If you’ve visited this blog before, you already know that I love to crochet mandalas. (You can see a bunch of my mandala patterns here) I also love flowers and being outside in a garden. When my daughters were little they loved making Fairy Houses and Fairy Gardens among the blossoms in our garden beds and now my nieces (ages 5 and 2) love to play and create in their Fairy Garden.

Have you ever made a Fairy House and/or Garden? It is fun and can be done at any age! Some of the best fairy houses are the ones that only use natural materials in very creative ways. There is a neat book called, “Fairy Houses . . .Everywhere!” by Barry & Tracy Kane. We had the pleasure of meeting Tracy and talking with her several times – this book is filled with many photos of wonderful fairy houses and gardens. (Click on image below to purchase/learn more about the book)

You could visit this website here to learn more about Fairy Gardens and how to make one of your own or check out this webpage to see some excellent examples of the tiny and creative houses.

I thought it would be fun to add some mandalas to Fairy Houses and Fairy Gardens using a reflective craft supply (to catch the sun’s rays), some beads (to add some sparkle) and a few other things you might have around the house – all supplies are listed below!

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Skill Level: Easy

(Working with crochet thread can be challenging for some but you can always practice the pattern with medium weight yarn and a larger hook before you try it out with the thread. All of the stitches in this project are simple. But remember, everything in a Fairy Garden is supposed to be tiny! ;))

Measurements:

3″ diameter

Supplies:

(Please note that many of these supplies include affiliate links which means this blog earns a small commission if you choose to purchase but it is at NO extra cost to you – yay! – Thank you for your support 🙂 )

Size 10 cotton crochet thread – 2 colors (1 ball of each makes plenty of mandalas)

(Aunt Lydia’s Cotton Crochet thread Size 10 in Peacock (bright blue in photo above) – purchase here)

(Lizbeth Egyptian Cotton Thread Size 10 in so many beautiful colors – purchase here)

1.25mm crochet hook

Yarn needle

3″ craft mirror

Large unique bead (1) – about 1″ long

Faceted acrylic beads (9) – about 8 to 12mm round

3 tassels (1-2″ long each)

Optional: Tassel maker, foil tape or silver spray paint

(I learned how to use the Small Tassel Maker by Clover that can be purchased here to add the tassel embellishments but you can attach already made tassels, too or just use a large bead in its place)

Notes:

Two mandalas are crocheted and then joined together over the craft mirror

Lastly the beads and tassels are added

Special Stitches and Abbreviations:

Adjustable Ring = To watch a video tutorial of this technique, click here

(If don’t want to do adjustable ring, then ch 4 and work 11 dc in 4th ch from hk instead of the Round 1 written below)

Beg. Popcorn (Beginning Popcorn) = ch 3, 4 dc in same place; remove hk from working loop and insert through top of starting ch-3; pull working loop through top of starting ch-3

Ch-3 picot = ch 3, sl st in 1st ch

Popcorn = 5 dc; remove hk from working loop and insert through top of first dc; pull working loop through top of first dc

Ch-2 picot = ch 2, insert hk into left side of previous sc and work a sl st

ch =chain

sc = single crochet

dc = double crochet

sk = skip

sl st = slip stitch

sp = space

Instructions:

All special stitches are written in bold and italicized text and explained above

Mandala – Make 2:

Round 1: Make an adjustable ring; Ch 3, 11 dc in ring; join with sl st to top of starting ch-3. (Starting ch-3 counts as a dc – now have 12 dc)

Round 2: Ch 8 (counts as first dc and first ch-5 sp); (sk next dc, dc in next dc, ch 5) around 5 times; join with sl st to 3rd ch of starting ch-8. (6 ch-5 sps & 6 dc)

Round 3: Sl st into next ch-5 sp; Beg. popcorn; (ch 3, ch-3 picot, ch 3, Popcorn) in same ch-5 sp; (ch 3, ch-3 picot, ch 3, Popcorn) 2 times in each ch-5 sp around ending with a ch 3, ch-3 picot, ch 3, sl st in top of 1st popcorn. Fasten off.

Round 4: Join contrasting color with a sl st in any ch-3 picot; (ch 6, sl st in next ch-3 picot) around ending with sl st in joining sl st. (12 ch-6 sps)

Round 5: Sl st in next ch-6 sp; Beg. Popcorn; (ch 4, Popcorn) in same ch-6 sp; (ch 4, Popcorn, ch 4, Popcorn) in each ch-6 sp around; ch 4, sl st in top of 1st popcorn. Fasten off.

At end of 2nd mandala, do not fasten off.

Assembly:

Optional: Cover back side of craft mirror with silver foil tape or silver spray paint

(The back side of these craft mirrors just have a piece of white paper on them – since I like these to be 2-sided, I covered the back with foil tape so it is still semi-reflective. You can use 2 mirrors back-to-back (but I found that to be a little too heavy for my liking) or paint the white paper on the back in silver.)

With Wrong Sides of crocheted mandalas facing each other and making sure ch-4 sps line up and working in both ch-4 sps at the same time, work (2 sc, ch-2 picot, 2 sc) in ch-4 sps all the way around mandala; When about halfway around, insert mirror and then continue with stitches joining with sl st in first sc. Fasten off.

Finishing:

Shorter Bead and Tassel Lengths – Make 2:

With contrasting color ch 28 – Fasten off.

Make an overhand knot in chain length at one end; thread on bead up to knot across length of chain; make another overhand knot and make sure it is snug next to bead;

[Thread on bead; make another overhand knot] 2 more times;

Secure tassel to end of chain length

Secure top of length to mandala using yarn needle and photo above as a guide

Longer (Center) Bead and Tassel Length:

With contrasting color ch 50 – Fasten off.

Make overhand knots and thread on beads as for shorter lengths using photo as a guide making sure that focal bead is positioned in the center

Attach tassel at end of length and join length to mandala using photo as a guide

Don’t you just love how your little mandala turned out? I love the tassels and the beads together, don’t you?

If you make this project, please send along a photo to [email protected] or tag me on Instagram (@celticknotcrochet) or use #celticknotcrochet. I would love to see what you make!

Here’s an image for your Pinterest board:

Happy crocheting!

Jennifer

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