bumplbea - With such glassware, I had to add the parasols! You are right, the perfect "drink" for a wanderlust imagination! Cheers!
I genuinely appreciate your kind words. I also see in your profile that you are listed as a Flower Show Judge. (Not sure if that means in a professional way or not ...)
In answer to your question .... and this may be a whole lot LONGER than you want to read ....
I got into miniature gardening a few years ago (probably about the time when it was all the rage). I have the utmost appreciation for plants and wildlife. (Hence most of my small yard is a wildlife habitat.) I also have 2 young granddaughters under the age of 10 who enjoy gardening because I like to share the experience with them. The 3 of us are especially enchanted with miniature gardening.
I have typical sized miniature garden scene in containers, but this past year I got very interested in tiny gardening. As we all know, life can be stressful on a daily basis. I believe gardening is like therapy, a way to deal with stress. Though sometimes gardening can also be stressful. When I would start a larger miniature piece or even work in my yard garden beds, I would sometimes get frustrated when it didn't grow as well as I had hoped or I ran out of time to get it all done (I work full time during the week, so free time is limited) or I was exhausted from an all-day or multi-day garden job, that's when the love of gardening can be tested. I needed an easier and quicker gardening activity. That is where the ideas and research for these tiny gardens came from. Plus some fun used books I got my hands on! (The public library also has some books!)
Tiny gardens are typically quick to create (once you have the necessary items and an idea or two of what you want to try to create). Many tiny plants can be grown indoors as well as outdoors! That's a nice plus! And if it doesn't turn out the way you had hoped, you can dis-assemble it and start again! So easy and in most cases, very cheap to make! AND my granddaughters love them, too! (A nice activity we can do together and they can take theirs home right away to enjoy!)
There are articles, videos, and books out there with lots of great ideas and advice. The internet is my #1 resource. Books come 2nd.
I love water scenes. But I only recently discovered that you could make rather realistic scenes using clear or blue hot glue. I use clear sticks and mix some very fine blue glitter in before the glue cools and hardens. Acrylic paints (white and blue) works great to further enhance the water. I found that idea on some YouTube videos! Pretty cool indeed!
When I find mini items at the stores (walmart, dollar tree, michael's crafts, etc.), if they aren't on sale or already very cheap, I wait until they are!
Patience is a virtue!
Then I add new items to my small (or sometimes larger) collection of items. When I need to do something relaxing or something fun to do with the granddaughters, I set up my work table with all kinds of items including glass containers, plants, soil, rocks, figurines, glue gun, etc.
As seen in the tiny gardens, a few of my favorite plants are: Earth Star Bromeliad (cryptanthus spp.), Haworthia fasciata, moss (of which I have no idea what kind it is - comes from my garden), and other succulents or mini plants. These I have growing in my yard or on my porch in containers. I suppose because I live in a mild climate zone, they multiply for me, so I usually have babies to use in my terrariums or tiny gardens.
To figure out the scale of the scene, I just pretend that I am small, walking around in the tiny garden. A magnifying glass works great! If an item seems too big, I replace it with something that looks more the correct size. It's strictly by eye-balling the scene that I try to keep the scale correct.
So ... I have rambled on far too long! I hope some of what I wrote inspires and assists others in creating their own little tiny gardens! Remember too, the joy is often in the journey, not just arriving at the destination!
