Time to renovate the fairy gardens. First up is the pink castle bowl. Looks like it got shook up, maybe the earthquake?
Bath time for all the pieces. Use an old toothbrush to scrub structures and figures. Swirl stones and small accessories with dish soap in a mesh strainer.
Miniature gardens can be made with repurposed materials, or specialized pieces found in retail stores or online. I prefer treasures from thrift stores, yard sales, and bin-digging at the Idaho Youth Ranch Outlet store on $10 cart day. This means the pieces are not to scale. I’m O.K. with that, but some serious miniature gardeners like to keep everyone at the same ratio.
Normally, I scoop up some interesting little plants at nurseries. With COVID-19, I haven’t been to any nurseries yet this year. I harvested sedum from the yard to add some green for now. Easy to plant this stuff. Use a dibble, fancy word for stick or old pencil, to make a hole and poke the plant in. Before planting, I saturated the soil to make a welcome spot for the transplants.
Miniature Christmas tree ornaments make fun additions. Use a bobby pin to secure them in the planter.
This is a good start. I will add another plant later. Other details: The castle came from a thrift store. The arbor with the cat I found in a bargain bin at Gordman’s last year. The little green chair got a shot of glitter blast. An itty-bitty teapot was an Idaho Youth Ranch cart day find. The pathway “stones” are small tiles attached to mesh ready for home improvement projects. Can’t remember where I found a sheet of those, probably at Lowe’s. Cut the mesh to the length of tiles you want. These are spray-painted purple.
Interested in a physically-distanced miniature garden party? Not just fairies, dinosaurs too. Let me know. I have crates of supplies and can help you out with fun. It gets really interesting when adult beverages are involved. deb@riverboise.com
Here’s a regional miniature garden supply company with a lot of free information. They keep designs true to scale and they are all works of art. https://twogreenthumbs.com/
~Debbie