Wine Cork Toadstools

 I hadn't intended to start a Fairy Garden this year but this funky little patch has taken on a life of its own. It was practically asking for fairies and gnomes to plant their flag and declare a kingdom. And of course, any amount of time spent on Pinterest easily fueled the idea. Found this adorable idea for mini toadstools via a random Pinterest perusal. The best part was that I had everything needed to make them: bottle caps, wine corks, paint.

Click here for the instructions on assembling them.  There are four things I did differently than the tutorial.

1. Since these were going to be used outdoors I primed the bottle caps with a spray primer. Then we continued as normal. My daughter picked a metallic red and I used a deep holiday red.

2. Used E6000 glue to attach the tops to the corks. We weren't planning on hanging them so we didn't need to drill a hole in the lids.

3. We sealed the paint with Mod Podge Outdoor.

 4. Instead of placing the wire on the top to create a hanging display, we inserted bobby pins in the bottom of the corks to anchor them to the soil.

We simply unfolded the bobby pins then snipped the "corner," giving us two anchors. I found it helpful to also cut off the plastic nub at the end. It just got in the way of inserting the metal into the cork. And I like to have options of which end to use. Sometimes my cuts weren't right on and one end would be a bit bent so I needed to use the other, more straight, end.

We enjoyed sprinkling them around the succulent garden and the area where the Little Kingdom is yet to be developed. Can we say the gnomes' building permits are pending? 

They are a bit tricky to see on the left picture. A bit easier to see in the black and white on the right. Using ipiccy.com I tried to highlight the red tops. 

This is the backdrop for the Little Kingdom where the town square most likely will go.

And here are a couple placed in the succulent garden with the mini animals. There are a turtle and an owl in there which are much easier to see in person. The camera seems to add a camouflage filter! 

The Scottish Moss is new to the wheelbarrow succulent planter. It replaced a dying crunchy succulent that was previously planted there. Its responded well to the sun and started to flower and spread out. I'm excited to see what it does in the next two years! 

I'm a fan of these red drops of color in the garden.  Can you imagine them in the snow? Beautiful I'm sure!

 Next up are the fairy/gnome houses. Larger materials are collected. I have a feeling it'll turn into a winter activity when we'd rather snuggle up in the house. Right now we're embracing summer in the sun.

Hope you and yours are enjoying this season of sunshine and BBQs!

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