Posts Tagged holidays

Earth Day in the Miniature Garden

22/04/2013 at 12:10 pm · Filed under Because it's fun, D.I.Y. Ideas, Garden Art, Miniature Garden Accessories, Miniature Plants ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Earth Day in the Miniature Garden

A continuation of our Miniature Garden Series – Happy Earth Day, Mother Earth!

Earth Day in the Miniature Garden

If you are new to this super-fun series, we are in the process of creating at least twelve different themes for the same miniature garden this year. See what we’ve come up with to celebrate Earth Day today.

Valentine’s Day in the Miniature Garden

St. Patrick’s Day in the Miniature Garden

Spring / Easter in the Miniature Garden

Earth Day in the Miniature Garden

What else do you put in your miniature garden for Earth Day except more earth-lovin’ plants?

Need some tips for ways to help the Earth? It’s also a great way to refresh your memory of the many different ways you can help us help ourselves: the Environmental Protection Agency’s website is here: http://www.epa.gov/earthday/tips.htm

Earth Day in the Miniature Garden

We got the globe from a tube of animal toys made by Safari Ltd. Find the “Toobs” at your local toy store. Steve glued it to a skewer so we could mount it in the garden.

Earth Day in the Miniature Garden

Happy Earth Day!

Where to find the items shown:

The plants in this container, counterclockwise from the bottom, front:
- Hens and Chicks
- Wooly Thyme
- Silver Mist Lily Turf
- Blue Moon Sawara Cypress
- Miniature Juniper – the ‘Compressa’ variety or  the ‘Minitaure’  variety works. ~>  Find them here.
(Note that all plants are not available at all times.)

Find the miniature garden decks here. Made of cedar, they come in “L” shaped too.

Find the tan colored bench here. Available in gray and ivory colors too.

Find the wee gnome here.

Find the Made in the USA birdhouse. Available in purple too.

Our How-To PDF instant download is here. It’s helpful to get you going!

Need a kit to help get you started? Find them here.

Join us for your FREE Mini Garden Gazette here. And get a free “Best of the Mini Garden Gazette #1″ just for signing up. Confirm through your email to get the pdf sent straight to your inbox.

Let us know what occasion or holiday you would like to see in the comment box below!

Earth Day in the Miniature Garden

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St. Patrick’s Day in the Miniature Garden

14/03/2013 at 2:57 pm · Filed under Because it's fun, D.I.Y. Ideas, For the New Gardener, Miniature Garden Accessories, Resources ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

St. Patrick's Day in the Miniature Garden

St. Patrick’s Day in the Miniature Garden: We’re having fun using the same garden this year for every occasion that we can.

St. Patrick’s Day in the Miniature Garden

This year’s mission: to use the same garden for every occasion throughout the year – aaand we missed one already!

Dang.

We tried to rally a Mardi Gras miniature garden at the last minute, (I never see it coming!) but, it takes a while to figure out the accessories if you don’t have them on hand. Although, I could have painted a bench purple and throw some beads around the pot – but I looked – we didn’t even have any beads. (I know, right? I was ill-prepared! ;o)

So, let’s do St. Patrick’s Day, it’s my Grandmother’s favorite “holiday.”

St. Patrick’s Day in the Miniature Garden

With the help of some floral picks (the sign and the stars) we made this wee holiday work in the wee garden – only after collecting everything “green” we could find.

St. Patrick’s Day in the Miniature Garden

We found that tiny antique garland at our local miniature show. The hat came from an old stash found at a rummage sale. We painted the bench green, it’s made of balsa wood and shouldn’t be left out in the weather because it will fall apart quickly.

St. Patrick’s Day in the Miniature Garden

The world’s cutest St. Patrick’s Day cupcakes are by Ruth Stewart from Stewart Dollhouse Creations – link is below. She’s amazing! They make all-occasion treats the doilies too. (Note that these tiny miniatures are not waterproof or weatherproof.)

St. Patrick’s Day in the Miniature Garden

Our new, trusty miniature cedar decks can be stained or painted. That’s an upside-down pot that we used for a table. Small hen and chicks are the red-tipped rosettes, the fuzzy, grey-green plant to the left and right of it is Wooly Thyme.

St. Patrick’s Day in the Miniature Garden

The grass on the left is Silver Mist Lily Turf (new in our store!) the bushy shrub is Blue Moon Sawara Cypress, the taller column is a Miniature Juniper. This combination is slow-growing, for a full-sun spot, moderate watering, we let the soil dry out to barely damp in between watering sessions to avoid over-watering.

Missed our Valentine Miniature Garden? It’s here.

RESOURCES:

Find the plants here.

Find the miniature garden decks here.

Find Ruth’s cupcakes here.

Our How-To PDF instant download is here.

Join us for your FREE Mini Garden Gazette here.

May the luck of the Irish be with you, always.

Have a Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Miniature Garden Center Ad

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Valentine’s Day in the Miniature Garden

06/02/2013 at 2:24 pm · Filed under Because it's fun, D.I.Y. Ideas, Garden Art, Miniature Garden Accessories, Resources ·Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Valentine's Day in the Miniature Garden

Valentine’s Day in the Miniature Garden can be loaded with decor – or kept really simple with one or two accent pieces.

Valentine’s Day in the Miniature Garden

Creating miniature gardens is so much fun because you can adapt them to any situation, any theme or any occasion. But another fun thing to do with this new-again hobby – and Valentine’s Day gives you a perfect opportunity to – is to share them. A miniature garden can easily deliver a personalized message sent straight from the heart.

If you are short on decorations, a simple accent piece can still send a huge message. A red chair, an engraved heart or ‘hugs’ rock, or this simple how-to can send sweet love to your Valentine.

Don’t have a Valentine? Then it’s a perfect excuse to treat yourself and do something YOU love!

Want to see more of the 2013 Valentine Garden? They will be posted in our February newsletter, The Mini Garden Gazette. Join our email list here and get instant access to the archives after confirming through your email.

How to Make Valentine’s Day Decorations for Your Miniature Garden:

We found the package of foam hearts at JoAnns Fabrics (40% off!) to make these really quick decorative garden stakes that you can add to any miniature garden and get your message love across.

Here’s what you’ll need:

  • One package of foam cutouts
  • Wood popsicle sticks &/or coffee sticks
  • Paint colors of your choice
  • Scissors
  • Paintbrush
  • Sandpaper

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AAAAND the craft stores now carry all kinds of cutouts for every occasion! Paint the stakes to match the holiday color to make it look more polished. We tried writing on them with a small Sharpie marker, but it turned out a bit faded – the foam doesn’t accept the ink very well.

Be sure to take out the heart stakes after the 14th and wait for the wood to dry before storing them for next year. Like the miniature holiday decor, they should last for a long time if you don’t leave them out in the weather all year.

See our previous post of gift-giving ideas: The Most Incredible Gift of All Time. Make Quick and Affordable Gifts. A Miniature Garden for Every Budget.

More ideas from your  Miniature Garden Center:

- Love You Forever Love

- Ever-Lasting Hugs

- A Flower Forever

- A Sweet Cherry-Red Garden Chair

- A Cherry-Red Bench

 

Miniature Garden Center

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How to Make a Miniature Stonehenge Garden for the End of the World

19/12/2012 at 12:22 pm · Filed under Because it's fun, D.I.Y. Ideas, Miniature Garden Accessories ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

Miniature Stonehenge Garden

Our Miniature Stonehenge Garden photo has been making the rounds on the Internet and shared by thousands on Facebook and Pinterest. Here’s a little How-to so you can make your own!

How to Make a Miniature Stonehenge Garden for the End of the World

Dang. It’s the end of the world and I was supposed to take my credit cards on a wild vacation! Well, maybe next time… ;o)

Miniature Garden Display

The Miniature Garden Display from the Northwest Flower and Garden Show, 2007, where the Miniature Stonehenge picture was taken.

Speaking of a wild trip, the little photo (above) has had quite a journey over the past month thanks to our friend Nancy Wisser over at the Clonehenge blog, and to thousands of shares through Facebook and Pinterest. We’ve been swamped with emails asking where to get it and how to do it so we got a how-to together for you here, in honor of the End of Days.

The Miniature Stonehenge Garden was from our display at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show in 2007. The display was called ‘Miniature Gardener Interrupted’ and while it wasn’t our strongest display, it sure was fun to make a mess and leave it there for the entire show. (Yes, the irreverent artist inside me does rise up at times!  SO RADICAL! Lol!)

How to Make a Miniature Stonehenge Garden

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We found the miniature Stonehenge Kit at a Barnes and Noble store, call ahead if your going to one of the brick and mortar stores, they may have them in stock. Otherwise, here’s a link to find it on the Internet.

The little Stonehenge Kit comes with a map to show you where to place the stones – makes it easy-peasy. The stones are made of resin and are easy to drill.  Use florist’s rod or an old metal coat hanger and you’ll need 16 rods.

Decide on your plant material first. We used Irish Moss (Sagina subulata – it’s not really moss per se; it’s a perennial ground cover.) in the above display garden, which is about ½” deep and grown from a 4” pot planted the previous summer. For this how-to, we used 3″ long rods because our native moss is almost 2″ deep before the soil level starts.  The rods should go down into the soil at least 1” to stay firmly in place.

You may not have enough time before the end of the world to order the Stonehenge Kit so I’ve included a close up of the stones towards the end of the slideshow so you can make your own out of Polymer Clay or Fimo. (Note that there’s a pause button.)

Happy Solstice!

Join us for more miniature garden fun here.

All sales through our online store are GUARANTEED. If the world does end on Friday, we will give you a complete refund!!

And whatever you do, make it FUN!

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A New and Rare Miniature Garden Workshop with Expert Janit Calvo

18/09/2012 at 12:19 pm · Filed under Because it's fun, Customer Interaction, Resources, Uncategorized ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A New & Rare Miniature Garden Workshop with Janit Calvo!

Kevin’s Garden ~ The lively greens of the garden plays with the cheerful blues of the pot.

A New & Rare Miniature Garden Workshop with Janit Calvo!

Miniature Garden Workshop

Pemberley’s Miniature Garden

“Do you want to come and play with us?”

Want to learn all that you need to know about miniature gardening?

Would you like to learn from someone who has made over 1450 miniature gardens of all shapes and sizes, has studied the art and craft for 12 years, and wrote “The Book” on it?

Do you want to make your very own miniature garden to take home?

If you have answered “Yes!” to any of these questions, come and join us for one of our rare workshops at City People’s Garden Store on Madison Ave., in the Capital Hill area of Seattle, this October 21st. 2012!

Our workshops are rare because, if you’ve been following us online, you know that we don’t get very many chances to get out there to connect, let alone speak or teach our passion. Simply put, we can serve more people online so we our focus is on that right now. But, it is nice to get out once and a while and connect with our fellow MGs. Notice I’m talkin’ about “we?” Our fellow MG, Steve, will be there to help too, so no worries about getting the finished garden into your car at the end of the workshop either!

Miniature Garden Workshop

Jay’s Miniature Garden with a Dwarf Pagoda Japanese Holly

The City People’s Garden Store is a treat in itself. It has the look of the cutest little nursery and yet, it has everything the gardener needs – for the indoors or outdoors. They have a great assortment of outdoor plants for miniature gardening that are hardy to our region, many of which would be terrific growers in your favorite pot. Their indoor plant department has a really wide selection of small plants that you can use for indoor miniature gardens. Shelves of pottery and piles of pebbles and, of course, miniature garden accessories!

So, are you thinking about creating your own little world in an afternoon? Making your own unique Holiday gifts? How much fun would that be? Start now and they’ll grow in a bit, just in time for the holidays!

So come and play with us! Here’s the link to the City Peoples website for all the details and how to register. Act fast, space is limited. Register here now.

 

 

 

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It’s the Annual Miniature Garden Contest!

17/08/2012 at 11:03 am · Filed under Because it's fun, Customer Interaction, Fairy Gardening, For the New Gardener, Miniature Garden Accessories, Miniature Plants ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Miniature Garden Contest

Shannon V. of New Mexico was the winner of last year’s competition with her clever herringbone patio and to-scale plantings.

It’s the Annual Miniature Garden Contest!

It’s contest time!

We usually try to aim for July/August with this contest but because the summer weather here in the States has been extreme for most, we’ve put it off starting the contest for a few weeks, and we’re extending the deadline to the end of October, to give you ample time to get a miniature garden together.

We’ve changed it up a bit from last year’s contest and last year’s Halloween contest. The main criteria is that is a “Two Green Thumbs’ Miniature Garden” meaning, the majority of the plants and accessories used in your submission need to be from our online store, OR a Two Green Thumbs Miniature Garden Center product that you found at your local garden center** (See below!) We really want to see how you use our items! And since we are so close the holidays by the time ends, we’ve included two other categories, one for Halloween, and one for Christmas. ;o)

So join us and our over 7500 fellow miniature gardeners, we’ll be using our Two Green
Thumbs’ Facebook page where you can upload your photos easily for all to see!

Don’t do Facebook but want to submit an entry? You can sign up to Facebook with a gmail.com email account. It’s free, easy to use, and hey, you don’t really have to use your real name either. (Nudge, wink! ;o)

What You Can Win

~> The winners will receive a $50 Gift Certificate* for our online store.

~> ALL entries will get a 20% discount coupon to use on your next order!

The Contest Categories:

  1. Best Miniature Garden in a Container
  2. Best Miniature Garden in Ground
  3. Best Halloween Miniature Garden*
  4. Best Christmas or Winter Holiday Miniature Garden*
  5. People’s Choice Award (via Facebook)

*Halloween and Holiday decor will be up in the online store by the end of this month!

**We need a minimum of five (5) different entrants per category is needed to compete. Each entrant can submit up to three photos.

Miniature Garden Contest

Laney from MI came in second place last year with her darling fairy garden. Fairies or not, we are sticklers for scale only because it makes it realistic – meaning it looks like a real garden literally shrunken down. Laney paid extra attention to matching the fairies with the 1″ scale accessories.

How to Enter

1. Make a miniature garden. ;o)

2. Take a photo of your miniature garden.

3. Post the photo on the Two Green Thumbs Facebook fanpage and title the photo: “Contest entry for Two Green Thumbs Miniature Garden Center.” Here’s how:

  • - Click into the Two Green Thumbs Miniature Garden Facebook event page. (You have to log into Facebook first.)
  • - Click the Photo/Video link above the comment box to upload your photo.
  • - Find the photo on your computer and click/select it to upload.
  • - Type in the caption, “Contest entry for Two Green Thumbs Miniature Garden Center.”
  • - If you have any questions or apprehensions about doing this, give me a call or email and we can walk through it together. (I’m Janit at 206-352-0494)

4. Post the photo on your own facebook page, and title the photo: “Contest entry for Two Green Thumbs Miniature Garden Center.”

The Contest Rules

1. There must be a majority of plants and accessories from Two Green Thumbs’ Miniature Garden Center’s online store used in the miniature garden submission. All entries will be verified.

2. Join our email list. Click this link and follow the prompts here.

3. Your miniature garden contest entry must be a living miniature garden. No artificial plants allowed.

4. Your miniature garden can be any size or any scale.

5. You can post up to three entries per person. Only one discount code per person will be issued.

6 All entrants will receive their 20% discount coupon on Saturday November 3rd via Facebook messaging, valid through December 31, 2012.

7. Contest Ends at 12 noon, Pacific Time, October 31st, 2012.

8. Winner will be announced on November 1st 2012 on the Facebook page and will be notified by phone & email. The winning gardens will be highlighted in November’s Mini Garden Gazette, our monthly newsletter.  Blogged about in The Mini Garden Guru blog and generally be the center of much merriment and hoopla.

9. The winners are not eligible for the entrant discount.

10. Shipping costs are not included in any of the discounts, offers or gift certificates offered here.

11. Winning and entry discounts cannot be combined with any other offer.

Miniature Garden Contest

Judging Criteria / Breakdown

Contest entries will be judged on the following criteria:

  • 25% – The type of plants used. (Whether they are true miniature or dwarfs instead of young perennial starts.)
  • 25% – The scale of all the components, accessories and plants, must match and be in scale with each other and the garden.
  • 25% – the miniature garden design, there are points for being cleverly creative!
  • 25% – The realistic miniature patio or pathway.

How it works: Each entry will be scored on a scale from 1 to 25, all four scores will add up the total score out of 100, the highest score wins.

**Find Two Green Thumbs Miniature Garden Center Products Near You!

We now have a variety of miniature garden products available through your local independent garden center. Here’s a list of the Two Green Thumbs Miniature Garden Center accessories that you should be able to find. If you can’t, maybe you can ask them to get some in for you! They are manufactured by our friends at Georgetown Home and Garden, a wholesale-only company just south of Seattle.

- Mini Patio Mix Kit
- Miniature Garden Lagoon
- Miniature Garden Pear-Shaped Pond
- Miniature Garden Kidney Shaped Pond
- Miniature Bean Pole
- Miniature Rose Trellis

OR find them in our online store here.

Join us today!

Sign up for our email list and get inspired today! You’ll get into the archives after you confirm your subscription through you email. Join here now.

Miniature Garden Trees

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It’s a Miniature Halloween Garden Facebook Contest!

29/09/2011 at 2:50 pm · Filed under Because it's fun, Customer Interaction, D.I.Y. Ideas, Miniature Garden Accessories ·Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Miniature Halloween Decorations Make the Scene

Miniature Halloween Decorations Make the Scene

It’s a Miniature Halloween Garden Facebook Contest !

The last miniature garden contest was such fun, we decided to do it again for Halloween! Do join us, there are two chances to win a $40 Gift Certificate to our online store. Here are the details:

~> WIN a $40 Gift Certificate* for our online store!

~> ALL entries will get a 15% discount coupon to use on your next order+*!

~> TWO categories: Container gardens or in-ground gardens.

Miniature Halloween Decoration Set

Miniature Halloween Decoration Set in the large size (1" scale.)

Join us and over 1200 miniature gardeners on the Two Green Thumbs Miniature Garden Facebook fan page for a Miniature Halloween Garden Contest and win a $40 Gift Certificate for our online store!

With Facebook, you can upload your photos quickly and easily. Just click the Share: Photo link above the comment box and follow the directions. If you have any questions or apprehensions about doing this, give me a call or email and we can walk through it together. (I’m Janit at Two Green Thumbs Miniature Garden Center.)

Contest Rules and How to Enter:

1. There must be at least THREE items bought from Two Green Thumbs’ online store included in the miniature garden photo. It can be an accessory, a plant, patio material or any combination. All entries will be verified.

2. Post the photo here on this event page. (You may have to log in first.) Find it via the left-hand menu on Two Green Thumbs Facebook fanpage. Title the photo: “Contest entry for Two Green Thumbs Miniature Garden Center.” So I know it is an official entry!

3. Your miniature garden contest entry must be a living miniature garden. No artificial plants allowed. It can be any size.

Container gardens and in-ground will be judged separately. There will be two first-place winners, one in each category. Only one People’s Choice award will be given out.

Miniature Halloween Decoration Set in the small size (1/2" scale.)

Miniature Halloween Decoration Set

4. You can post up to three entries per person. Only one discount code per person will be issued.

5. Contest Ends at 12 noon, Pacific Time, Saturday, October 29th, 2011.

6. Winner will be announced Saturday afternoon, October 29th on Facebook, and posted in November’s newsletter, Tweeted, blogged and generally be the focus of much hoopla and merriment. The winner will be notified by phone &/or email. The winner is not eligible for the entrant discount.

7. +All entries will be sent a 15% off coupon valid through to November 30, 2011. Only one discount code per person. All entrants will receive their 15% discount coupon on Saturday, October 29th, 2011 via Facebook messaging.

8. *Shipping costs are not included in any of the discounts, offers or gift certificates offered here.

Miniature Halloween Garden looks perfect left unkempt only helps the theme.

Miniature Halloween Garden left unkempt just adds to the theme..... very scary. Ok, just a little scary? ;o)

9. Coupon cannot be combined with any other offer.

Judging Criteria / Breakdown

20% – The type of plants used. Whether they are true miniature or dwarfs instead of young perennial starts.

20% – How the scale of all the components, accessories and plants match and if they are in scale with each other.

20% – Miniature garden design, there are points for being cleverly creative!

20% – Realistic miniature patio or pathway.

20% – How well the Halloween theme in incorporated into the over all design.

~> Each entry will be scored on a scale from 1 to 20, all five scores will be added up, the highest score wins.

There are TWO categories this time: container gardens and in-ground miniature gardens.

Bonus People’s Choice Award:

Miniature Halloween Spooky Cat

Miniature Halloween Spooky Cat

Vote with your “likes” and comments on Facebook to choose who gets the People’s Choice award. The winner receives a 25% off coupon for the online store valid until November 30, 2011.

Tell your friends! Tell your neighbors!

Don’t just sit there! Get started here! ;o)

Miniature Halloween Garden in our experimental gallery. The garden eventually grew around the wee skeleton.... very scary!!

Miniature Halloween Garden in our Gallery of Experiments is slooowly enveloping this skeleton.

http://www.shop.twogreenthumbs.com/

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An Inspirational Pause.

25/12/2010 at 1:55 am · Filed under Because it's fun, Customer Interaction ·Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Miniature Yard Art for the Holidays by Lori of Something Special.

Miniature Yard Art for the Holidays by Lori of Something Special.

An Inspirational Pause.

While everyone is running around with last minute shopping, traveling to celebrate with family and friends, cooking up feasts and wrapping up the last of the holiday gifts, I thought I would pause …

Miniature Garden Yard Art

Miniature Garden Yard Art - Lil' Snowman

Pause and think of the people that I have connected with on this journey that I have found myself completely and utterly immersed in.

It’s a good immersion – don’t get me wrong – I am very grateful to be given this vocation. But I never thought I would be a source of inspiration for other people and that alone is what keeps me going. Not one week goes by that I get a phone call or an email from a fellow miniature gardener thanking me for inspiring them.

Who would have thought I could to that?

Christmas Cuteness in the Mini Garden

Christmas Cuteness in the Mini Garden

So what inspires the inspirer? Is inspirer even a word? ;o)

Here are a few of things that keep me juiced and creative:

#1 – Mother Nature. That’s a given right? But the next time you are out on a walk in nature, notice her palettes of colors, the proportions and the patterns she places them in. Consider the structures of everything she creates, note the flow and the shape of them. It doesn’t matter where you are in the world or what season it is as long as it is a natural environment. Look up.

#2 – Art. Good art. What is “good art?” It is any art that you cannot help but react to. If it sends tingles up your spine or sets your eyes, heart or brain singing with color and vividness – then it is good art for you. Here are a couple of my favorites:

David Goode, Sculptor
– Playful, clever and very well done.
(Pssst – My birthday is May 30th ;o)

Elizabeth Murray, Painter
– Modern, out-of-the-box, whimsical and full of color.

Carravagio, Painter
– His attention to detail and his execution is incredible.

#3 – Craft shows, markets and stores of any kind. Just browsing down the aisles and looking at all the options create new ideas and new approaches to old problems.

Miniature Garden Yard Art - Penguin

Miniature Garden Yard Art - Penguin

#4 – Any miniature show or store. I grew up with The Little Dollhouse Company in Toronto. I LOVED going in there but it always got me down because I couldn’t pursue it. It’s funny that I have a miniature business now, eh? (Visit and support your local brick-and-mortar miniature stores – they need you.)

#5 – Martha. There I said it. I had to cancel my Martha Stewart Living Magazine subscription because her ideas would make me want to drop everything and play. I just couldn’t get any work done with her around. Really.

Miniature Garden Yard Art - Penguin

Miniature Garden Yard Art - Penguin

#6 – You. Your ideas, your pictures, your emails, phone calls, your ‘likes’ and comments all inspire me to create, collect, research, organize and share all the information you need to get your hands and hearts busy making your own little worlds.

Well, I hope that some of these things inspire you or lead you to a list of your own sources of inspiration. Keep miniature gardening and have a wonderful Holiday Season and Merry Christmas!

**Anyone interested in Lori’s Miniature Garden Yard Art please leave a comment below and I will contact you directly. She has more cute ideas for spring and summer! Yay!**

Visit our online Miniature Garden Center here.
See our main Two Green Thumbs website and gallery pages here.
Sign up to receive our free newsletters here.

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My Favorite Miniature Garden Things

21/12/2010 at 9:06 pm · Filed under Because it's fun, Conifers, Customer Interaction, Fairy Gardening, Life-sized Gardening, Miniature Plants, The Business ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Raindrops on the Jean's Dilly Dwarf Spruce, a true miniature Christmas tree.

Raindrops on the Jean's Dilly Dwarf Spruce, a true miniature Christmas tree.

These are a Few of My Favorite Miniature Garden Things

(Sung to the tune ‘My Favorite Things’)

Raindrops on spruce needles and Fiskars in my mittens
Bright miniature daisies and a hobby from Britain
Tiny trees in containers and planted with zing
These are a few of my favorite things

Cream colored containers and matching mini conifers
Friendly, warm customers, fellow miniature gardeners
Silver white winter that melts well before spring ;o)
These are a few of my favorite things

Groups of mini plants all ready for planting
Miniature beach gardens with scenes that are enchanting
Garden gnomes, elves and tiny fairy rings
These are a few of my favorite things.

When the news stinks
When the day goes bad,
When I’m feeling sad,
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don’t feel so bad.

Christmas in the Miniature Garde

Christmas in the Miniature Garden

Happy Holidays!
Joyeuses Fêtes!
Joyeux Noel!
Felices Navidad!
Trevlig Helg!
Boas Festas!
Mutlu Bayramlar!
Sarbatori Fericite!
Tanoshii kurisumasu wo!
Buone Feste!
Merry Christmas!
Ii holide eximnandi!
Forhe Feiertage!
Hau’oli Lanui!
Beannachtaí na Féile

And have a wonderful New Year!

From Janit and Steve Calvo,
Two Green Thumbs Miniature Garden Center

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Have a Very Fairy Christmas Without the Froufrou

02/12/2010 at 10:43 pm · Filed under Because it's fun, D.I.Y. Ideas, Fairy Gardening, For the New Gardener ·Tagged , , , , , , ,

A very fairy Christmas tree at one of the local nurseries here in Seattle.

A very fairy Christmas tree at one of the local nurseries here in Seattle.

Have a Very Fairy Christmas Without the Froufrou

Do you like the fairy garden idea but don’t care for the froufrou?

With the recent surge in fairy gardening we are seeing a lot of fairy ideas flitting about with lace, glitter and everything girly-girl pink. Now, I do like fairies and I do like the idea for an interior design or a holiday decoration theme, but I know it is just not going to fly with the husband. (Pardon the pun. ;o)

Here are a few ideas to bring the fairy feeling into your holiday themes without going completely girly-girl-glitter everywhere.

Color Tips

An example of matching the colors and varying the textures.

An example of matching the colors and varying the textures.

- Use three main colors: one “hot,” one “cool,” and one metallic. Normally I would recommend a neutral color as the third, but we are looking for a little fairy magic with a bit of twinkle. Hot colors are yellow, red, orange or any variation of those. Cool colors are blue, green or any variation. Metallic colors come in a variety of forms these days, ribbon and glitter included.

- Tweak it: instead of using the predictable pink, use coral, salmon, or peach. Instead of the usual hunter green, use olive, khaki or wintergreen. Substitute burgundy or raspberry red for the traditional cherry red color.

- First choose three light colors, or three dark colors, to match or complement your interior décor where the tree will be. The wintergreen, coral and silver combination is my new favorite this year, or you can darken the scheme by using deep olive, pumpkin orange and gold.

- Now add a bit of flair. Continuing with the examples from above: Add deep cherry red, creamy ivory and metallic green to the wintergreen/coral/silver combo. Add raspberry red, eggplant purple and metallic bronze to the deep olive/orange and gold combo.

Texture Tips

- Pick one of main three colors from your palette and find it in three different textures. Texture ideas include, glitter, ribbon, metal, gauze, glass, wood, organic, stone, fur or feather. Remember the tree is a texture.

- Be sure to include woodsy items and textures like barks, moss, leaves and flowers. There are a lot of wonderful silk and artificial options out in the stores these days.

- Combine smooth textures with fine textures, or big with small. A green silk ribbon with a glitter ball in the same color against the foliage of the tree can be a quick and easy combo.

Get that fairy feeling without too much froufrou.

There are plenty of ornaments to get that fairy garden look without the fairies.

Ornament Ideas

- Flowers, mushrooms, anything made of bark, branches (paint or cover them in glitter and stick them in the tree) anything with wings, insects, small animals (rabbits, turtles, snails) stars, moons, sun, leaf shapes, hand tools or garden equipment.

Proportion Tips

- Less is better than more – it is easier to add than it is to take away decorations from your tree.

- Balance the textures evenly throughout the tree or room.

- Stand back often to look at your work from all corners of the room. You can’t see the impact if your eyes are six inches from the tree.

- Stuck? Let the decorating sit for a day if you are not sure of what you have done or where you are going with it. Usually “living with it” for a day can bring out more ideas for tweaking or embellishing but don’t leave it for too long or it may fall off your to-do list.

Lights to Use

- Use all white lights or a combination of green and white to add that extra fairy magic.

Now hide a wee fairy or three in the room, or in the tree, to reward the viewer for looking closer. Create a wee scene at the base of the tree – or next to a chair or under a table if you have young children coming over for the holidays. (You don’t want them playing directly under the tree for safety reasons.) Note that the children are going to want to play with it so don’t use your good china fairies or anything that is delicate for this scene.

See the fairy section in our store for more ideas.

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