Easy Fairy Garden

I have been obsessed with Irish Moss this summer because of it's tiny daisy like blooms. My mom bought me a pot of it last month at a lovely greenhouse near my parents' home in Lancaster, PA, and I’ve been dying to do something cute with it!

My little one Leon has been getting more into miniatures (no doubt because I show them to him daily ;)), so this was an easy way to enterain him this week.

All you need is a pot filled with moss, or any other ‘container friendly’ groundcover. Stick some sweet miniatures on top such as mushrooms or woodland animals. Fairies need a place to rest, so don’t forget a chair or bed for your tiny garden!

Seashells make for an excellent ‘path’ that the fairies can follow.

Don’t forget to mist or water your moss often, and place a glass dome on top of it if you see it needs more moisture in order to thrive.

If you do try this idea, pretty please comment below. I would love to see it!

xo Ashley

PS - I just launched a sweet little 'Field Guide' about all the animals of Linzer Lane this week. Check it out here!

Fairy Winter Garden

I wanted to share with you a special project I'll be making with my art students at this week. This 'fairy winter garden' is the perfect project to make this chilly November. 

If you have kids in the Jersey City area, find out more about my classes at the end of this post!

What you need:

- A sturdy white paper plate

- Round dot stickers

-  Colored Paper

- Scissors, Markers, Glue, Clear Tape

- Faux Snow or Glitter

Optional: Pine Cones, Mini Trees, Moss

Start by decorating some basic dot stickers with markers to make them look like hard candies. Permanent markers work best for drawing if you have them...

 Add the stickers to the plate first to create a magical pathway. 

Next, draw some trees and snowmen. Be sure to leave a 'tab' at the bottom of each that can be folded and taped to the plate.

Add some moss and sprinkle faux snow on top. Glitter also works great! 

If you have pine cones handy, they make great instant trees. Just dip the top in white paint or glitter for a snowy look.

Do your children live in Jersey City or Hoboken? Have them join my 'Fairy Winter Garden' workshop this week at three little birds! 

Scroll down the page here to enroll for Crafting Club with Ashley Lucas. 

This week through Christmas I'll be teaching a different holiday themed craft at three little birds in downtown Jersey City (a short walk from the Grove Street PATH station). Classes are held every Thursday from 3:45 - 4:30pm. They are perfect for children 4+. Hope to see you there!

xo Lady Lucas

Miniature Dime Cakes DIY

I tend to get really crazy ideas when it comes to crafting. Just like the day I looked at my cereal and saw fairy donuts ;) Well, I'm an avid ear plug user since I'm a very light sleeper. The other night I realized if I cut a set of new foam ear plugs up - they might look exactly like miniature sponge cake!

My experiment worked! All you need to make these adorable dime cakes, is a pair of beige colored foam earplugs. Cut them into sections as shown above.

Trace something small and round to make the plates for your cakes. I used watercolor paper for this. 

Add some acrylic paint for icing and add some mini berries to complete your cake. I made my berries out of red crepe paper, but you could use clay or even red seed beads.

These dime cakes would be perfect for any fairy garden, dollhouse or miniature setting. 

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

xo Lady Lucas

P.S. - Need a last minute gift for you sweetie? Check out my online shop and snag something special! Your support means so much to me and helps me keep this blog rollin'!

P.S.S - What are your plans for Valentine's Day this year? Anything special? ;)

How to Make Fairy Donuts

I posted a little video about a month ago on my Instagram feed sharing how to make these adorable fairy donuts - perfect for the tiniest tea party you can imagine. I thought I'd re-post them here to share with you all. If you love cute things, I know you will love this!

All you need to make these adorable miniature donuts are some round cereal pieces (Cheerios work best!), acrylic paint and glitter. That's it!

Using a small paintbrush, carefully decorate each Cheerio with some bright, acrylic paint. For donut frosting pink, blue, peach and lavender work best.

Pinch a little bit of glitter with your fingers and add to the top of each donut for sprinkles while the paint is still wet. That way, no glue is needed! 

Display your 'fairy donuts' on a tiny plate and display in your dollhouse, a fairy garden, or as a centerpiece on your table with a tiny tea set. 

Love this craft idea? Leave a comment below! I'd love to hear from you...

Day 12: Magical Garden Adult Coloring Book Giveaway

I'm so excited to share Day 12's prize with you - that I'm posting it a day early! Enjoy & good luck everyone! 

Today's Prize

One Signed, Printed Copy of The Magical Garden Coloring Book (Published by Taunton Press 2016)

Appealing to all ages, The Magical Garden Coloring Book features 23 creative designs of adorable animals and garden themes. Take out your pencils, pens, or markers and settle in for a relaxing, stress-relieving session where you can dive right into this magical world. All of the pages are printed on one side only and perforated for easy removal and display – or to share.

How to Enter

1) Leave a comment below sharing why you or someone you love would love this coloring book.

2) Become a follower of Lady Lucas Art on Instagram

**OPEN TO US RESIDENTS ONLY!!**

Winners Will Be Announced December 14th. Coloring book will be sent via regular mail December 17th.

The Story Behind Today's Prize
As mentioned in Day 1's post, this coloring book was originally a very basic book called 'Zinnie's Garden Coloring Book' based on the gardens of Salzburg, Austria. After getting discovered by Taunton Press, Zinnie's Garden morphed into The Magical Garden Coloring Book. My inspiration for the book came from my time abroad in Europe as well as my parents' garden in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

xo Lady Lucas

Pumpkin Fairy Garden DIY Tutorial

OMG! I'm so excited that Halloween is right around the corner - my favorite holiday of the year by far. The leaves are falling, the glue gun is getting fired up - and it's time for you to make one of these adorable Halloween fairy gardens!

So get the following rounded up, and get crafting!

Materials:

-pencil

- artificial pumpkin (mine is from the Dollar Tree)

- razor with handle

- hot glue

- moss & miniatures (ghosts pictured are from Wilton Cakes)

Draw a wide oval on the front of your pumpkin. This will be the window where you can access your fairy garden, so make it big enough.

Gather your Halloween miniatures. You can use cake picks, icing ghosts (like those shown), foam stickers, or just about any item for fall like table scatter or confetti.

Using a hot glue gun, carefully add moss to the interior of the pumpkin and above if you feel it would balance the look!

Hot glue miniatures inside your pumpkin and around it as you see fit.

Use as a centerpiece on your table, or display on your windowsill. Add a battery operated candle inside for a spooky effect!

Did you enjoy this craft? Do you love Halloween? Let me know in the comments below!

I'd also like to give a shout out to Better Homes & Gardens 'Halloween' magazine. They feature a very similar craft this year in their pumpkin decorating section. If you haven't purchased it yet, it's a great magazine for all DIY enthusiasts!

xo Lady Lucas

PS - If you love Halloween, check out this printable coloring sheet in my Etsy shop:

Fairy Garden Bunting Tutorial

Fairy Garden featuring handmade snowdrops that my mom made and sent me this week ;)

This week I was creating an Easter tutorial for Art of Crafts about teacup fairy gardens, and suddenly got the urge to make a super tiny bunting!

To make your own, all you need is some sturdy patterned paper. Just a few scraps will do. Cut uniform triangles out like those shown above.

Using a thick needle and string, thread the triangles together like a necklace. You'll have to poke one hole on the top left of each triangle, and another hole on the right for the thread to exit:

Wrap the ends of the string tightly around two bamboo skewers and create some tension so the bunting is taunt. Add to a fairy garden and enjoy!

Speaking of fairy gardens,'The Magical Garden Coloring Book' is now available online! If you love adult coloring books - I think you'll enjoy it!

xo

Lady Lucas