Condo Blues: OZ China Town Fairy Garden

Friday, June 7, 2013

OZ China Town Fairy Garden

We have a bare spot in one of the front flower beds that always needs extra attention. We'd like to make lower maintenance this summer. I wasn't sure how to make this happen in a pretty way, until we received an advanced copy of the Blue Ray Combo Pack of the movie Oz the Great and Powerful (Thank you Disney!)

Then I knew.

If I could travel to Oz, I would rebuild dear, sweet China Girl's village after the Wicked Witch destroyed it and her people. China Girl stole our hearts, especially after seeing the care they took in creating her character after we watched the extra making of featurette. It must be the magic of Oz because I never was a doll person as a kid and yet China Girl ended up being my favorite character in the movie.

My China Town fairy garden, inspired by Oz the Great and Powerful

OZ is full of wonderful people and creatures. I'm sure if I rebuilt China Town as a fairy garden, the fairies would move in and keep China Girl company.

I also hope the fairies will help me out and tend our garden, because I doubt we can grow anything that comes close to director Sam Rami’s gorgeous OZ visuals but I will try.

Let's journey to OZ!

How to Make an OZ the Great and Powerful China Town Fairy Garden





I hit the thrift stores and searched my house for building materials because fairies and Ozians love recycled materials. The China Town Home Owners Association allows for non-china building materials as long as they conform to the shine and spirit of porcelain china.

Hanging outdoor tea light, fruit pop sticks, Aruba house, bottle caps,
 glass ornament, china plates, and teapot. 


I placed old flower pots in the garden and covered them with dirt to stand in for the rolling hills of China Town.

I mixed compost into the dirt before adding it to the garden.


Next, I spray painted a yogurt cup and flower pot saucer white because they will be the foundation of the teapot house. I also masked off the Aruba house with painter’s tape and spray painted the roof to coordinate with the other houses I planned to build in the village.


For added interest and to coordinate with the original design, I lightly sprayed the cottage roof blue after the first coat of white paint was dry. 

I don't want the fairy moving vans to go to the Dark Forest by mistake.  I primed and then painted bottle caps to use as the road to China Town.


Tip: Priming the bottle caps will cut down on the number of coats you 
will need to use of light colored paint. Guess how I know?

I wanted to install a sleepy poppy field to protect China Town from future Wicked Witch attacks but the HOA asked me not to because they believe in The Wizard and that he will protect them from the Witch. I didn't have the heart to tell them that The Wizard isn't always the likable man they think he is (hat tip to the yummy James Franco for making me unsure about I feel about Oscar Digs as a person from the beginning all the way to the end of the movie) but China Girl believes in him and I can't go against that.

Time to rebuild OZ!

I used E6000 glue to keep the yogurt cup and saucer foundation securely under the teapot house. I turned the glass ornament upside down and glued it to the tea light handler as the foundation for the next house. I tucked the cottage behind it just like the china cottage we see in movie (you have to look for it, but it is there!)

Three Land of OZ  China Town fairy houses. 
My apologies for the dirt splatters. I had to finish the landscaping in a drizzle to the give the flowers the best possible chance of surviving my gardening skills.

I installed the rest of the tea light lantern house at the bottom of the hill. I decided against building a door out of the fruit pop sticks (big thanks to Husband for his help in sourcing those materials!) I think the fairies might like a little pergola instead or maybe a nice frog might make it his house and help me in the garden.

I put two fairy chairs I made from champagne cork cages (you can learn how I made the champagne cork chairs here) so the fairies have a place to sit when they visit Mr. and Mrs. Frog.



Finally I planted alyssum plants, morning glory and bachelor button seeds. I transplanted some volunteer chive from another part of my garden around the teapot house for height.

As finishing touch, I moved a few butterfly and ladybug stakes from another part of the garden for decoration and to encourage Lacey to leave the China Town fairy garden to the fairies.


Welcome to my version of OZ!

You can find more information on OZ the Great and Powerful and where you can purchase the  Blue-Ray Combo Pack here and by checking out their OZ the Great and Powerful social networking sites on 
FacebookTwitter, and Pinterest

You can also explore the magical Land of OZ by checking out these OZ inspired projects from my favorite bloggers below: 




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Disclosure: Disney and Oz the Great and Powerful sponsored this post. This didn't influence my opinion or how much I came to like the movie or my questionable feelings about Oscar Diggs. Actually, it was the Blue Ray Combo Pack extra features that influenced me and that is available to everyone starting June 11, 2013.

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