family
How to make a little fairy diorama
cottage, fairies, family, how-to projects, Tutorials
There were more fairy family photos to add to the mantel from our wing making event that Miss Tree gifted us with at Solstice.
Now, I think I have us all represented over the fireplace. I’ve used a variety of ways to display them from frames, shadow boxes, in bottles, hanging, and more.
I ran out of space for more frames, so thought I’d craft a mini diorama for my son and Dewdrop.
The first step was to cut out, glitter and decorate the people I wanted to use.
Next, I cut an arch shape from two sided cardstock. No pattern, just a roughly arch shaped piece because I knew it would be covered.
I glued Adam to the arch and then glued the arch to the inside of a mayo jar lid.
To strengthen and support the arch, I added a strip of more cardstock to the back.
Some grosgrain ribbon covered the lid up.
I filled the inside of the lid with blobs and globs of Ultimate glue, stuck a bent pie cleaner where I wanted Dewdrop to stand, then filled the lid with moss.
Dewdrop was then glued to the pipe cleaner and clamped til dry.
To stabilize the pipe cleaner, I glued pretty rocks onto the moss. They also worked as weights to keep the piece upright.
You can see behind Dewdrop into the lid in this picture. I added flowers and leaves around the archway and a few flowers into the moss too.
Ta-dah!
This isn’t a very refined, or perfected project just a quickie not meant to last a life time. But it suited my purposes for a way to add more family fairies to my display.
This is my springtime mantel and I like it so much, it might be up all summer. I think I even see a few spots where I could squeeze in a few more sprites…
An Estate Sale in Ottawa, KS that opened some floodgates for me
family, junk, Ryan
My friend, Angie called me to say she had someone cancel on her and she could use a couple hours of help at an estate sale she was running.
(304 E 11th Street in Ottawa, half price on Saturday the 19th)
While there were plenty of vintagey goods, practical items, and tons of tools for sale, the star of the day was the house itself.
Throughout the day, I explored all of the excellently preserved details of this pristine old house. It made me feel nostalgic for my mom’s house in Sioux City, IA. Hers was from the same era and style, also had that great woodwork and arched entryway doors.
Mom’s home didn’t have the original potties, though. This house had delicious tiling and the baths were updated but not gutted and redone. The rose and black might have been my fave.
(Delicious might not be a good word to describe a bathroom, but, honestly, that color is pretty dang tasty!)
But, no maybe this room is my favorite color combo- the soft green with a hint of lilac? How springy and delightful!
The woodwork throughout was magnificently crafted too. And filled with French doors. My mother took her French doors off and stored them in the basement for some odd reason. Maybe so my crazy, wild boys wouldn’t ride a tricycle through them.
They weren’t the only kids raised in that place, it was also the childhood home of Ann Landers and Dear Abby. I have a feeling the advice sisters weren’t as rambunctious as my kiddos, but then not many were.
Luckily, this was marked NFS, or it would’ve been in the back of my pickup, and I do not need it.
I sure WANT it.
The basement was filled with the original workings of the old place, and that again brought back memories of Mom’s house on Nebraska Street. There was a laundry chute here just like the one my sons threw all of their toys down.
Visions of two year old Adam dropping trucks down onto four year old Ryan’s head in the basement were bittersweet. And I laughed out loud with tears in my eyes as I recalled running down the hall and screaming, “Noooo! The dog cannot go down the chute!” Just in time to save that poor little schnauzer.
It has been a rough week for me, I definitely needed this day out to work with Angie. The added bonus of spending the day in a home that brought so many forgotten times rushing back was good..
May is coming up, and it is filled with land mines for my heart. My birthday and Mother’s Day were dates that Ryan never failed to make me feel treasured on.
Then the end of May brings the anniversary of his death.
It is still April, but the mere thought of May has been wringing tears out of me while anticipating the calendar page about to turn.
And horrifically, some dear friends recently lost their son. I spent a week making a journal/album for him and feeling their pain with each drop of glue I used.
On top of that, I’ve had someone I trust turn on me and flip my view of our relationship up and twist it around.
Memories can be a blessing and a curse at the same time. All I can do for now is roll with the emotions, enjoying the stories that play in my mind while missing my boy.
Bad things happen, sadness continues to occur, but I need to hang out to those good memories and think about those funny little boys with the giant pile of toys under the laundry chute in the basement.
Or I will never survive this. Those memories need to be my lifeline.
Family photos with dogs
dogs, family, Travel
On the way back from Florida, we made multiple stops to see family. One was in Indiana and I got to see not only my own fam, but Sugar’s baby too. She lives with my niece, JoRenda.
At first, I tried to get a selfie with her.
This is about the best one, it was windy, she was wiggly.
So, I handed my camera over to someone else, and kinda got a pic of us together, but that girl was curious about her doggie family and they were all ready to play, so we let them run together.
After they tired themselves out, we tried again.
It took a few snaps…
Then, ta-dah! All mostly posed. But all were very pretty, even though it’s hard to get a picture of a black dog in a shadow.
Lighter ones are easier. Which is too bad, because I think it hurts the sales of the black pups, even though in person, they are gorgeous dogs and people stop me on the street to tell me how striking Shuggie is.
Sometimes, when the lighting is right, you can see her pretty face in a photo.
Mostly, she just seems to be a black blob.
Her daughter, Ryder, is a pretty girl too. She still has her fluffy, puppy hair, and it was as soft as it was when she was tiny. And she is every bit as sweet as she was then.
At just a few weeks old, she was a dog who didn’t care for humans much. But when you get one like that, you need to reassure them that human touch means LOVE. I gave her so much extra attention, and carried her in a sling with me as I swept floors. It seems to have paid off, she is a cuddler, and a very loving girl.
While the dogs over took most of our vacation, it wasn’t 100% about them, like they thought it was. Having sister time was sooo nice.
More Fairy Family Photos- IN FLIGHT!
fairies, family
The fun from the wings we made with Miss Tree just keeps on coming.
It is special to have an opportunity to play dress up, and go into the woods like sprites.
We even attempted to fly like real fairies.
Some were pretty durn good at levitating.
Others, not so much…
Everyone jumped on the count of three, and you snap the photo at one or two to catch them airborne.
I preferred pretending to fly, not actually jumping up. (By the way, this is a dress I bought way back in the 90s. I wonder if it is considered vintage now? I buy what I love and wear it forever, and clothes never feel dated to me)
And everyone was kind to pose in ways that I can cut the photo up to make banners or captured fairies.
Won’t this one be sweet in a jar?
And this one framed?
These three can fly beautifully, cut out and hanging from a banner.
My husband even participated and said he enjoyed it. He’s a bee keeper and Katie made some cute bee wings for him. But I am not allowed to post those. You’ll have to take my word for it, he was adorable.
Rockin rocks
dogs, family, sea shell fairies
A bird shaped rock! Isn’t it cool? Well, the front is head, back and wing shaped, the tail part is a second rock and they just kind of slid together perfectly to create a bird.
I was so excited to see it on the shore of our lake.
Then I found a dinner plate sized heart rock with a hag stone hole in it. This was my lucky day.
And a beautiful day at that.
A great afternoon for the trails around the lake.
The dogs thought it was their lucky day too.
I ❤️ these people
cottage, fairies, family, flowers
The wing project the Miss Tree gifted the family with at Winter Solstice is a gift that never ends. Not only did we have day after day of fun with creating the wings, I made captured and framed fairies for the mantel from one of our two adventures in fairy dress up parties.
She has become a master wingmaker (Katie, you need an Etsy shop!) and crafted these for my son, to look like oak leaves.
He and Dewdrop were here for a much too quick visit, and while at the cottage, he took the time to remake my garden entryway. The vines put up years ago had started to fall, and most of the twinkle lights had given up their glow.
More native grape vines were gathered in the woods and he came up with the idea of forming a heart instead of just a random design.
See how he incorporated the scrolls of the fence to complete the point of the heart?
I’ll have more pictures of our dress up night, and of the projects I make with the photos later on. Because like I said, the wing party from Katie just keeps on giving. I can’t wait to add more fairies to my fireplace mantel.
Plus pics of the fabulous heart with blooming vines growing around it this summer! Won’t that be lovely?
Thank you, Katie and Adam, for the beauty you bring to my world.
Family Fire Fun Night- with axes and calzones
celebrations, family
My boy is in town from North Carolina and we love being able to have the family together for adventures.
The evening began with some ax throwing out by my husband’s log cabin.
We were not only blessed by having a passel of pixies to play with, but the most beautiful spring break weather you could ask for, too.
The day before, I made up batches of vegan and of meaty, veggie calzones plus home made bread sticks and salad, so I could relax and enjoy the evening without worrying about dinner. Making up meals ahead of time sure makes life easier at family gatherings. I whipped up vegan, lemon cheesecake and dark chocolate cupcakes while I was at it.
Then we lit all the garden lights, fired up the fire pit and sticks, turned on the music and took turns playing with the flames.
I had a box of rainbow powder and the grand fairies added that to the flames, and I was impressed at how pretty the colors were. I got the $5 box of three at Walmart and it lasted all evening. I’ll be buying more of those.
At first, I was overly cautious and worried the children would burst into a fiery ball of death. But they were following rules and having sooooo much fun, I soon let go and enjoyed the show.
Even to the point where I shocked everyone by joining in! I am clumsy with no sense of rhythm, but who cares?
After everything we have all been through as a family, a country, and a planet this year, I think it’s time to let go of fears and enjoy what’s in front of us.
You can’t take life for granted, live it to its fullest, even if it means doing some bad dancing like a fool with or without a torch.
Captured fairies
cottage, fairies, family
Some of the pictures from our fairy family photo shoot were simply ideal to use in cute ways, like Thia, here in this bottle.
And the bottle was ideal too! It’s a plastic bottle that unscrews from the bottom and came filled with candy. Why oh why didn’t I buy a case of them instead of just one? I’ve not seen another one since. I got the candy at Tuesday Morning a couple years ago, it was a brand I hadn’t seen before. I can’t remember what flavor it was filled with, but who cares, all candy is good and this bottle was meant to be a unique and wonderful craft supply!
Any container that has a good sized opening on the bottom is much easier to catch a fairy in than trying to use tweezers to slide them into a narrow top. This is an upside down sauce jar, not a fancy shape, but she went into it nicely. I should probably add flowers to the top to disguise it more.
The photo of me with Molly is printed a little larger than the girls, so I could layer them in prospective. I’m glued directly to the glass, a smaller Dewdrop a bit behind me, and slightly smaller Sugarwings a bit higher and to the side behind her.
Their photos didn’t show feet, so I used moss to hide that. In all the dioramas, I added pussy willow branches as trees, because I think fairies would really love to hang out under fuzzy, soft trees like that if given a choice.
This pic would’ve worked well in a box too, but is just so lovely, I wanted it framed as is.
And I thought the two of these were cute as a bug next to each other.
Our family has been known to don wings on more than one occasion. Here are pictures of the Guncles that I thought should be added to the grouping. I have one of my sissies that needs to go up here too.
This picture is from the grand masquerade we attended. I cut out the girls and glued them to a little blue mirror and glued it to the rosy tin lid. I don’t know where the bottom of the tin went, but held onto the lid, knowing I’d find a use for it someday.
Blue mirrors are significant in the fairy world! You can spot them in your garden by holding up a blue mirror and peering into it, looking over your shoulder to see them flitting about.
These sisters are glued to an amber glass, beveled “moon” and then onto a painting that Dewdrop made.
She swirled lots of glitter paint onto a paper plate, then smooshed it onto a canvas. Gorgeous, isn’t it? I think it looks like woodland flowers.
Twinkle lights are strewn throughout the display. I’ll get a photo of it lit up when I add more fairies to the mantle. The lights twirl between the frames, then up into my set of wings hung over the mirror. I didn’t realize while doing it that the lights formed a heart shape!
Fairy Family Photo Fun
fairies, family
On Winter Solstice, our Katie Tree brought over wing making supplies that turned into weeks of creativity and craftiness for us all. Afterwards, we had a fairy fashion show and played dress up with our fabrications.
I thought I’d hang my pretty, Tinker Bell style wings in the studio, and probably will later on. But for the beginning of spring, I wanted to display them on the mantle with some of the framed pictures we took.
Looking through my stash, I found some appropriate frames, and a couple of shadow boxes that made me think of doing just a bit more than simply framing the pictures as is.
Most pics were groupings, and it wasn’t possible to cut out individual bodies. But there were a few that I could make work.
Even without complete bodies, if tilted and used right, I had plenty of fairies to use. Each one got some embellishing with glitter and metallic inks.
This vintage mirror was ideal for showcasing some flying fairies.
I’ll have some more close ups in my next post.