Check out the post (it is on page 2 now) 'Stiff Pants'.
One poster mentioned what she had done with pants for the outside. Polyurethane, I think....

IF IT WERE FOR MY GRANDBABYLOVE- There would have to be a little ballerina girl statue. I can see a mosaiced ballerina doll done in pastels. The tutu could be made from exterior Sunbrella fabric. Didn't Barbie use to make a 3 ft ballerina doll? This would be a long term project that could come at a later date.

Hint-Do not put any ribbon in your garden as this will fade, wilt, get dirty, and look shabby very quickly. If you hang planters (ballet slippers) from the tree use decor chain or plastic rope painted in pastels.

If you want your babylove to frequent this garden area you must put a little water feature. A concrete birdbath painted pink could possibly have a solar powered spritzing pump in it. There must be a bench or pastel Adarondac (sp?) chair close by if possible. Hubs and I agree that moving water will draw us and keep us out longer than a silent garden. Moving water also attracks birds.

A birdhouse could be painted to match your pastel color theme. I think I have seen an oversized resin faux ballet slipper with a hole which was a birdhouse.

The other girls can chime in on what plant materials to use in your pots. A short ladder could be painted in pastels and the plants could be set on each rung.

Garden tools could be painted in pastels with ballet logos glued on and then Polyurethaned. Small ones could hang from the trees like ornaments or large ones could just be leaning on the tree and ladder.

A pink glass totem would be lovely. Do a search for "Totem" on this site for ideas.

I believe in Garden signs. You must paint a personal sign to stick in the garden. "Our Princess Gardens Here", "Swan Lake", and other French ballet phrases, ect.

You must come back and post a pic.

Along with the ballet, shouldn't a little princess have a table for tea?
Vickie

Welcome to the forum! Can you post a picture of the area you are going to create your ballet garden in? I might be the only one, but I'm having trouble picturing the area. Love Susie's and Vickie's ideas though!

I think you need to use "mosaiced" pots ... pastel colors, teal, blues, pinks, yellows, etc. ... group of 3 would be nice and dig them into the ground some for the slope.

Or, have you ever seen those "plastic" doilies? I've always thought they were quite ugly on buffet tables & such "indoors" but maybe you could incorporate a couple of those in the garden...maybe decoupaged on square or round pots or a round table top???? Maybe Dollar Tree or those kind of stores sell them yet.

The ballet slippers would look wonderful...but I don't know how to salvage them for outdoors...I agree that you may be able to find "ceramic" ones.

Also I would do some "bling" with glass flowers ... pastel painted stems...look around & see if you see some plates that are very feminine!

Sounds like a great project! Have Fun! Don't forget to share pics! We luv pics! Jeanne S.

Hi,

Thanks so much for the suggestions. I'm going to have to hit the garage sales big-time and see what I can find.

I love the little tools with ballet motifs on them--a perfect melding of gardening and ballet. Those awful plastic doily things would indeed work to add a pretty, lacy look to the area. Who knew there was an actual use for those things??

I do have a bistro set I could move into the area I'm working with, but that would require making the garden area larger than I'd originally intended. I am trying to figure out how to post a photo so others can see the space I'm working with. I took photos this afternoon and will upload as soon as I figure it out.

Thanks much!

Debbie

Hi,

I'm pretty sure this link to flickr will work to show 3 different views of the area I'm working with to create my little garden.

Thanks for any additional suggestions!

Debbie

Here is a link that might be useful: photos under spruce tree

If you want to fence the area in, how about making fencing to look like a ballet bar?

If you use plastic doilies, you might want to use them as stencils instead of as doilies...paint the table top white, then lay the plastic doily on the table and spray light layers of pastel paint over the top. Remove the doily, and you should have a stenciled doily on the table top.

How about planting in a ballet bag...the kind of thing the girls carry their change of clothes and ballet slippers in. Use a fabric one...stuff it with newspaper to make it look like it's full and to hold the top of the bag open, then paint it with several layers of polyurethane to stiffen it and make it waterproof. When that's dry, remove the newspaper and polyurethane the inside as well. Then poke a few drain holes in the bottom and plant in the top of the bag.

If you want to use ribbon bows for anything, you might dip the bows in Stiff Stuff, fluff the bow so it'll look nice when it dries...then when it's good and dry, coat it with polyurethane so it'll stay nice looking outside. You could paint the bows before polyurethaning them if you want a specific color.

You could use a picture of a ballerina from a color book, enlarge it and draw it onto a piece of pine. Cut around the ballerina and paint it...do the eyes, hair color, etc. to match your granddaughter's. Again coat well with polyurethane to keep it nice in the weather.

You could paint clay pots pastel colors and attach bows (like above) or silk flowers that have been stiffened with polyurethane. Maybe you could decoupage sheet music from Swan Lake (or other ballet) onto clay pots (they have exterior Modge Podge now), then add artificial gemstones in strategic places on the pot.

On the new posting about bottle trees, there is a site to go to for more bottle trees and it has a ballerina statue in it!!! Ahhh, my DD looked sooo adorable in her ballerina outfit!!!

I like the above ideas. A ballet slipper or pr. could be fashioned from a fairly fine chickenwire. you could use chain or pastel plastic rope(macrame cord?) for the ties & plant with succelents. A ballet bar could be just a piece of fence maybe 4 ft. wide with chrome or gold painted plastic pipe to look like the "bar" you hold on when practicing. Slippers could be painted on the fence piece & other things having to do with ballet. Fun project!! Jan

I was out 'shoppe touring' (not spending of course) and found garden ballerinas made of welded iron. Those metal sculptures were going for $400. If you had a family member who welds I bet you could find pics on the web of metal ballet scuptures (sorry I thought of you but forgot my camera).

Thanks everyone for these GREAT ideas! It'll probably take me the rest of the summer to tinker around and figure out what I want in my spot, but I'll be back with photos when it is done.

THANKS again!

Debbie

Gosh, this Forum is just GREATEST for multitudes of ideas for ANY project. Even after all the years I've been here, it still amazes me! (karen who's clueless in Phx. LOL).
But I am proud of myself for actually having an idea to offer...no one said add a SWAN statue! That and a ballerina statue would just be perfect.
By the way, if you removed the wings (forgive me please) from a fairy statue, so many of them could pass for a ballerina with their fancy little outfits and shoes!

I'm so excited to see how this garden turns out. And to hear what that little girl's reacton is. Will be a big one!
What a lucky girl she is.

hugs, Karen