Mason Jar Fairy Garden Ideas - Ted Lare - Design & Build (2024)

Whether you’re an adult or have kids, miniature things spark the imagination in all of us. With miniature gardening, which has picked up traction in the last few years, you can bring tiny fantastical environments to life.

Some fairy gardens are based around decorations and creating a narrative scene, while mason jar fairy gardens actually create an isolated ecosystem that self-sustains. With a sealed jar, the moisture in the air circulates through normal environmental cycles.

Whether you’re looking for fun crafts with the kids or if you want a meditative project for your time off on the holidays, mason jar fairy gardens are a great idea to stoke your imagination.

What You Need:

• A preferred mason jar of choice Wide mouth mason jars will be easier to add things to, and the mason jar can be as big or as small as you’d like. Make sure it can seal fully for the self-sustaining effect.
• Gravel or small rocks to promote proper drainage and prevent waterlogging. You can choose whatever rocks best suit your garden idea, whether it be natural rocks or colorful fish tank pebbles!
• Dirt or planting soil which is suited to your plants of choice.
• Suitable plants for high humidity, such as ferns and moss. You can also include flowers, but they will eventually decompose into the environment.
• A lid, whether it’s a cork topper, a metal mason jar lid, or a piece of plastic wrap with a rubber band.
• Carbon or charcoal to purify the water as it cycles through. You can find and use activated charcoal from the pet store for this.
• Craft supplies! Whatever ideas you have for your mason jar garden, go for it! The garden concept is entirely up to you, whether that includes figurines, decorative rocks or crystals, small lights, etc.

How to Build Your Mason Jar Fairy Garden:

1. Start by boiling your mason jar to sanitize it and let it cool to room temperature.
2. Decide on your garden idea or theme and gather the necessary materials and decorations.
3. Add rocks to the bottom of the mason jar, followed by a bit of carbon, then the soil.
4. Add any ground coverage and plants you would like, making sure they are stable in the soil.
5. Add your decorations, using glue to anchor them if necessary.
6. Add a bit of water; the amount varies depending on how big your mason jar is. It should be enough to create humidity but not to have excess moisture sitting on the bottom.
7. Seal the mason jar tightly so that the water doesn’t evaporate and a little ecosystem is created.
8. Place in the sun and watch your garden ideas grow!

Garden Ideas:

Traditional Fairy Garden

Few things are cuter than little red cap mushrooms with tiny fairies and tiny wooden houses. If you love the traditional European fairy garden idea, you can buy or make miniatures to add a story and a bit of fantasy to your mason jar fairy garden. You could also add tiny garden gnomes!

Holiday Gardens

There is no limit to creativity! If you want to put a tiny nativity scene in your mason jar fairy garden, you can do that. If you want to suspend a flying Santa sleigh from the lid, you can do that, too. For Halloween, you can make a tiny Jack-o-lantern filled with a battery-operated candle or add little ghosts to the sides of the jar. For Easter, a little bunny figurine with tiny painted rocks to look like eggs would make an adorable decoration. Whatever ideas you have, you can include them in your garden.

Organic Garden

Nature is beautiful without decorations. If you want to keep your mason jar garden organic and green, focus on adding dimension and variety to your fairy garden: ferns for height, moss for texture, and twigs for structure. This idea will make your garden suitable for all seasons and is perfect for keeping some green growth around the house during the winter!

If you need plants for your garden or aren’t sure which tropical plants will grow well in a tiny space, and more!