Ideas for Using Baskets in the Fairy Garden

Sometimes, it is the smallest touch that makes the most significant impact, especially when it comes to the miniature garden. Large accessories help set the scene, but all the little details really form the "story" of the garden. What tale are you trying to tell in the fairy garden this season? One look from "real life" that can be adapted to the miniature garden is the basket. At home, you might use baskets as décor, practical containers, or both! The same concept can be accomplished in the miniature garden. Read on for a few of our favorite ideas.

• Woven baskets have come back into style in a huge way. Using scraps of fabric, quilting squares, or other small swatches, you can make a blanket basket for the little living space, or even a laundry basket. Fairies have to do their chores, too! A tiny blanket basket or laundry basket fits in well with a spring cleaning theme.
• Crafting is a popular hobby in the fairy garden. If your resident fairies are crafters, you can build them a basket of knitting supplies. Just wind up a tiny ball of yarn and grab a couple of toothpicks to use as knitting needles. Voila! You can also turn your fairies into basket-weavers themselves, especially if you choose Daisy Baskets or another basket that features flowers and miniature plants. Garden fairies can graduate quickly from building flower crowns to weaving baskets or arranging fresh blooms in baskets. Gather a group of fairies together, and the fun can last all day long.
• Are you ready for a miniature picnic? With just one set of small-scaled food, and perhaps a teeny-tiny bottle of pop or water, you can have a delicious picnic packed up for the fairies in your garden. Add a Gingham Picnic Cloth or bright plaid fabric to use as a picnic blanket, along with an umbrella and some basketball, sand volleyball, bocce, or another mini-game, and your picnic scene will be complete. Picnics can happen in the fairy garden, at the beach, near the lake, or elsewhere.
• Holiday time is another great opportunity to haul out the mini baskets. Who remembers egg hunts, or leaving May Day baskets for the neighbors as a sweet surprise? When planning a miniature garden, you can create all sorts of fun, springtime baskets. Use decorative pebbles as eggs, fill with flowers for a May Day basket, or choose toys, candies, and even a baby bunny for a gift. Fun!
• Of course, baskets can be used as a helpful tool, not just decoration. Perhaps your fairy garden features a fireplace or fire pit. You can fill a small basket with little logs. If your garden has a beach theme, a basket can hold seashells, sunglasses, or other sunny-day essentials. Hang a basket on the veggie garden fence where it will be ready for carrots, lettuce, and other yummy treats. On the other hand, pile a few of them in the back of a little pickup truck as it heads off to the autumn apple orchard. A full basket of apples or Putka Pumpkins is a welcome sight as the days grow cool and the weeks turn to fall.

Wherever you decide to place the baskets in your fairy garden, have fun! A basket is one miniature accessory that can be adapted to fit all seasons and almost any garden theme. Whether you have one basket or one hundred, you are sure to find a use for them in the miniature garden.