Just like the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree, all things need a little bit of love. The Peanuts Parade Figurine featuring Snoopy by Westland named “Dancing with Flowers” arrived in the mail with a broken flower. After closer examination, I saw he also had previous damage including two broken ears, a broken flower and a fracturing neck. What’s a Peanuts fan to do? Give him a new garden to enjoy!
The Vision
I originally wanted a fish bowl like terrarium for him. However, I also didn’t want to spend a lot of money on this project. I was limited to what I could find in thrift stores, and the fish bowl pickings were small. Plan B was just the right glass bowl for a layered substrate and a spacious garden. Luckily, I found just the right plan B and a container of decorative stones, too.
Snoopy was going to need more flowers in his garden. I wanted it to feel less like a sculpture in the middle of greenery and more like a fuller garden. I weighed my many options for creating the garden and decided for accuracy to sculpt my own accessories. I used Sculpey polymer clay and painted it with cheap acrylic paint. I used an outdoor, clear stain spray varnish to seal in the Sculpey figures and the Snoopy figurine.
Beyond this, I did have bigger plans for this garden. I wanted a fence with little LED lights strung up along it. Dollar Tree did not have the cheap lights I needed, unfortunately. Plus, Snoopy needed a friend in Woodstock. Molly, unfortunately, ate the Woodstock I sculpted. I decided to move forward without him for now. Perhaps we’ll need to have a “It’s Snoopy’s Garden time again, Charlie Brown.”
Planting Snoopy’s Garden
In an effort to keep costs down, I decided to use whatever plants I could find around the house. The hens & chicks from my garden work well as a houseplant, too. Plus, that garden has some sort of succulent ground cover that I’ve had luck with indoors. It grows long fronds that will provide some wildness with it’s reddish foliage. Years ago, I got one snake plant and it has multiplied many times and it stays nice and short. A few needed repotting, so into the planter they go! Finally, I grabbed some moss from my garden. While it might not be the right partner for all these succulents, I’ll give it a try.
Time will tell if I have a green thumb with this planter or not. I gave the plants enough room to grow a little over the coming months. If everything succeeds, I’ll have to check the plants next Spring to see if they need splitting into another vessel.
The bottom layer of the planter is clay balls. They’ll retain water for roots that grow deep in the coming months. Above the clay balls is landscape fabric to retain the soil layers. For soil, I used regular potting soil with some extra peat moss.
Designing the landscape
Snoopy’s garden will mostly be viewed from the front and sides. I layered the taller plants in the back, shorter in the front. The pebble path helps make Snoopy look like he’s just dancing along in his garden and draws the eye around the various features.
What really makes the scene come alive are the sculpted flowers, bugs and mushrooms! Not only do they blur the lines of the figurine, it gives a lot of visual interest around Snoopy’s garden. Overall, I’m so pleased that all the time and planning turned into such a beautiful scene to enjoy daily!
Inspired?
If you’d like to support this site while buying supplies for your project, check out this supply list I made on Amazon for your convenience. Includes some substitutes for items I thrifted. Your purchase through our links earns us a small commission. Thank you!
Some tips on sculpting if you’re going that route… Butterflies are super difficult to sculpt! Ball daisies and mushrooms are a breeze. Don’t get me started on how tricky Woodstock’s feathered mohawk is! If you’d like to see a tutorial video, please let me, Caren, know at info@collectpeanuts.com.
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