Thursday, September 9, 2010

Friday's Fairy Find

Fairy Magical Weddings

My husband & I celebrated 4 years of marriage yesterday, so it has got me thinking about weddings. We had a beautiful garden wedding here in  the Southern Highlands on an extremely chilly early spring afternoon (6 degrees, brrrr). I had fairy flower girls and my bridesmaids wore dresses with gorgeous pixie cut hems (and the poor things nearly froze to death).

I had my dress made by a very talented lady who totally understood my 'vision' and i couldn't have been happier. I had also ordered fairy wings to wear for my photos, but in the chaos of the day, i completely forgot them :(


 Now, i wouldn't change my dress for anything, but i have discovered some very fairy inspired dresses, perfect for that magical wedding.

Zizzy Fay Faery & Goddess Wear now have a bridal range and it's gorgeous!


They have many dresses to choose from as well as separate skirts, sleeves etc so you can make up your own outfit. So if you're thinking about a fairy inspired wedding, you must check out Zizzy Fay Bridal Wear.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Clean Up Song

Like a lot of mums i struggle with getting my kids to pick up after themselves. The older ones are only 5 & 3, so i don't expect too much from them, but i think they are old enough to pack up their toys (which they have way too many of, but that's a whole other post, lol).

So, as mentioned earlier, i am quite interested in 'Waldorf' education, toys, rhythm etc and am trying to implement some of these techniques with my kids. One of the things i read quite frequently is the use of singing for different events and  transitions in the day. Now, i will admit i kind thought it would be a bit odd to sing our way through the day and i'm not so keen about singing for everything. But, i tried it out today in an attempt to get the kids to help pack up without too many grumbles and what do you know...it worked!!



So i thought i would share our little cleaning up song with you, it's amazing  how quick the kids picked it up and soon we were all singing together:

Cleaning up Song

It's time to pack up, it's time to pack up
It's time to put away
It's time to pack up, It's time to pack up
We've had a lovely day

When we do the work together
It makes it so much fun
When we do the work together
It's easy to get the job done

and repeat, and repeat, and repeat till your playroom, bedroom, etc is all clean! Make up any tune you want.

Hope it works for you!

Monday, September 6, 2010

Magical Monday

Brian Froud's Heart of Faerie Oracle

iPhone  App

I have the box set of these beautiful faerie oracle cards, so it was pretty cool to see they now have an app for iPhone...perfect for some faerie wisdom while on the go. You can purchase it on iTunes here.

From the website:

 "Whimsical, inspirational, and fun, THE FAERIES’ ORACLE combines a delightfully enlightening book with a dazzling deck of sixty-six faery divination cards. Written by Jessica Macbeth, an accomplished "faerynaut," the engaging text explains precisely how to mine the world of faeries for insights into the heart, the soul, and the future. The book introduces the most powerful and important members of the faery kingdom, all radiantly rendered by Brian Froud on the cards."

Brian Froud  is one of the  most well known (and my favourite) faery artists. He is probably most recognised from his work on the movies 'Labyrinth' and 'The Dark Crystal'.

Visit his website for more information on the Faerie's Oracle cards & app as well as his many other works of art.

 

Friday, September 3, 2010

Relaunch of Website

Ive totally neglected the blog this week, but for a good reason. I've finally finished the new website!!!

I have been wanting to change the look and feel of Enchanted Garden for a while now  and i am quite pleased with the outcome. I would love to know what you think  too :)

We will be focusing a lot  more on handmade products now, made by myself and others. As well as some funky products that you won't find everywhere. We hope to cater for adults as well as the children. We will still have all the wonderful dress up costumes and maybe a few for the grown ups to in the near future.

So please check out the new site: Enchanted Garden and have a little look around.

Keep checking back for more great products coming soon......

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Friday's Fairy Find

Little Odd Forest is one of my  favourite online shops. I'm totally in love with all their forest inspired accessories. There is something for everyone, like these gorgeous mushroom coasters or the adorable monster Mary Jane's::
I'm really loving this tree trunk and leaf bag and gnome note cards:

 But of course my very favourite item and today's fairy find is the super cute 'i believe in fairies' notebook  pouch:
 Be sure to check the Little Odd Forest website for more gorgeous and fun products.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Fairy Crystals

I'm so excited to show you our newest product at Enchanted Garden:


Fairy Crystals

These sweet little bottles measure approx. 5cm high and are filled with a gorgeous blend of amethyst and rose quartz crystals.

They are perfect as magical party favours or just a sweet little gift for someone special. Each one comes in it's own organza bag.

I haven't got them on the website yet as i am just midway through the process of changing over to the new site. They will hopefully be on there by the end of August.  In the meantime, if you wish to purchase any, please contact me at: greenfaery@internode.on.net

They are $2.50 each, or for a party pack of 8 or more $2.00 each.









Monday, August 23, 2010

Magical Monday

If i had my choice of building any style of house i wanted, this would probably be at the top of my list, though i don't know if my husband would agree with  me.

 This quaint little hobbit house in Wales is home to the Dale family and was built with the  environment in mind using natural materials. A truly magical abode and one that I'm sure i would feel  quite at home in.


You can read more about this project here.

Now, i just have to myself a hill.........




Thursday, August 19, 2010

Friday's Fairy Find

Today i had to show you this gorgeous doll  i came across that combines two of my favourite things: fairies and motherhood.

Isn't she beautiful!!!

She was created by an artist in Maine, USA. She has an Etsy store but doesn't currently have any of her gorgeous OOAK (one of a kind) art dolls for sale. If you would like to try your hand  at making your own art doll, you can buy one of her patterns here.

For more information about Judy and her dolls, check out her blog: Art Dolls & More,

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Play Silks

We are very inspired by Steiner (also known as Waldorf) play, toys, rhythms, etc. We are hoping to start attending a little Steiner playgroup soon. I particularly like the use of open ended toys, so i thought I'd share some pictures of our recent play silk dyeing activity.

 
You can find so many tutorials (they all vary) on how to dye silks, so i won't repeat, but i followed the very simple instructions here. It was a lot of  fun making them and both Miss E (5) and Master T (nearly 3) helped out. I can't wait to make some more. I'm going to attempt a rainbow one next for Baby J as he loves to hold onto one as he drifts off to sleep.
 


My children have already had so much fun with them. It's great to see all the different ways they will use a simple piece of cloth. Best of all, they were relatively cheap to make.


Sunday, August 15, 2010

Magical Monday

For our first "Magical Monday" i thought i'd share with you this gorgeous album i bought off iTunes last night.


It's a truly magical album by Irish Artist Aine Minogue that takes you right to the realms of fairyland. I can see it will be played a lot in this household. You can read more about 'The Twilight Realm' and listen to samples of the songs here.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Octopus Craft

We were supposed to be spending today in the garden, but after returning home from the nursery with some herbs to plant, the rain came down. So now  we are having an indoor day. I thought I'd post up this quick craft that the kids and  i did a while ago (i had intended to do a kids craft blog, but never got round to it).



This octopus looks great hung up where it can gently sway in the breeze.

Materials
2 x paper plates
paint & brushes
coloured crepe paper streamers
scissors
stapler
craft eyes (optional)

Paint the backs of the two paper plates in your desired colours/patterns. Allow to dry.
Cut out 8 ‘tentacles’ whatever length you prefer (ours are approx. 40cm long). Cut out one smaller strip of crepe paper for loop to hang it.
Staple the tentacles to the inside of one of the paper plates. At the top of the plate, loop the small strip and staple into place.
Bring the insides of the plates together (non painted sides) and staple all around to secure.
Add some craft eyes or draw some eyes onto your octopus (optional).
Hang and enjoy!

Friday, August 13, 2010

Our Enchanted Fairy Garden - a work in progress

We been planning on putting in a fairy garden for quite a while now, but that's about all that had been done...planning.

I'm very indecisive and couldn't figure out what i wanted for the actual fairy house. Well, the other day my sweet husband made that decision for me.
He came across this lovely stump while collecting firewood and thought it would make the perfect dwelling for the wee folk who live at the bottom of our garden. 

Don't you just love the little sign? My brother-in-law & his girlfriend gave it to me on my last birthday.
 


There isstill a lot of work to be done, but this is a nice start.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Friday's Fairy Find

Our very first 'Friday's Fairy Find' is this gorgeous little cameo box by etsy seller PortersWorkshop. What a sweet little place to keep those tiny fairy treasures.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Welcome

Welcome to my blog. I hope you will find something of interest here. 

For those of you who don't know me, here's a little bit of info. I'm a very happily married mum of 3 living in the Southern Highlands of NSW, Australia. I have a little online business called Enchanted Garden where i sell lots of magical goodies.

I'm a believer in all things fairy and magic, obsessed with craft (needle felting is a fave at the  moment), trying to teach myself photography and photo shop and love spending my days with my children.

Not entirely sure what i'll be blogging about yet, but i think it will be a mixture of fairies, craft, recipes, fairies, gardening, life and fairies...did i mention fairies??

Anyway, hope you will find something of interest...thanks for reading :)