Posts Tagged party ideas

Mother’s Day in the Miniature Garden

11/05/2013 at 4:09 pm · Filed under Because it's fun, D.I.Y. Ideas, Miniature Garden Accessories, Miniature Plants, Resources ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Mother's Day in the Miniature Garden

In keeping with our holiday series this year, here is a special garden to help celebrate your Mother’s Day.

Mother’s Day in the Miniature Garden

This is the fifth installment of our A Year in the Miniature Garden and today we celebrate Mother’s Day – which, should be everyday – if it wasn’t for her, you wouldn’t be here, reading this blog about her. Wait. Did that come out right? ;o)

If you are just catching up to this series, we are having a blast decorating throughout the holidays this year. Keeping the miniature garden the same, and swapping out the decorations and accessories each month for fun. Here are the previous ones:

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

Mother's Day in the Miniature Garden

A treat, refreshments and flowers, the perfect set-up for Mom!

I was looking for a way to simplify the decorations – and not to spend very much on them either. Then I remembered The Cutest How-To in the Whole Wide-World – miniature flower arranging!! Moms love flowers! So, I walked around the garden and picked any tiny flower I could, then walked around my neighbors garden (with permission, of course ;o) and picked up some small-leafed greenery too – conjuring my inner florist. Here’s what happened:

Mother's Day in the Miniature Garden

The tiny flowers with the white petals and pink centers are Variegated London Pride (Robertsoniana Saxifrage.) The ivory bell-flowers are Lily of the Valley (Convallaria magalis.) The variegated leafy branches are Little Heath Andromeda (Pieris japonica ‘Little Heath.’)

See the “vase?” It’s an old ceramic electrical insulator I had in my stash. I used a piece of duct tape to seal the bottom so it could hold water. The water stayed in for a couple of hours – long enough to enjoy!

Mother's Day in the Miniature Garden

The blue flowers are Grace Ward Lithodora (Lithodora diffusa ‘Grace Ward.’) White petal flowers are Dwarf London Pride (Saxifraga umbrosa ‘Primuloides.’)  The miniature yellow roses were donated by our friend Greg and we are trying to figure out the name.

As we covered in the previous blog on miniature flower arranging, the easiest way to arrange them is in your fingers. Once you have the wee flowers arranged in a bouquet, trim the stems and put them in in the vase. Your arrangement might fall out of place a bit, use a pair of round tweezers to face the flowers or to prop the stems up in the other foliage.

Mother's Day in the Miniature Garden

The “big” Johnny-Jump-Up Violet is the perfect focal point for this tiny arrangement. The Tricolor Violet is known by many different names and can get really invasive in some areas – but it is common wildflower and the butterflies love it apparently. The violet is accompanied by white Dwarf London Pride flowers (Saxifrage umbrosa ‘Primuloides,’) tips from the Tricolor Sedum (Sedum spurium ‘Tricolor’) and the green leafed filler is Boxleaf Euonymous (Euonymous japonicus ‘Microphyllus.’)

To all the Mom’s and Grandma’s out there:

Happy Mother’s Day!

Mother's Day in the Miniature Garden

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The plants in the main garden, counterclockwise from the bottom, front:
- Hens and Chicks or Houseleeks (the red rosettes)
- Wooly Thyme
- Silver Mist Lily Turf (behind the flower vase)
- Blue Moon Sawara Cypress
- Miniature Juniper – the ‘Compressa’ Juniper’ (behind the sign)
- Cape Blanco Sedum (at the base of the sign)

Find the plants listed above 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. Made in the USA.

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

Find the cute birdhouse. The one shown as been painted. Made in the USA.

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.

Gardening in Miniature

Now available for pre-order through Amazon.com or wherever books are sold. Signed copies will be available through our online store soon. Ask your local garden center or favorite book seller to get it for you – it’s published by Timber Press.

Join us for more fun in the miniature garden and sign up for our FREE monthly Mini Garden Gazette newsletter. You’ll get a free PDF, The Best of the Mini Garden Gazette delivered straight to your inbox after you confirm your subscription through your email. Join us here.

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Spring [Easter] in the Miniature Garden

03/04/2013 at 1:52 pm · Filed under Because it's fun, D.I.Y. Ideas, Miniature Garden Accessories, Miniature Plants ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Spring / Easter in the Miniature Garden

Happy Spring!

Wordless Wednesday: Spring in the Miniature Garden

I mixed up my blog posts and this miniature garden should have been posted last week – and called “Easter in the Miniature Garden” because of all the wee eggs and bunnies. I know I get points for trying – somewhere – perhaps in the afterlife? ;o)

This is a continuation of our super-fun holiday series where we are keeping the same miniature garden, but switching out the accessories to match the occasion or holiday. Find the previous ones here:

Valentine’s Day in the Miniature Garden

St. Patrick’s Day in the Miniature Garden

And, would you like to see us celebrate an occasion or holiday that is close to your heart? We’ve got the “regular” occasions on our radar, but let us know if there is anything special you would like to see us explore for you. We love a good challenge! Leave your suggestion in the comments below.

Spring / Easter in the Miniature Garden

I could not find my Fimo polymer clay stash (Crisis! ;o) so I had to use some eggs I made a few years ago that were a combination of browns, dark purples and golds.

Spring / Easter in the Miniature Garden

I had a few extra bunnies left over so I painted them brighter colors that complemented the duller egg colors. I needed to liven up the scene. Those cupcakes are from Stewart Dollhouse Creations - she does all kinds of cakes and food in different scales and all are excellent!

Mini Garden Easter

I used double-sided tape on a scrap block of wood to keep the wee bunnies in place while I painted them. I could pick up the block of wood and turn it around to get to all sides of each bunny.

Spring / Easter in the Miniature Garden

I was grateful the egg and bunny color worked with the blue pot and blue-green plants. That cedar deck is stained with acrylic paint to look older than it is.

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

Spring / Easter in the Miniature Garden

Now onto the next holiday!

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 Ruth’s cupcakes here. <~ Eye candy alert if you love minis!

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

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!

Gardening in Miniature book

Now available for pre-order through Amazon.com here. Release date: June 25th, it’ll be wherever books are sold in July. Ask your local garden center or book seller to get it for you – published by Timber Press.

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Miniature Garden Workshop Tips

21/03/2013 at 1:01 pm · Filed under Because it's fun, Customer Interaction, D.I.Y. Ideas, Miniature Garden Accessories, Miniature Plants, The Business ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Miniature Garden Workshop Tips

For a successful miniature workshop – and with very little effort-  you can take care not to set your students up for failure with plants that work and pots that last. 

Miniature Garden Workshop Tips

Spreading the joy of miniature gardening is just as much fun as creating one. With our beloved hobby travelling like wildfire throughout the country, and the world, there are many fellow miniature gardeners who have stepped up to teach it this year. Here are some pointers that we developed after teaching this hobby for the last decade.

Looking for a Miniature Garden class? – If you are looking for a class in your area, the first place to start is your local garden center or nursery. Give them a call, find them on Facebook or, better yet, go and visit them to see what’s going on and say hello.

Miniature Hobby Farm Garden

We punched a bunch of holes in the bottom of this galvanized tub before planting to give the excess water a place to go.

Here is a last-minute checklist for our fellow miniature gardeners who are conducting workshops and classes this spring and summer.

  • Group plants horticulturally to make it easy-peasy for your students to assemble their gardens. Put indoor plants together, outdoor plants together, full sun, full shade etc. Group plants that like dry soil together – or moist soil together too.
  • Not all plants will make a great miniature garden. The satisfaction and reward of a miniature garden is to have it grow and weave together over several seasons, if not for years and years. If the student has to repot her “investment” in two months time and buy new plants – they will be disappointed and may not try again. Simply put, plants that stay small and grow slow are the best choices to start with. See what’s in our store for more examples here.
  • Gather a wide selection of containers if it’s an open class where students choose their own. Some may live in condos and want lightweight containers, while others may have a larger space to work with and want to plant a bigger miniature garden.
  • Choose pots or containers with a drainage hole. Just about any container or teacup can be drilled.
    Miniature Garden in a barbecue

    I chose this “container” because it was new and, being a barbecue, it already had holes for drainage. My plants are true miniatures and I know I can keep this together for years before it will need repotting. (I shelter it from the hot, summer sun because it is metal.)

    Don’t set your students up for failure by telling them that anything can be used for a miniature garden, it simply will not work for everyone. Broaden your students success rates by providing a drilling service, or only recommending containers with drainage holes.

  • Give careful consideration of what you are recommending to plant in. Yes, that old drawer or broken pot may look cute for the first couple of months after the miniature garden is planted but, after a while, your still stuck with an old drawer or broken pot! As the miniature garden keeps growing more magical and fun throughout the seasons, you may regret not investing in a nice container that will last and not fall apart when it’s moved. Note that baskets lined with plastic are temporary containers and will not last.
  • Recommend accessories that are weatherproof and/or are staked to hold their place in the soil. It is cute to add wee books, refreshments and tiny details but they will weather quickly and get lost in the garden – which is hard on some people’s budgets and their patience. Put the focus on what will stand up to the weather for the more satisfaction.
  • Provide some snacks or refreshments to keep everyone engaged. Miniature garden workshops can sometimes take up to four hours at times. By providing a little nourishment, you can avoid people having to leave early because they need food. Make sure to mention this in your flyer or ad, to let the people know. Better yet, team up with a local caterer and make it a luncheon-event. The students can eat while you teach, then plant afterwards.

Need to know how to build a miniature garden like a pro? Here is our complete instructions on how to create a miniature garden, it includes some in-ground tips and tricks, scale information and recommended plants to use.

Stressed out?
Frazzled?
Don’t have time for a vacation?

Visit your local garden center
for a few minutes of peace.
Being surrounded by
plants and flowers will
dissolve your tension and
help get you centered again.

Like this? You’ll like our Mini Garden Gazette – join us here for more fun in the miniature garden. 

Get on the first edition list here through Amazon for our upcoming Gardening in Miniature: Create Your Own Tiny Living World, by Yours Truly, published by Timber Press. Available this summer!

Miniature Garden Patio Solutions

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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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Decorating Your Miniature Garden for the Holidays

06/12/2012 at 3:45 pm · Filed under Because it's fun, D.I.Y. Ideas, For the New Gardener, Garden To-Do's, Miniature Garden Accessories, Miniature Plants ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Christmas in the Miniature Garden

There’s that magic of the Holidays – in miniature! Read on to find out more…

Christmas in the Miniature Garden

The same miniature garden as above in daylight. This pot was planted about 7 1/2 years ago. That shrub on the left is a Mother Lode Juniper and on the right is our favorite Jean’s Dilly Dwarf Alberta Spruce. (Pronounced “John”) The bottom most branches have been pruned to show off the great trunk that has been developing slowly. The pot is a little over 15″ wide and about 12″ deep.

Decorating Your Miniature Garden for the Holidays

One of the many enjoyable aspects of this super-creative hobby is decorating your miniature garden throughout the seasons. And, of course, one of the most fun, is for the Winter-Christmas-Holiday-Hanukkah-Kwanza-Solstice-Season. (Did I miss anyone? ;o)

You might be skeptical, thinking that, “Come on, Janit, how hard is it to decorate a miniature Christmas tree?” Well, that could be the difference between a tree decorated by Martha Stewart compared to one by Charlie Brown. But, with a couple of hints and some insight, derived after experimenting each holiday season for the last 11 years, you can easily give your miniature garden the designer’s touch with the right ingredients.

Blue and Silver Holiday Miniature Garden

Blue and Silver for Hanukkah. The grass on the left is a Silver Lily Turf (Liriope ‘Silver Mist’)   The bushy shrub on the left is the new Blue Moon Sawara Cypress (Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Blue Moon’) The tall tree is a Miniature Juniper (Juniperus communis ‘Miniature’) Wooley Thyme cascades down the front, intermixed with small Hens and Chicks. The cedar deck was stained a grey color to match the color scheme and that tiny lantern ball is lamp work glass bead from artist Chuck Pefley. See more of his work at http://www.etsy.com/shop/CPArtistic

Choosing What Works

You’ve probably seen miniature trees with a wide variety of individual ornaments placed carefully spaced throughout the tree’s boughs, interwoven with garland and ribbon. It is quite beautiful. But, the little balls, ribbon and garland are glued in place with a hot glue gun. That’s not really a great idea for your living miniature tree unless you don’t care if you kill it. In that case, get the hot glue, ignore the tree’s screams and throw it out after the holidays. ;o)

By now you’re thinking, “But Janit, they have mini ornaments at the craft store. What’s wrong with using those?” Well, it takes a TON of fiddling and fussing to get the strings around the branches of the tiny tree. It’s mainly because of the string itself gets in the way. After hanging the ornament on the tiny branch, the string sticks out even though you try to poke it inside or try to sneak it behind some foliage. Then, when you finally get the string hidden, you realize that the ornament fell out-of-place and you need to start all over again!

If you want to use the garland and the ornaments together – well, I haven’t figured that out yet because if you put the garland on before the ornaments, you won’t have access to all the branches for stringing the wee decorations. But, if you put the garland on afterwards, you will disturb and/or hide the ornaments!

Ugh.

My time and patience is better used elsewhere and I bet yours is too.

Sigh, the trials and tribulations of a miniature gardener…

Christmas in the Miniature Garden

Different textures help make the magic. The tiny presents are place in the boughs of the tree. This pot will stay where it is so we don’t have to tie or fasten them down. Note the different directions of the garland.

The easiest and the most straightforward way is to go with strings of lights and decorations. It takes the least amount of patience and it’s quick and easy. Weave them into the tree and try to mix up the direction of the strings so the tree doesn’t look like it’s in bondage.

Miniature Garden Christmas Decorations

Floral berry picks or holly berry picks poked into the tree work well as long as the tree stays in one place. They are easy to remove too!

For the ornaments, we use the small berry picks that the florist uses. Find them at your local craft store or wherever they sell artificial garland. They are available in green or yellow to look like miniature fruit, but they aren’t found as readily as the “holly berries.” Poke them into the tree at various intervals followed by poking few miniature bows throughout the tree and you are off to the next holiday project.

Christmas in the Miniature Garden

The wire bows are simply poked into the tree, held in place by the branches. If this were a gift, the wires can easily be wrapped around the branches. Do this before you place the ornaments.

Christmas in the Miniature Garden

Stretch out your holiday dollar by decorating the front-side of the tree only – but make sure place the garden up against a wall or hide the backside somehow. Make sure the wires are hidden behind the tree so you can’t see them from the front-side.

Christmas in the Miniature Garden

These lights were found at Michael’s Crafts and are meant for the artificial trees – they are not meant for outdoors so they shouldn’t get wet. Most of them have a place where you can plug in an adapter and have them run on electricity – this better for the environment too. Place them in a plastic bag and hide it behind the pot. Use some holly branches to disguise it or make a fake gift box to house them in a clever way.

Christmas in the Miniature Garden

Christmas in the Miniature Garden. That’s a Piccolo Balsam Fir with red Thyme. And another lamp work glass bead from Chuck Pefley’s studio hangs from the hook to balance out the wee scene.

See our selection of decorations, lights and garland packs up in our store here. And there are more in our Etsy store here.

EVERY order from now until December 25th, comes with a FREE packet of red bows, just like the ones you see on this blog! (Until supplies last.)

Like this? Then you’ll like our FREE monthly Mini Garden Gazette! Sign up here.

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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 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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Miniature Gardens: The All Time Most Thoughtful and Incredibly Creative Gift of All Time!

13/01/2011 at 9:26 pm · Filed under Because it's fun, Customer Interaction, D.I.Y. Ideas, The Business ·Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

A series of miniature garden thank-you gifts

A series of miniature garden thank-you gifts that were given out over the holidays were a huge hit with the clients.

The All Time Most Thoughtful and Incredibly Creative Gifts of All Time!

Those are the words taken from straight from the thank you card.

I made a series of miniature gardens for my friend Janice for thank you gifts for her clients last month. Not only did Janice keep one for herself, she is really, really worried about what to do next year for her client gifts.

Because this year turned into a shock and awe campaign with the miniature gardens she handed out.

(And I’m serious. It’s up to me to find the gifts for next year!)

A thank you note for a miniature garden gift.

"The all time most thoughtful and incredibly creative gifts of all time." Janice also included a chew toy for Sierra, the dog she looks after for them. Click to enlarge.

This thank card was written by one of her favorite clients, a powerhouse couple here in Seattle. The woman owns a number of highly successful businesses while her husband is one of the top scientists in the nation. With a track record like that, you would think they would be hard to impress.

But they never saw a miniature garden before.

And all of them were personalized with miniature versions of their dogs, doghouses, dogbowls, leashes and mini rawhide bones. I have to admit they were gosh-darn cute!

And now Janice’s clients love her even more.

Miniature Garden with Doghouse.

Who let the dog out? The cute bar has just been raised with this mini garden a la Rover! Checkout the mini rawhide. (Click to enlarge.)

You can amaze and impress your family and friends with a miniature garden too. With a little thought you can really personalize the mini world and get into their hearts like Janice did. It really is too much fun.

Stay tuned for the upcoming release of How To Create Living Miniature Gardens. Sign up today to get on the mailing list. It’s almost ready.

 

 

 

 

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Miniature Garden Kits Cut Learning Curve

04/11/2010 at 8:15 pm · Filed under Because it's fun, D.I.Y. Ideas, For the New Gardener, Indoor Mini Gardens, Product Reviews ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Miniature Gardens

Miniature Garden Kits Cut Learning Curve

Miniature Garden Kits are the one of the only ways to fast-forward the mini garden learning curve. With all the thinking done for you, you have all the fun putting it together in less than a couple of hours.

I’ve been creating miniature gardens for over ten years, some

Goldcrest Cypress Miniature Garden Kit

Goldcrest Cypress Miniature Garden Kit for Indoors comes with an adorable wood garden bench

of them are now eight years old and are still doing very well. You can have a miniature garden that doesn’t need constant repotting, that can grow and weave itself together for years and become an old friend that is there when you need a little garden getaway.

Here are the top 10 reasons to try a miniature garden kit – fun to get and fun to give:

1. All the hard-to-find ingredients are all in one package so you can get right to it. All you need is a pot and some potting soil. Design ideas are included in the instructions.

2. Everything is coordinated for you, the plants, the patio material and the accessories. It even comes with pot color recommendations to make the decision making process quick and easy.

Shady Hemlock Miniature Garden Kit

Hemlock Miniature Garden Kit for shade or part shade.

3. Can be done in a couple of hours. It’s easy once you have everything in front of you!

4. All plants are matched for you. No thinking required. Just match the location of the completed mini garden to the plant’s needs, shade plants in shade, indoor for indoors, for example.

5. You’ll learn how to put a miniature garden together that can last for years. After it is completed, you’ll know how to make bigger or smaller ones too! (Think hostess and holiday gifts.)

6. Miniature garden kits are a great gift to give, to get, or to make for that special someone that is always so hard to buy for.

7. You can add your own personal touch to really make it special. Add something of your own, a birdbath, garden gnome or a personal joke if you’re giving it to a friend.

8. You can break up the bigger, three-plant-kits to make two smaller ones if you

Full Sun Juniper Miniature Garden Kit

Juniper Miniature Garden Kit for full sun.

like. Any combination will make a cute mini garden.

9. There is always more than enough Mini Patio Mix included in the kit, so you can make more!

10. Guaranteed: You will impress your friends and amaze your family with your ingenuity and creativity.

Here’s a checklist to put together your own miniature garden kit if you have the time to do the research and collect the materials yourself:

- 1 to 2 true miniature or slow-growing dwarf trees or shrubs
- 1 to 3 small-leafed, slow-growing ground covers
- Miniature Patio Material, stone, tile, marble, pebbles
- Mini Patio Mix Kit to create a no-muss-no-fuss patio that won’t wash away
- 1 to 3 miniature garden accessories of the same scale
- Pot
- Potting soil
- Gloves
- Water

See our new Miniature Garden Kits that are in stock today here.

Join our mailing list for more fun here.

Subscribe to this blog to get them delivered to your inbox over there. ;o) ~>

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