Fairy Gardens and Friends

This past weekend while perusing my favorite homeschool blogs I came across an idea for a Fairy Garden at The Homeschool Village. I knew this looked like the perfect project for my fairy-loving daughter who's been begging me to let her plant some flowers. It also seemed like the perfect project for doing with a group of special friends. We invited five friends over for a "Fairy Afternoon" including a mini-tea party and Fairy Gardens. 

I kept the mini-tea party simple, since the main focus of the afternoon was our Fairy Gardens. We had peach tea, a miniature 3-layer jelly bean cake, cupcakes, and crackers. 

Cupcakes topped with Jelly Beans

3-Layer Jelly Bean Cake

After enjoying their treats the girls were ready to get started on their fairy gardens. Using a 14-inch shallow bowl-type planter, they first filled the bottoms with small drainage rocks.

Next, they filled their bowls halfway with potting soil. I put the potting soil in a large galvanized metal tub so that all of the girls could get around it to fill their planters.

When their planters were about halfway filled with potting soil they added the plants and filled in around them; two or three plants to each bowl--to make sure there was still plenty of room for adding "fairy" accessories and decorations.

Once their plants were well covered in soil, it was time to start getting creative! 

The girls used the small pebbles to make rock paths and large rocks to make stepping stone type paths.

The girls had collected a few small items that they could add to their fairy garden...things like toy animals, marbles, miniature dolls, and even miscellaneous game pieces like dominos or dice. They used these to create an inviting place for fairies.

Each garden was topped off with a sign... Fairies Welcome, Fairy Garden, or Do Not Pick The Flowers. 

I think each of the girls had a really good time and it was wonderful to be able to share this with friends!