












Now the squirrels can knock them down but they will stay in one piece...fingers crossed!

Give it a try and let your kids have a go....some great folk art for your garden.

Here is a sneak peek at a new tutorial....I make these mini gardens for my kid's teachers every year...they have become my signature gift at the school....I have 3 to make this year.

This time I remembered to take step by step photos so you can make one too. Stay tuned.

See you next time.

gail