Fairy Garden Additions

With some neglect happening to my fairy garden, I was feeling guilty. A trip to hobby lobby with a Christmas gift card quickly changed my rut. I was wondering around with my son when I stumbled into an isle filled with 30% off fairy/gnome garden accessories. 

Hot damn.

There went my gift certificate. 

I bought this tiny, cheap birdhouse. (A couple of them, actually) and began to think of designs. A little inspiration from Pinterest, and supplies i (mostly) had on hand, and I whipped this baby out in 24 hours. 

Last year I attempted to build a stone stacked cottage. It was a mess. I used unsanded grout hoping to get a mortar look, but it just looked sloppy. I then let it sit in my craft room for several months until the boy knocked it over and broke an entire wall. At this point I said F* it and dismantled the whole thing, which was far easier than putting it together. 

Anyways. I had my heart set on a stone cottage. After having (or obtaining, I don't  remember) the idea of a birdhouse base, the domino effect of ideas consumed me. 

The variety of inexpensive birdhouses surprised me. There were bird barns, gazebos, wrap around porches, double deckers, castles, etc. I almost got carried away, but remembered the funniest part is being thrifty and creative. Not just painting a birdhouse. I may still upgrade later on to a 'fancy' barn. ;)

Here is what I chose. (Minus the hanging rope, this was a stock photo as I forgot to photograph my own :( )

I chose three. 

Simple. 

I only had plans for one, but knew I wanted to do more. I have space for a while village sectioned off. 

As for supplies I asked my husband what glue he thought best. Wood glue came to my mind, silicone to his. Silicone was awesome. 

I had the rock on hand. I have several bags of varying sizes for the fairy garden already. 

I had no idea what to do for the roof. I entertained the idea of black river washed rocks, same rocks as the walls, or pine cone shingles as I had seen on Pinterest. I left it open for suggestions. As for a grout look I pondered dirt, unsanded grout, and settled on beach sand I acquired from our vacation to Oceanside last year. It turned out great. 

My husband cut the bottom bird hole into a door for me. (He's so handy!)

I got started on my stone laying as soon as I washed some rocks and fetched the silicone, thinking I'd only do a wall a night or something to let it dry. Nope. Finished all four walls within 3 hours. 

I silicones the crap out of each wall (one side at a time) and laid the rock out. It was similar to a puzzle, but easier since you could make it up as you go along. I was glad to have so many shapes and sizes. Once done laying I sprinkled the beach sand into all the cracks. It only took about 20 minutes each side to dry enough to move on. 

Once all four walls were covered I brushed off the extra sand with a painting brush and let dry over night. 

This morning We went out for our daily walk and I planned to keep my eye out for inspiration, and gather pine cones, just in case. 

The park turned out to be a Mecca. I gathered up some 'itch ball' tree bark and other materials and headed home. The bark did a great job as roofing shingles. The wood was thin and curvy, but not unmanageable. It took a lot of silicone to get it all to fit tightly. 

While that was drying I co templates the door. Several ideas later I settled on Popsicle sticks. The rocks were a bit in the way, (should have done the door first!) so I couldn't really get a sense of how to make it fit just right. Then, I remembered that this was just a fairy garden and I doubt anyone would care if the door had a gap or was not level. 

I cut the sticks, glued them together, painted it red and stuck a upholstery tack as the door knob. The fight to get it inside the frame was not as bad as i had anticipated. the rocks were a little bit flexible on the silicone. I added silicone to known contact points of the door and house and shoved it in. 

Dun du nu Na nah!!! 

I then couldn't contain myself and ruined a small portion of  my carpet by wood staining the next bird/fairy house while trying to fit too many projects in a day. 

But that's another story....

Monster Bank

We have a great little place in town called Art Attack! Where you can paint ceramic pieces and they will for it for you. They also do a ladies night once a month when you can bring your own alcohol and snacks and paint with your friends. I like to go every so often, it's a fun little evening to be creative.

Last week I made a monster piggy bank.

Before being fired. 

 I made it for my son, but he showed little interest in it. It's also his like, 5th piggy bank. So I've adopted it as my own. You can never have too many piggy banks, in my opinion. 

I also had a little extra time and made the little rabbit and frog for the fairy garden. ;)