Holiday Decorating

We reclaimed a few items to use for decorating the Urns at the front of the shop.

The great thing about spending the money on an iron urn is, you can use it over and over and it can be left outdoors all year.

We used cuttings from various trees and shrubs from our own yard to create the arrangement.

Kiwi vine worked great for hanging sparkly stars.  The golden crab apple branches looked great with the brown stars.

The bow was made from burlap wired ribbon and the centerpiece was made from gluing piece of old sweaters onto a bowling ball I purchased from Goodwill.

Haul out the holly....

Yes, we need a little Christmas....
Today is the day we start renovating the shop. Its go time for decorating for the holidays. Today my inspiration comes from a pair of old ice skates, a gold picture frame and maybe some ribbon. I am excited to see what I come up with.

Wedding Flowers

I think every wedding is beautiful. The details change but, the day is filled with happy people, gorgeous gowns, a glowing bride and a nervous groom. And the flowers!

Precious Metal Clay workshop

It has been a while since I have attended a workshop for myself. Recently I have been looking for unique and unusual fairy charms or jewelry related pieces. I have not really found what I had in mind. My solution is to make it myself. I signed up to take a Precious Metal Clay work shop this week. I am very excited to learn something new. This will be my first time taking a class at the Fine Line in St. Charles Illinois.

Fall Festival Weekend

We created this display for my fairy houses.  We have a space at the Fall Festival in Cantigny Park this weekend. We are excited to enjoy the day at such a beautiful location.  Weather report says warm and thunderstorms but, it will still be fun. Doug built a form with various elevations. This took 4 hours with two glue guns and two bags of moss just to create the base.

A child"s imagination

I love to see the children build fairy houses in the studio.  Maude is turning 5 next weekend. She designed her fairy house while her Mom did all the heavy gluing. The house is beautiful and I bet the fairies are choosing straws to see who gets to live in her garden.

Fall at the shop

We made it to Fall!!! The shop opened in March and it has been a wild ride.  We have met so many wonderful people. I love hearing about everyone's Fairy Gardens both inside and out. The studio is still plugging along with workshops this month. I am now working on Day of the Dead mugs. We are going to take these to the next Fall Festival on October 13th.

Making Gifts from Reclaimed Items

These tea cups are made from thrift store finds.  Using a low fire Pebeo Porcelaine paint pens purchased from Dick Blick Art Supplies. The pieces are low temp fired in a 300 degree oven for 30 minutes. After firing the paint becomes dish washer safe. (Tip-Clean your pen tips after each use and store pens upright).

A garden fairy story

All three of my grown daughters are wonderful with words.  They went to a great elementary school that encouraged reading. To this day they are in competition for reading the most books each year. They also learned to write. Sarah is currently working on a story about the fairy that lives here at the shop.  I am so proud of her and can't for her to work with a publisher.

Sustainable Wildflower

For Many years I felt the need to keep up with the trends of new and improved perennials. But with age comes wisdom, and there is nothing like the Black-eyed Susan or Rudbeckia hirta for sustainability.

The dry summer has taken a toll on almost every plant in my garden.  I did not drag the hose for a supplemental water supply and it shows. The Black-eyed Susan is queen of the garden this year. Long, longgg.....bloom time and no dead heading. It has looked great for about a month and I expect that to continue for some time to come.

A Gardeners Confession

It has been 2 months and 26 days since my last post. I have avoided my blog and neglected my garden. I have not fertilized any of plants. I have not picked weeds. I did not cut back my Salvia for a second bloom. I
did not get enough sun.  Doug and I are going to be the two really white people on the beach next week.

Well, now that my garden soul is clean, I can re-invent Linda, again.

The shop is doing well. I highly recommend every person should have their own studio! Don't tell me your not creative. "Feed it and it will grow"!  I waited to long to get my studio.  I had looked into renting a small studio back in 1987 but...to many excuses to list. My advice, "do it".

One of my many finds this Spring was a beautiful old wrought iron light fixture. I just turned this outdoor fixture into and indoor Fairy Terrarium. I see a new workshop at the shop for this very soon.

Vintage Stuff for Rent

We have so many vintage items we decided to go green and rent them out for Weddings and parties.

This is a great way to reuse items without having to purchase and store them after an event. We have the space and want to share these fun finds. treestarhollow.com

Fairy Picnic

The fairy shop is gaining more interest everyday. I am having a great time and the creativity is pouring out. My recent pieces really show how much fun I'm having. Fairy garden enthusiasts are visiting and sharing ideas. Every gardener has twigs and branches to start making furniture. Any type of tree or shrub works.

Vintage Fairy Furniture

I always enjoy meeting Fairy Garden enthusiasts. Yesterday I was shown some "Vintage Fairy Furniture". It was made some twenty years ago and it still looks adorable. This furniture sat on the dresser of a young girl. Sometimes at night while she was sleeping the fairies would leave foot prints. There where even a few occasions where the fairies would leave "fairy dust kisses" on her cheeks or fairy dust on her nose when they tickled it while she slept.

Painting a floor

We have been working on the new shop. It has a floor that is both plywood and concrete. We decided to paint and stencil it. I am really happy with the colors and can't wait to move in the fixtures and fairy stuff.