Fairy nook for backyard garden: part 4: creating the garden

The garden on top of the fairy nook, that we created from an old toy oven (see Part 1), was simpler than the cafe section (see Part 3).  This was not to say it did not require some creative thinking.  One main issue for this part of the fairy nook were that it needed to be far more weather resistant than in the sheltered cafe below.  It would be far more exposed to rain and wind and heat.  The other issue I needed to contend with was doing a garden.  In an ideal world it would be lovely to have live plants everywhere but not terribly practical for upkeep.  In the end we did not have any real plants but used the painting (see Part 2) and artificial plants to create the impression of garden.  It is a whimsical take on a park cum woodland scene.

As with the other work I did on the fairy nook, I had no idea how this would turn out when I started.  Here is one of my first attempts at arranging some of our collected flower and nature items.  It wasn't right but it was a start. 

The white flower and then bunch of white and blue flowers were really beautiful metal flowers we found in Hope Street Space that we wanted to feature somewhere on the fairy nook.  After a few ideas (such as the white flower sitting on one of the oven knobs or the blue and white flowers glued randomly over the wall of the cafe) I decided to glue them to what used to be the oven clock.  Yes, above is a picture of the oven on its back so I could dry the glue on the flowers and trialing the placement of other items before gluing. 

I also experimented with some button decorations and even glued a green flower from a broach under the sign.  Despite a generous blob of glue (see the white patch), it had fallen sideways.  This part of the garden was done before the cafe so when I did the pictures in that section, I decided that the shiny green flower would look better and bring some much-needed light onto the back wall.  By then it had been straightened with masking tape while the glue dried.  I had to prise the attached flower off the wall, leaving a patch where the paint had also come away.  It wasn't too hard to patch it up with my paints even if in the final version it could not be seen.

When I was ready to do the rest of the garden I played around with how to place items.  Here the garden looks quite similar to its final version but it has lots of small differences.  The Minions were on a piece of cork but it was too high for them.  The rectangular planter next to the purse did not end up staying - we had planned to have crystal chips at the top of the dirt and some sort of live or fake plant in it.  The wooden bench on the other side of the purse does not have a back.  And the stone path looks quite different, even starting at the ladder on the side rather than on the front near the oven knob.

As you can see in this photo, we added a beautiful carnelian crystal with a little branch of crystals that sheltered the Minions.  It was something Sylvia had in her room that gave a lovely vibe to the corner..  Once we had decided to add the carnelian, we no longer had room for the little planter.  I had to I have also built up the fire with crystals and trialing lining the stone path with twigs.  The floral purse was found in an op shop and reminds me of the "Public Purse" public art in Burke Street Mall.  It is a fun addition to the mall and little kids like to sit on it.  So I imagine this would be a fun part of the garden, not just a pretty sight.

The "fairy nook" sign was made out of a piece of bark that I found on the side of the bike track.  The biggest challenge was that painting the name on it.  I had originally thought I might write "fairy garden" but I didn't have enough space.  "Garden" became "Nook" because it was shorter.  I used the outdoor paint to write the name.  Which seemed a good idea.  However when the fairy garden was put outside in the rain, the PVA glue got soft and somehow a bit of the words rubbed off and had to be glued back.  And ideally I would have written in thinner letters if I had a better thin brush.

A wooden seat or bench was always part of the plan.  One reason it appealed was that I did not like how the four hotplate knobs at the side brought to mind the garden's former life as an oven.  I had wanted to cover them up.  To make the bench, I used twigs that I found on the side of the bike path.  I clipped them to size with secateurs.  I glued them onto two icy pole (popsicle) sticks, that were trimmed to size, on the .middle two of the knobs  It seemed like a good idea to do this to make it easy to glue the twigs down.  It was not enough

If I did this again I might shave off the side of the twigs to give them more area to attach to the icy pole sticks.  I would also glue them onto some icy pole (popsicle) sticks before - rather than after - gluing the twigs onto the knobs because it would be easier to make sure they were trimmed to be the same length.  It would have also been easier to keep them together and position the seat so it was not so close to the top of the ladder.  The round twigs were not very steady and I had to hold them together with masking tape to keep them falling off the knobs while the glue dried (see below photo).

Above is the bush that I made out of some clippings off a pine vine that Sylvia had bought at Christmas but decided she did not want to keep.  The clippings were clustered around one of the oven knobs so you couldn't see it.  The knob helped me to to prop them up while they dried in a pool of glue, with a little extra drizzled on them.  I also added a smaller bush by the stone path that is not in this photo.  I loved how the PVA dried to be so clear it seemed invisible.

The seat was originally intended to be just a flat bench.  When I showed a friend a photo, she did not see it as a seat.  Through her eyes I saw it looked like a pile of logs.  It made me see I needed a back for my bench.  This time before attaching them to the rest of the bench, I glued the twigs to icy pole sticks that had been trimmed and painted brown.  Again I used some masking tape to keep them in place while they dried.  But for extra support I also glued some bits of twig below the icy pole sticks to prop them up.

Once the bench and the bush was finished there was only one oven knob showing.  Four knobs looked like an oven.  One knob looked like a cute little seat or table.  To add to the whimsy, I glued a butterfly charm on the knob with a tiny stone underneath it to make it stand up a bit and look active rather than resting.

I had tossed up between a fireplace and a well in the middle of the garden.  I loved a camp fire when I was a kid and it seemed less intrusive than the well, and also less work.  Making the fireplace was fairly straightforward.  I made the circle of white stones first, then placed some small chips of bark in the bottom and built up the longer sticks like logs.  I added some reddish crystal chips and poured a bit of golden glitter glue in parts.  

I had intended to have some fairies in the garden but couldn't find any around the house.  We have had many Minions in our house and had a couple of small rubbery ones hanging about.  Sylvia cut a wine cork in half.  We don't know where it came from.  Is it from years ago when I drank wine with E at home?  Sometimes I love it when I don't throw out stuff and it is useful later.  The half wine corks were too high so we can them in half again which worked.  The expressions on the Minons amuse me - Bob is so cheery and Kevin suspicious.  I just wish I had the patience to create some long sticks with tiny marshmallows that they could toast on the fire.

Next was the stone path.  There was not a lot of room for it. I needed space around the fireplace and seat.  So I reduced it from a cluster of stones on the path to a neater row of stones with twigs lining each side.  Sylvia donated a few crystals to include in the stones, such as the blue one in the above picture.

Now that we have had the fairy nook outside for days when it is raining I regret being so generous with the PVA glue.  At the time it was drying clear and seemed to guarantee things were not going to move.  Sadly the rain has added moisture to the glue that makes it white again.  I loved that the glue was non-toxic so it was easier (and cheaper) to use.  The nook had to return indoors to glue a few sticks on the ladder and bench that had moved when the glue softened.  This time I used Gorilla glue which is weather proof.  In future I would use a little of the PVA glue to attach things if they were to be exposed to rain.  Then when it was dry I would then add some Gorilla glue about the edges to keep them attached if the PVA glue softened.

I am pretty happy with the garden.  I had imagined more plants than we ended up including.  I made an effort not to have it too crowded.  We had talked about including some living ones like bits of moss or trailing plants.  I would love them but worried it would not be practical, given my experience with plants not thriving when I cannot look after them because I get distracted by unexpected life events.  Perhaps I am too much of a control freak to include plants that might ask more than I can give.  I have planned for this to be there a while and don't want a bad gardening moment to leave the design with bare patches or brown plants.  So this is great for a first go at a fairy garden.  I really like how it blends in among Sylvia's pot plants and feels like part of our garden.

My series of fairy nook posts:

• Part 1: upcycling a toy oven - a fairy nook overview
  
• Part 2: painting
• Part 3: creating the cafe
• Part 4: creating the garden (this post)