Freebie Friday!

Beautiful spring days are finally here and it is time to get your ideas on paper and then get your fairy garden planted!!  Here is a little template for a fairy garden to print and use:

We will also be posting a plant list sheet and a fairy container gardern planner template later on today or over the weekend!

If you prefer the super techy method..... try this:

http://download.cnet.com/Garden-Planner/3000-18499_4-10285889.html

for free downloadable garden planning software.

Have a great Friday!

Tips and Tricks Thursday!

Welcome to Tips and Tricks Thursdays! We will be covering all the fun and inspirational things you can do with your PiratesandPixies fairy door once you get it home.

Today let's start with the basics, once I get it at home...now what?

Hangin'-There are a couple of different ways to hang up your door...you could use double stick tape (it might mess up your wall paint and makes it harder to move your door later), so our recommended method is to use a few gobs of museum putty on the back of the door. What is 'museum putty' you ask? Sounds fancy, right? Remember the posters you had as a kid, and you put them up on your walls with that gummy stuff...that is it!!  You can find it in the stationary/office supplies section of all the big superstores. (it will be either yellow or light grey and cost about a buck!) 

The doors are very light so it should hold your door firmly but still allow you to move it anytime you want. Remember the door opens in so once you hang it up only the fairies can open it!


Placement-Where should you put it? Well, the possibilities are endless...if it is a gift for a special little one, then most likely you would put it in their room...down by the baseboard, tucked in a row of books on the bookshelf or even on the wall even with the top of their dresser...anywhere with a little landing spot for the magical friends who will be dropping by!

{A hint on the timing of the placement of your door for a child...instead of wrapping it up to be unwrapped as a gift...try sneaking it into their room at night while they are asleep and then in the morning they can wake up to a special surprise...sprinkle a little glitter around the door and write them a little welcome note from their new fairy friends! They will love it!}

Don't limit yourself to just little ones bedrooms...fairy doors are for all ages and locales...!

See you next week for Tips and Tricks on messages from beyond the door..... ;)!

Fairy Gardens

Ready to plant your garden? Not sure what plants to use? Here is a list of some of the Fairies best loved flowers and herbs…..


Pansy – said to be the favorite flower or Oberon – king of the fairies. Picking one with dew on it is considered to be very bad luck. In Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Oberon tells us that the juice of a pansy sprinkled on the eyes of someone who is sleeping will make them fall in love with the first person they see when they open their eyes.

Heather – associated with fairy Queens

Irises – attract noble helpful fairies, especially Kings and Queens

Lilacs – the scent brings flower fairies

Jasmine – used by fairies for love spells

Foxglove – also known as “Fairies Thimble” the flowers are worn as hats and gloves

Daisies – invite frequent fairy visits

Thistle – repels negative energy and harmful fairies

Carnations – draw healing and helpful fairies

Snap Dragons – best if kept a bit secluded, we wouldn’t want any of the Wee Folk getting bit!

Ferns – used as beds for baby fairies and adored by Pixies

Moss – any type for the Wee Folk to nap on

Chamomile – if you drink chamomile tea before bedtime you will dream of fairies

St. John’s Wort – provides protection from harm, When picking ask permission first and then only pick with your left hand.

Thyme – attracts garden fairies. Sprinkle around the house, on doorsteps and windowsills to invite the fairies in.

Marjoram – invites joyful, happy fairies

Moon Flower – these delicate blooms open only at night – you may be lucky enough to see the fairies dancing around them

Clover – for luck of course!

Other great plants that attract our magical friends are roses, marigolds, sunflowers, mint, bluebells and morning glories.

In the interest of keeping the Snap Dragons from snapping, my son made a "fence" to keep them in.

How Cute Is This?

There is just no end to the amount of talented, cool, crafty folks out there.  That's one of the things we like so much about Etsy...just so much cool stuff to look at...Like these:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/45637386/custom-herbs-set-of-5-vintage-silver?ref=sr_list_14&ga_search_query=plant+markers&ga_search_type=all&ga_page=&includes%5B0%5D=tags&includes%5B1%5D=title

Seriouly cute, and crafty right? I bet the fairies in your garden would love these!! I know we do!

Crafy Friday! And A Freebie!

In honor of our series on Fairy Gardens, we thought you might like a little crafty project to go along with it. We have created a gnomey plant marker for you to print and add to your garden. He is a baseball card sized marker with a space for you to put the name of your newly planted seedlings or cool new plants. Print out two for each marker you want to make and staple them back to back, label and slide them down a twig and you are good to go! Hope you have a great day and enjoy our digi-freebie fun. (Click on photo and save picture as...) You know the drill!

Earth Day Give-Away

In honor of Earth Day, our fairy friends requested we help you get started with your Fairy Garden. It’s perfect time of year to get out and get planting! We have gathered a sweet little package filled with seed packets (including some of the fairies favorite flowers), a resin mushroom (for shade) and a bottle of pixie dust to sprinkle over your new garden for luck.

To win, just become one of our followers. Once we have 25, we will use a random number generator to select the winner.

Happy Earth Day Everyone!!

Fairies in the Garden

You've hung up your fairy door and invited in the wee folk. What next? Planting a fairy garden that both you and the fairies can enjoy would be perfect. Fairy gardens can be indoors or outdoors, big or small, extravagant or simple. There are just so many things you can do it is hard for me not to ramble on and make the worlds longest blog post! I'll try to contain myself, every Wednesday I'll have Fairy Garden tips, hints, ideas and more. 

 So first thing you'll want to do is decide what space you want to use for the garden. Fairies are shy and they hate loud noises. You do not need a large area. If you are thinking indoors is best for you choose as peaceful a spot as you can find, where you sit and read, a sun room or balcony or simply the quiet corner of a room.

If an outside fairy garden works best for you, then try somewhere off the beaten path. Somewhere away from the constant traffic of kids and pets (think Godzilla lumbering through your town). Fairies love old Oak trees. They have several uses for the acorns - hats, bowls, planters, etc. Oak trees are so magical that they may sometimes already have fairies living in them! If you are lucky enough to have an Oak tree in your yard

planting your garden nearby will most likely prove a success. Finally, consider the animals in your yard, fairies are fiercely protective of nature and love and care for the plants and animals.

Whether it be indoors or out try to choose somewhere that gets a bit of sunlight and moonlight.
Starting a fairy garden will create a truly magical and peaceful place for all!

Next week I'll talk about what plants attract the faeries!!!

How Cute Is This?

Legos are a much loved toy among our pirates and the little pixie...so when we saw this we got pretty excited. (you are seeing the mushroom, right?) It is a fusion of Lego building creativity and paper that is long overdue. Unfortunately most will have to wait for these cool kits to be available in the US but we can see many, many hours of fun Lego creating on the horizon! Especially for the pixies, who are notoriously under represented in the Lego universe. Keep coming back to this blog for more pirate and pixie Lego fun...we are cooking up some fun for you!!

If you can't wait: http://www.etsy.com/listing/44549114/lego-and-paper-set-from-muji-bright-colo

Have a great day!!

~* This Week's Fairy Good Special *~

We have oodles fairy babies in need of good homes so this week anyone who purchases a fairy door willl receive a little bag of babies. These are great to set by your door for your fairy to play with or simply place one somewhere you'll see it all of the time. They are sure to bring a smile to your face!

I love when a good idea snowballs. We came up with a way to make these cute mini door decorations for our doors and the possibilites seem to be endless. Here is a peek at a few new designs.........

The house numbers are fun but I think the birds are my favorite! They will soon be available in the "Design Your Own" section of our shop.