~ Do you like the fairy garden idea but don’t care for too much 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-unicorn & glitter everywhere.

Color Tips

– 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.

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.

– Don’t forget the twinkle. Have at least one thing that sparkles: glitter, chrome, tiled mirror, or anything reflective. It multiplies the lights and twinkles and adds a spark of enchantment.

Proportion Tips

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

– Balance the textures evenly throughout the tree or room by mixing up chunky objects or patterns with finely detailed items.

– 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 or mantle.

– 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. Go do something else for awhile, some of my best ideas come to me when I’m doing full-sized garden chores.Usually “living with it” for a day can bring out more ideas for tweaking or embellishing your project but don’t leave it for too long or it may fall off your to-do list. Try Pinterest for ideas and use the search bar for specific keywords to zero-in on your theme.

Lights to Use

– Use all white lights but vary the sizes of the bulbs.  Or a combination of green and white can add extra fairy garden magic too.

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, right?) 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.

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