Ellie's Garden

What started out as a spur of the moment and very last minute idea for a small gift for Ellie's birthday, turned out to be her biggest gift and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the way it turned out.

It starts with the bed. Ever since Addie's big girl room, we've known that we were going to get Ellie a similar bed, only we would set it up as a loft so that she has a cozy little cave to play in. Gramma helped us make a curtain, and the fence that used to be Ellie's headboard made for a wonderful piece to close off the end of her cave. Add a big leaf for her to sleep under and already Ellie has herself a wonderful new bed.

But it's what's hiding under the bed that makes it so magical. Nana bought her this wonderful garden playmat and I decided to make a bunch of gnomes with little homes so that Ellie has an entire garden village to play with. The mat is wonderful! It fills up the majority of the space under her bed.

We've folded her "grass" blanket to cover the remaining floor space, so that we had more room to add a fairy castle in the corner.

Add a pretty lamp and her little garden turns into a nice little cozy nook to sit and read books.

Awww, the makings of a gnome village. Wanna see more details? Here's where the cute-factor really comes in to play...

Gnomes in their homes:

Here's a gnome in her matching tulip home sitting in the field of tulips (OK, it's really a field of poppies, but Ellie doesn't know this).

And this one lives in a mushroom house among the field of mushrooms.

This lady has found shelter on a cozy leaf somewhere in the forest.

And this little fella loves the smell of daffodils so he has decided to make his home among those happy flowers.

And with this one in yet another flower home, I'm beginning to think that inside every flower there is a gnome!

Gnomeo and Juliet have decided to live in the daisy fields.

This little lady has found a perfect home in the apple tree.

And it even opens up and has a cozy rug inside!

And here is the garden castle. I'd like to live there.

But alas, this winged soul has taken up resisdence at the castle instead.

These two pocket gnomes have decided that the watering can is perfect for them. I can't help but agree.

Oh my gnomes! Look how amazing this house is! It even has a swing! How fun!

The treehouse even has a door and window sill complete with flowers and toadstools. Have you ever seen a prettier house? I think not.

And a view looking down on the house, there is even a comfy chair for the gnomes to rest their tiny tired feet. Perfect.

Gnome Pets and Friends:

A mommy and baby turtle hanging out in the marsh.

A strawberry fairy hiding in the strawberry patch. I'm thinking she could use a couple strawberry gnomes to keep her company!

Two super tiny super heros camping out in the bottom floor of the garden castle.

A ladybug wondering through the gardens.

A bunny hanging out with his friends in the pumpkin patch.

Here's a couple hedgehogs hiding out in the bushes.

Aww, how sweet. There's even a bird and her little egg. She decided to build her little nest on top of the tree house.

Other Items in the Garden:

Here's a strawberry fairy door, because we don't want to exclude our fairy friends from joining the garden fun!

And last, but not least, is the magical heart that has found its place in the center of the toadstool circle. It sparkles with lots of magic.

So that's Ellie's Garden. I love how it turned out. I'm actually quite amazed it turned out so nice! There is still room to add more and I have ideas for other houses. The mat has soooo many things on it, it's stunning. It makes me do a little happy dance to know that I've given Ellie her own little corner of the garden, filled with magic.