What do you do when you can't garden outside?

Last year when I had extreme cabin fever, my daughter, Aunt, and I took a trip to Watson's Greenhouse in Lafayette, NY  http://www.watsongreenhouse.com
It was a wonderful afternoon spent wandering around their lush plants. One of their specialties are fairy gardens. I fell in love with them!  My daughter and I purchased a few small plants and then found some old wash basins at an antique store. Picked up some potting soil and started creating our own indoor fairy gardens.

This is my daughter's garden. We picked up small items at a craft store and I went through my craft supplies to see what we could use. She used broken tiles for the path, made a birdhouse out of heavy paper, and we each made a birdbath out of some wooden shapes I had. Our arbors are made out of redwood twigs. The fairies were purchased at a dollar store. Do you see her cat near her wood pile? It looks just like her calico cat. (who, by the way, loves to get into her fairy garden. I think a barbed wire fence needs to be put up.) Notice the little red wagon - very cute!

This is my garden. Instead of a wagon, I bought a wheelbarrow. I smashed a blue marble and glued the pieces in the birdbath to look like water (if you do this, put on safety goggles, put the marble in a heavy duty plastic bag, wrap it in a towel and then hit it with a hammer. I suggest doing it outside on something hard.) My path is made with colored stones found at a dollar store. I rimmed my garden with Spanish moss. My wreath is artemisia. My black & white cat doesn't show up very well, he's sleeping next to the picket fence.

Some of our plants didn't do very well and we've replaced them with others. I now have a miniature fushia in mine. It grows great, but hasn't flowered lately. If I wanted to spend the money on a miniature African violet or a miniature hosta - they would look great too. Depending on where you live, you will have access to different small plants. Watson's sells many Alpine plants that they use in their gardens. Many of their gardens are made in wooden boxes.
When you get that urge to garden and your yard will be covered in snow for the next 4 months, start a miniature garden indoors.