fairy homes and pink charm progress

It's been a great Sunday ... and to think, it's just the first day of my weekend, too!

Sadie and I decided that today was a good day to try our hand at building a fairy house. Originally we thought we'd build it under a tree in the back yard, but due to a rain shower (and the fact that neither of us much like red ants) we chose the small ficus tree's pot:

Considering neither of us has any background in building (other than that of the Lego variety) we were utterly clueless. She thought we should just sink "walls" right into the dirt - brilliant plan! We made sure to use a few twigs that branched so we could rest twigs lengthwise across them and then layed smaller twigs across them to build a second level (there are two small rooms below the floor). The roofing is a combination of skinny dried vines and a little bit of hay. We're hopeful that one of these days we'll go out there to see that some little creature has claimed the home ... fingers crossed!

How about an update on the The Pink Charms Exchange? First, I have done a couple of tests using the Petal Porcelain Setting Agent that I purchased on Friday and am happy to report that I think it's really going to work! There are a few minor details that I need to work out, but I am hopeful.

I'm am still interested in trying Paverpol (Marilyn @ As Seen Through My Eyes recommended the product - she's been posting about her recent trip to France and it sounds like heaven!). I checked out there website and from everything that I have read about it, it sounds like some pretty amazing stuff. It's been added to the top of my Christmas wish list!

While I was shopping on Friday, I picked up a few "just in case" items ... I wanted to have a definite back up should the paper crane experiment end up a bust. This is what I bought:

The above is a little pack of metal links, some ultrafine pink glitter and some pink faceted glass beads ... bet you can tell where I am going with all this. I took Amber Dawn's comment, "make sure to have the pink stand out, make them pretty, sparkly if you can" totally to heart! So far I have only completed the first step ... I completely pink-glitterified the links (simple white glue) and am on to the second step of coating them in a high gloss varnish - one coat down, but at least one (if not two) more to go. Here they are drying in my fancy drying rack (those would be toothpicks for holding the links and masking tape over a small glass bowl for a rack).

Here's a closer view:

Once they have all been varnished, I'm going to use silver "pins" to sandwich a pink glass bead between two tiny clear Swarovski crystals and make the loop for a hanger and add a jump ring ... voila! Honestly, the photo's don't really do them justice - they are much prettier in hand (even at this stage) than photographed.

Ok, the cranes are calling me back to finish folding (folding 1 1/4 inch squares is a bit taxing, but tiny cranes look very sweet).

How's your weekend shaping up?