Wow!  There were many fantastic things that came out of this Crochet-A-Long experience, and not just the fabulous custom fairy gardens that each person made!  There were a lot of patterns created along the way, a lot of links shared, a lot of inspiration to fellow crocheters, and a load of smiles!  I hope everyone has enjoyed the experience as much as I have.  And although it is officially a completed CAL, there are still some people who are working on their gardens or who may start one in the near future.  No matter where you are in the process or if you are even IN the process, I’d like to share some links here just because they are so inspirational.

Alice Bakker’s fairy garden – even a video of her fabulous enchanted tree!!!  So awesome!

Ellen Hartmeijer’s adorable fairy!

Rhonda’s fairy garden that includes a two-story fairy home!

Liz’s incredible fairy garden and her adorable fairy which is now available as a very affordable pattern on Craftsy!

She’s not in a garden but fairy fans will love this fairy by Dee of Off d’ Hook Creations!

There are other photos in my facebook album too.

There are so many others that were involved and still are working on their gardens that I’d love it if they would like to share links in the comments!

I’ve learned many things during this CAL since it was my first.  And I’d like to share what I’ve learned so we can have even better CALs in the future!

#1 Thing Learned – A LOT more people love fairies than I could have imagined.  LOL.  People seemed to come out of the woodwork for this project and it was really awesome to see!

#2 Thing Learned – Because so many people were interested, it was very difficult for me to keep track of all the projects going on and I am sure I missed some things and links along the way.  If I missed posting something of yours, it was unintentional and I apologize.  I learned that bouncing from blog to facebook page was probably not the best way to keep the CAL organized.  However, I have since learned about this interesting feature on Facebook called “Groups.”  It’s a wonderful way to share links and photos with each other that each person can post to instead of relying on my own brain to remember things and so I am thinking that future CALs will be organized into a group on facebook!  I got way too excited about this CAL and totally didn’t think of it before.  ::headdesk::

#3 Thing Learned – No matter what size container you start with, it will never be big enough to hold all the things you want to make for your scene.  No matter what size your house is, you WILL fill every room with cute CAL related stuff if someone doesn’t stop you.  LOL.  There were so many wonderful things that I wanted to include – ladybugs, mushrooms, a lily of the valley, a snail, etc.  And as hard as it was, I had to hold back and decide against some of the items because my scene was going to get too crowded.  I had to keep reminding myself that I did not have to make every project, just pick and choose the ones that were really important.  I do think my fairy still needs a little creature friend and I may still add one, but it will have to be small – perhaps a ladybug.

#4 Thing Learned – There is never enough time to make all the things you want to include in your scene.  Each week was flying by and though the projects were small, I had way too much fun trying different patterns and deciding how my scene should look.

#5 Thing Learned – Some of you did not let #3 Thing Learned or #4 Thing Learned stop you in the least.  LOL.  And I’m truly glad of this because some of the creatures, trees, and fairies that came out of this were way too adorable and I loved seeing your gardens grow!

#6 Thing Learned – Really, I already knew this but it is just reinforced by this experience – necessity is the mother of invention!  Some of you wanted a snail, so you created a snail.  Some of you wanted an insect, so you created one.  Some of you wanted cool enchanted trees, so you designed them!  I know I wanted a posable fairy so I came up with the humanoid pattern.  Thanks to everyone who shared their designs either in pattern form or just in photo inspiration form.  It was really neat to see the new designs that came out of this project.

#7 Thing Learned – It’s been a fun ride and I want to do it again!  I’m thinking we take a little break and then clear out our containers and start all over again with a different theme in March or April.  Same idea of a small complete project every week as part of a bigger scene.  But this time it will be better organized in a Facebook Group.  Anyone with me?  :D