Treasures in the garden

I'm excited about the new faery dust vials that we now have at Enchanted Garden. They are just so tiny and magical. 

The label on each one has been hand dyed and burned by me (with guidance from the faeries) and i can just imagine how enchanting they would be hidden throughout a garden for a fairy party.

Speaking of garden fairy parties, I am still waiting to hear back from the real estate agent in regards to a commercial property i am trying to lease for my shop. It has it's very own garden (front & back) and my imagination is working overtime thinking of all the magical places i can create there!! Expect to see a LOT of faery dust.

Some more treasures from my garden, but this is of the edible kind. We have an abundance of tomatoes growing in our veggie patch. All different varieties. The kids have been having great fun picking the red ones (and the odd green one too).

We haven't had much luck keeping a veggie patch thriving in the past, but this time we are determined to make it work. Inquisitive children and a hungry pet bunny do make it a little tricky to keep everything alive, but we are working on it. We had a great crop of celery last year which i hope to start growing again.

That's all from me today, it's another hot, hot day so I'm off to find a a way to keep the kids cool this afternoon.

Faery Blessings.....

Danielle

2011 already....

When i first started this blog, i had planned to post daily (ok well at least weekly), but i guess that idea went out the window quickly. So i finally made it back, and it's 2011, wow, that came around fast! We have had a busy start to the year already, but i am hoping to try and be a bit more frequent in blogging this year.

So what's been going on in the Enchanted Garden?

January was a very busy month for us. I set up a little plaster painting stand in Berrima (Southern Highlands, NSW). I had quite a few little artists come to paint and create some wonderful masterpieces. I also loved the look on their little faces when they were told they could sprinkle glitter all over their plasters...as much as they wanted!!

I had lots of fun but will admit it was a little tricky juggling that and my own 3 children, thankfully my hubby, mum and mum-in-law were around to help out. 

We will soon be offering fund raising and party packs of plasters on the site. We have quite a few different styles to choose from and our packs will be made up of the most popular ones (or you can choose your own). 

just a few of the super popular ones.....

Now that I've finished the plaster painting, there is still no time to rest. February is here and everything starts up again. 

Today was a day of firsts. My fairy princess had her first day of Kindergarten today. She looked so grown up in her school uniform. She didn't get upset at all, even though i was a blubbering mess! She had a fantastic day and can't wait to get back there tomorrow!

My two little pixies also had their first session at a Steiner (Waldorf) playgroup. We all really enjoyed it. It was very different to our other playgroup but the boys seemed to have a really great time. Looking forward to next week.

I think I've rambled on enough now. I hope to get back into the blogging swing of things this year and bring you all the exciting Enchanted Garden news.

Faery Blessings.......

Etsy Treasury

Our fairy dust has been included in an Etsy Treasury, our very first one:

'Create magic for the little ones in your life!' by cre8ivegifts

Because everyone's childhood should be magical!

Fairy Dust - Party Pack... enchantedbyfae $14.50	Garden Fairy Ivy AdoroMe $10.00	Lil Tote Bag, purple bu... mylilluvbug $14.99
Personalized Dragonfly ... KelasBabyBouti... $18.00	Pink and Purple Dancin... greenbaboondes... $12.00	Rainbow Twist Tutu-FREE... sweetiepietutu... $23.50
Flower fairy trail for ... ButterflyCove $15.00	NEW DESIGN - Swirly Tre... designedDESIGN... $89.00	Tooth Fairy Personalize... cheekyfrills $12.00
LIGHT UP MY WORLD Origi... becmudd $12.00	Super Hero Cape - Turqu... worldofwhimm $24.00	Magical Fairy Star Wand DoeQ $30.00
Hooded Towel w/Wash Mit... giftstou $25.00	Eye Spy Bag tiazoey $5.00	Monkey Drawstring Backp... MaricoleDesign... $12.95

Generated using Treasury HTML code generator by Whale Shark Websites.

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.

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!

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.

 

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......