Make a Fairy Garden - from the furniture to the fairies! (2024)

My kids wanted to make a fairy garden so I thought I'd try it by makingall the accessories instead of buying them. Actually, theoriginal idea of a fairy garden came from my friend Heather.She told me her daughters have a fairy garden and just love tending tothe plants and adding new furniture and lawn ornaments to thegarden.

The idea was new to me, so I asked hertoexplain. I wasn't exactly sure what a "fairy garden"was. She explained thatit is a small area in their backyard where her girls add small plantsand have added tiny furniture and lawn ornaments for fairies. A quickimage search on Google showed me lots of photos and I quicklygot the idea. I asked Heather about the fairies, and she told me thatsince her garden is outside, the fairies are all the butterflies anddragonflies that come visit the garden. Isn't that supercute? I thought it was such a nice idea, and a funway to introduce your children to gardening.

We have a lot ofdeer in our backyard, so I knew we would have to set up our fairygarden in some type of container or planter. And of course, Iknew I wanted to make the house and furniture, although you can buy allthe accessories you may need.

In this article, I explain how we set upthefairy garden and how we made the fairy garden house, the walkway, afence, an Adirondack chair, and the fairies themselves. I'veincluded links below to jump around on the page if you are onlyinterested in certain directions.

I have really enjoyed makingthis andmy daughters have enjoyed taking good care of the garden. Itis so fun watching them play with it. They even put theirlittle Lego guys in the garden or other figurines!

Did you make a fairy garden? If so, I welcome you to post your picturesby clicking here.It would be wonderful to see all your gardensand miniatures! If you also have suggestions on other ways tomakeaccessories I'd love to hear. For instance, Heather's gardenhas a tiny gazing ball, which is a pretty marble!

Instructions to Make a Fairy Garden

1. If you wish to make a fairy garden in a container, take some timeto figure out what type of container to use. Many people usealarge decorative pot. You can also buy special tray at some garden stores, that are made just for the purpose of creating fairy gardens. I went a very inexpensive route. Ipicked up this plastic planter dish at Lowe's for $1.77. Itismeant to be a drip tray to go under your potted plants. Thisworked great, although you will need some reinforcement underneath itto move it, since it gets heavier with soil. I used acardboarddisc from a pizza (or a round pizza cookie sheet works well too). Youmay wish to poke some holes in the bottom for drainage. I did not dothis, but I am careful to water sparingly and tomist my plants as opposed to giving them tons of water.

2. Go to the nursery and buy some small garden plants. If you tell theemployees that you want to make a fairygarden you may find that they have a whole section ofplants devoted just to fairy gardening. Succulents workgreat, andthey require little maintenance and water. I used thefollowingplants: Ivy spearpoint (Hedera helix), Hypoestes, and a succulent (notsure of the formal name) . Note: The clover plant shown onthe right(Blue Star Creeper, Isotoma fluviatus) didn't survive the transplantwell, but all the other plants workedgreat and are thriving.

3. Add potting soil to the container you bought and plantyourgarden. Be sure to leave room for a fairy house and otherfurniture.

Making a Fairy House

4. To make the house, I used a bag of stones I bought at thegarden store. Most of the stones were about the size of aquarter. If you are going to put your fairy garden outside, it is important to use a strong, waterproof glue. A two-part epoxy or E6000 adhesive works well. I glued the rocks in a square shapeandbuilt the house. I then built up the front and back of the house in atriangle to support a roof. I left an open space for a frontdoor.

5. To the make the roof, I used small wooden craft sticks. I foundthese sticks to be very easy to work with since youcaneasily cut the sticks to the length you need with scissors. Again, anadult should do these steps, but I think you willfindthat your kids will love watching! Lay them side by sideuntilyou have enough sticks to fit the length of the house. Securethem together by gluing on a stick horizontally, as shown.

6. Attach the roof to the house by gluing it to at the peak, and to any stones it may touch of the sides. Don'tworry if you have some gaps in the house between thewallsand the roof, we'll fix that later.

7. Paint the roof dark brown or any color of your choice. This is a funstep for children to help with.

8. When the roof is dry, you can use smaller stones to fillinany gaps you may see. Apply some glue to thesmallstones, and then you can pick them up with a pair of tweezers to place them if you need to.

9. I added a bit of sheet moss to the roof. I justpulled some off of the sheet moss and glued it on.

10. To make a door, once again gather some small wooden craftsticks and place them side by side. I wanted my door to haveacurved top so I staggered the sticks as shown. Once again, Iheldthem all together by gluing a craft stick (which had been cut to lengthwith scissors) horizontally across all the sticks. Once dry,thebottom was cut off blunt to make the door the proper height.

11. The door was painted and a small pebble was glued on as adoor knob. I then glued the door on the house, and filled inanygaps between the house and the door with small stones. Lastly, give your house a few coats of acrylic sealing spray.

Making the Walkway

12. The walkway was fun andeasy to make, and isa goodstep for children to do. Pour some gravel in a pathwayleading upto the house. The gravel pathway can then be lined withlargerstones on either side.

Making the Fence

13. The fence was made by sticking small woodencraft sticks next the pathway as posts.

14. To make the cross beams, cut the wooden crafts stickswithscissors to the proper length. Using a strong glue, securethepieces between each post.

Making an Adirondack Chair

15. The Adirondack chair ismade using the smallwoodencraft sticks. Cut two of the sticks in half, and place thefourpieces side by side. Secure them with two horizontal craftstickglued across the edges (this photo is not shown, but you can see it inthe photo on step 16). This is the chair seat.

16. To make the chair back, line up four sticks, but staggertheends to create a curved top, as shown. Secure them with ahorizontal craft stick glued across them. Once dry, you cancutoff the bottom to make it flush (photo not shown). Using strong glue, secure the chair back to the chair seat, making sure thechair back is leaning back at an angle.

17. Cut another wooden stick to length and glue it the backofthe chair and reaching the bottom. Use the photos asguidance. Do this for both sides.

18. Create arms of the chairs by gluing a wooden craft stick(cutto length) from the chair back to the front. You can only useonedrop of glue at the base of the stick for this step, but the arms willbe supported in the front at the next step.

19. Glue on two more sticks, cut to length, supporting thearmsof the chair and reaching the ground. These are the frontchairlegs.

20. Paint the chair the color of your choice, or leave itnatural. I chose a light brown. Give it a few coats of acrylic sealing spray, especially if it will be used outside.

Making Polymer Clay Fairies

20. These polymer clay fairies were quite easy to make, buttheidea was not by own. I am going to refer you to a wonderfulsitethat takes you through the step by step directions on how to make theselittle beauties. You will need translucent polymer clay to create the gorgeous wings on these fairies. Please visit Polymer Clay Centralforthe tutorial.

Photos From Others

Fairy Gardens by Dayna from California:

Aren't these so creative? These are from Dayna in California andeverything you see is handmade. Thank you Dayna for sharing yourfairy gardens with us!

Here's a fairy garden from Clarette in South Africa. She created a river using blue glass stones and even made the little fishing rod! She adorned this with petite succulents. Thank you for sharing your photo with us Clarette!