May Day fairy garden and a sweet giveaway!

 My daughter Lydia is highly imaginative, always making up stories off the cuff or orchestrating elaborate parties and vacations for her dolls and animals.  She is alot like I was at her age, finding a little nook where no one could find me, jotting down my stories in composition books. For May Day she asked if she could build a fairy garden, because May Day signals the return of the garden fairies. They all look for particlular lodgings on May Day so they can work their garden magic during the warmer days ahead.

This old wooden barrel usually houses a grand display of geraniums. Not this year. This year it will hopefully become some wee fairies lodgings for the season.  Lots of construction was going on at the cottage. The land was leveled and moss pads brought in . Nice soft, cushiony moss for little fairy feet to tread upon. The masons built a nice retaining wall and put smooth paving stones amongst the flowers in the garden. They also installed a small clay pool, the fairies need a place to cool off and entertain!  The house construction was finished, complete with a moss roof and birch bark doors and windows.  More little plants and a dazzling array of shells, to be used as beach chairs, were arranged and the garden was complete.

Lydia had alot of help, of course. As she tells it, Mrs. Tilda Churchmouse, her constant helper, surveyed the work needed to be done. Tilda is a snap at cleaning, why she cleaned the same parish and vicarage in England for over 15 years! Sadly, the parish was being closed and dear Tilda's husband had a horrible demise while meeting the vicarage cat, Puss.  Tilda needed to find work and enlisted the help of her dear friend Eli at Fluterby Patch. Eli knew Lydia was looking for a good helper and posted her credentials to Mistress Lydia. Well, Tilda's resume was quite impressive to say the least! Eli made all the arrangements and Tilda arrived at Blueberry Cottage a few years ago and has been quite content with her new surroundings. Mistress Lydia is very grateful to Eli for recommending Tilda. She has become one of the family now!

 Tilda is a proper English churchmouse and is always dressed finely in her red jewels and white starched pinny.  Above, Tilda surveyed the work needing attention. She informed Mistress Lydia that this was quite a big job! Mrs. Honey Bear, Paddington Bear's Mum is here for a visit. Never one to sit idle she jumpled right in with her chenille rag and helped set the place to rights.

 Tilda had to clean the fairy house on her own as Honey was just a tad too large to fit through the doorway.

 Tilda Churchmouse and Honey Bear give the garden a final once over before proclaiming it suitable for any fairy searching for lodgings. 

 Aren't the gardens lovely? Lydia is pretty particular where the flowers woudl be placed. Birch, pinecones, a nice red mushroom and whooly thyme were all added to make the fairies feel at home.

Have the fairies arrived yet? We haven't sighted any as of yet, but I do believe anytime now one might appear. Lydia is hoping a girl fairy will take up residence. Do come back for a visit to see!


***Design your own Fairy Garden using the natural world around you.  Start with a half barrel or any type of planter, even a small spot in a garden will do. You can surround it with sticks or stones found on your property. The little house was made by glueing twigs onto a small box, gluing moss to the top and taking a piece of birch paper and fashioning a door, also glued. The stones and flowers and moss were all from our yard. The shells we had from a trip to Cape Cod. Really, your imagination is the only limits to designing your very own fairy garden!

This post is linked up to the Magic Onions Fairy Garden Competiton, Get Your Craft On, Tutorial Tuesday, Show Me What You Got,