Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Sylvanian Families Garden

Dear Readers,

My new cabinets have taken the place of my Calico Village.  I had to store away the house and furniture for many months.  The village has now been relocated in another room (aka my son's room).   Placed on the same long table as it was before, I have added this time a new house for the Chocolate Rabbit Grandparents that my sweet friend Ohana has sent to me from Japan.

I wanted to give the grandparents a little garden because all the grandparents I know are inevitably fond of gardening.  I didn't have a garden yet so I bought three different playsets from Amazon:  

1. Sylvanian Families Vegetable Garden
2. Sylvanian Families Flowers
3. Sylvanian Families Family Garden

They were not purchased at the same time but rather over the course of many months.   I always compare prices from various sellers before buying.  When the price is low enough (or when I have saved enough money) I buy the set!  It just happened that these 3 sets were cheapest on Amazon.

Each garden set is very detailed and the high quality of the finish is exactly what one could expect from Sylvanian Families. The set I prefer is the Sylvanian Families Garden because it has so many nice items (shown below).   The mailbox (or birdhouse) can open in the back.  She scissors can open and close!


The Chocolate Rabbit grandparents will live in the Bluebell Cottage (aka Riverside Lodge) and their children will live next door in the Townhome.   I bought the Bluebell Cottage from England many years ago.  It was used but still in good condition.  The Townhome was bought from a garage sale, incomplete but also in rather good condition.

This was the initial setup for the garden.

The children would have a vegetable garden.

The grandparents would have a large lawn.

 There would be many flowers and even a topiary.

But then I noticed grandpa looked a little sad...



So I created a river for him!

After all, it is called "Riverside Lodge" for a reason.



Don't worry for Grandma. She can still enjoy gardening but with less flowerpots.

Whenever she feels like tending to more flowers, she can visit her children and grand children across the river!  And Freya could sure use a helping hand with the vegetable garden!

The grandchildren can also say hello to their grandparents whenever they want!

I am not totally happy about my village yet.  I need to substitute the white and plain background with a forest or lakeside picture.  And I still have to decorate the houses.  My first attempt at adding wallpaper proved disastrous.  Once all is in place, I will be able to continue posting stories about CALICO VALLEY and its new inhabitants!

I need to thank Jennifer from PLUSHPUSSYCAT for giving me a very useful tip!  I was chatting with her about the difficulty in finding fake grass for my display and she had suggested the use of a green towel.  This was truly a great advice because the towel was very cheap ($4 only), easy to clean, and it had a great grassy color and texture!  Thank you very much Jennifer!!!  I am glad this blog has helped me make friends who are so generous of their time and are always willing to share their knowledge!  Jennifer is a mine of information and she is also very kind! She has also sent me miniature gifts that I can't wait to you once the houses are decorated!

The pebbles along the river are from Michael's Craft Store: $2 for a medium bag (the large bag costs $6). The water is blue felt with a paper sheet protector on top.  The bushes along the white wall in the back are aquarium plants.  The Townhome is slightly elevated thanks to 3 rugs placed underneath.  I bought them from the Dollar Store for $1 each rug. The boat is from an old Smurf set.  The total for all the non-Sylvanian items is about $10.

I have elevated the Townhome so the river would be lower because I am planning to add something else!   I can't talk about it yet because it's still an ongoing project and I can't say for sure it will work but I hope it will and the Chocolate Rabbit Family will soon be able to show you their new house! :D

Disclaimer: All opinions are my own. I was not paid or received gifts to write this or mention any stores or website. You may find a better store in your area.

36 comments:

  1. Oh, how exciting! I love what you've done so far, Jane Cherie! The river is such a great idea and looks so cool! And the gardens and houses are beautiful! Your SF sure are lucky to live in such a fantastic place! Thank you for your kind words, but everything you wrote about me could just as easily be said about you. :-) I can hardly wait to see what you make next! xo Jennifer

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    1. Thank you Jennifer! I have been very inspired by you and the other miniaturists you have introduced me to! I really hope my next project will be good enough for pictures!

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  2. Oh my goodness, that river is TOO MUCH!!! How cute!!!

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    1. Thanks Danzel! I still need to work on it. Not the perfect river to my liking. I wanted to use epoxy liquid but it was so costly.

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  3. I adore your garden accessoires and the river is gorgeous!!!! It looks so real, grandpa looks very happy on his boat. :) The towel for the grass really is a good idea!

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    1. Thanks for your comment! I really want to improve the look of my river though!

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  4. This is wonderful Jane! I was just about to ask if it was a towel (the grass) it looks perfect! A great tip from Jennifer =) And I like the water too! A picture as a background sounds great too, I didn't think it could get better, but it just might with that idea of yours =)
    Hannah

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    1. I wished I knew how to paint. The background picture will be hard to find!

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  5. waouw, that town is amazing, your Sylvanians are really cute ^^
    I love all the details, it's so perfect

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  6. Hello from Spain: awesome garden. The river seems real. Great job. Pretty accessories. I love it. Grandpa is adorable. Keep in touch

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    1. Thanks Marta! I am sure Grandpa is really glad to have a boat now :D

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  7. Oh what a great decoration!! When I first saw your pictures on Flickr I was thinking, I would ask Jane about the grass material and how to make a river like this...Thanks for sharing in the blog and everything looks very awesome! Chocolate Rabbit grandparents must be really happy now. :D

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    1. Thanks Chloe! It was a lot of fun setting up this display. I am happy to be of help!

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  8. Such a wonderful set up! I do love the style of these characters an how they add the details in all the creations, like the bunny topiary!

    Everything looks wonderful!
    Hugs~J

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    1. I was surprised to see the bunny topiary too! When I bought the set, I didn't pay attention to the shape of the topiary. Now that I see it, I really like it even more!

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  9. YOU HAVE OUTDONE YOURSELF. oh my stars this is the cutest thing i've ever seen!!!!!!!!!!! SQUEEEEEEE!

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    1. Thanks Melissa! It's actually a very modest display and quite pale in comparison to what other fans of Sylvanian Families/Calico Critters have done in the past!

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  10. OOh this looks amazing!! I just love it. It looks so bright and happy! I like the green towel idea. I have a Sylvanian blog, may I add your link to my site? :)

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    1. Hi Paige! Yes that's not a problem! Thank you for your comment and thank you for adding me to your site :)

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  11. Adorable display and lovely garden. Personally I love the river and Grandpa Moustache's boat. Im glad that Grandma gets her little garden though. And I like the fact they can visit their grandchildren easily.

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    1. Thank you Aranera! I like to have grandparents living near their children :)

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  12. can you please tell me how did the river? thanks

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    1. The water is blue felt with a paper sheet protector on top. Very easy to do and not expensive!

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  13. O my gosh, that river is brilliant! This is every grandparent's dream I should think lol! We have the garden set too; my favourite thing is that adorable topiary. Trust you and the kids are doing well, dear friend *hugs*

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    1. Thank you Jan! The topiary is indeed adorable!

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  14. Hello Jane,
    I love your village, it is so gorgeous ! The river is a great idea ! :)
    Have a nice afternoon
    Agnès

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    1. Merci Agnès! Je viens de jeter un coup d'oeil sur ton blog et c'est trop mimi! J'aime les Blythe et le Middie aussi mais je n'en ai pas .... encore :) Je prévois une petite Middie bientôt!

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    2. Oh Jane comme je suis contente que tu parles Français, c'est si difficile pour moi de parler Anglais, j'ai toujours peur de me tromper de mot ! é_è
      Si tu veux un lien de site fiable pour acheter ta Middie, j'ai celui où toutes les collectionneuses achètent ! :) Est ce que tu as déjà fait ton choix pour la Middie ?

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    3. Je n'ai pas encore choisi! Je regarde encore mais je voudrais bien une Middie custom mais bon, je vais commencer déjà avec une Middie normale. Si tu connais l'addresse mentionné ci-haut, pourrais-tu me l'envoyer à mon email mabebecherie@gmail.com? C'est bien gentil de ta part de m'aider! Gros bisous!

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  15. Very nice!!!!!! I like the river and would like the new edition of the Chocolate grandparents!

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    1. Thank you! I like the new edition very much too!

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