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

Drab to Fab: Mini Sewing Machine Tutorial

My dollhouse renovation continues, and probably will for a few more months, but I've been itching to get to the fun part - which is getting all the miniatures ready to fill each room! I've had this tiny, metal sewing machine for many years. It's manufactured by Darice and I would guess you can find the same one in any craft store such as A.C. Moore or Michael's. 

To take your own mini sewing machine from drab to fab - follow these simple instructions:

- Make sure the sewing machine is free from any dirt or dust. Remove any dirt with a Q-Tip.

- Coat the entire item with a thin layer of nail polish. I used light pink, but lavender would look great too!

- Allow the sewing machine to dry completely before adding another thick coat of nail polish. 

- Once your mini machine is completely dry, you can add details with acrylic paint such as a heart, or little knobs. A toothpick or skewer dipped in paint is perfect for this part.

Thank you for reading & for stopping by!

xo Lady Lucas

This tutorial was inspired by the pink sewing machine accessory that Zoe uses on this cute paper doll sheet that can be found in my Etsy shop:

I Believe in Leprechauns

A few years ago I sent these leprechaun photos in my monthly newsletter just for fun. I recently came across them and thought you'd get a kick out of this little guy (that my husband named 'Lep'). I created Lep out of Sculpey clay and added details like eyes and buttons with a super tiny paintbrush.

My mom pointed out recently that I had a fascination with leprechauns since childhood. I used to practice drawing them over and over, and then when I got a little older I enjoyed making them out of clay. I even wrote a story once called, 'Shamrock Stew'. I should look for that again one of these days...

Who doesn't love a green bagel?

Do you believe in leprechauns? Let me know in the comments below! I love to know there are other young at heart adults out there LOL ;)

Happy St. Patrick's Day Everyone!

xo Lady Lucas

PS - Did you get chance to try a shamrock shake this season yet?

Dollhouse Reno Challenge 2017

This month, Linzer Lane is featured in the super cute magazine Dollshouse & Miniature Scene. It's such an honor to be included in such a lovely publication! The zine, which is available at my local Barnes & Noble in NYC, can also be found online here.

When I went home this weekend to load up the van for our move, my mom suggested I take my childhood dollhouse with me and renovate it anyway I like. She did such a lovely job on it when I was a little girl, I never thought of changing it, but 20 years of display has shown its wear. I've never lived in an apartment large enough to house this adorable little mansion (below), but now that we have the room I am SO excited to renovate this baby!!

Do you have a dollhouse from childhood that needs a face lift? How about a new one that you want to decorate? Leave a comment below with your info so I can add you to future posts and interview you about your progress.

xo Lady Lucas

Can't wait to get going? Purchase these adorable pieces of instant dollhouse wall art in my etsy shop!

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...

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

New Mini Sculptures featuring Szilla the Duck

This week I simply needed a break from the computer, so I took a full day to create three new mini sculptures. Each one features the cute character 'Szilla the Duck'.

It was lots of fun working with mohair yarn, felt roving and lots of scraps of fabric and ribbon.

There is actually a type of duck here in Austria with a blue beak - which was my inspiration for this cutie.

From now on, I'll be listing new felted sculptures up for adoption on the page above, Felted Animal Sculptures. Questions on how I create this sculptures? Comments? Feel free to say hi below!

xo Lady Lucas