How To Make A Fairy Garden

How To Make A Fairy Garden: which plants to use, how to make a fairy garden house, DIY fairy arbour, mailbox and DIY fairy accessories and decor.

It’s that time of the year again, where my mind starts thinking about fairies and building little fairy gardens. It’s becoming a bit of a tradition for my girls and I to make them each spring -see last year’s here, and here, and the year before that here.  Today I’m sharing how to make a fairy garden.

How To Make A Fairy Garden House

I usually start out with little dollar store bird houses, and make a few minor adjustments to make them into the perfect little houses for fairies.

Start by using a little saw to cut off the perch.  Then use your saw to cut off the end of a regular old paint stick to make a door.  Attach the door with a little finishing nail.  Leave the nail sticking out a little for the perfect door knob.

Then we usually paint them in pretty colours and add a little glitter here and there for a the perfect fairy touch.

Pinecone Fairy House

This year I wanted to change it up a little and I’ve added a few more fun details to the house construction. I may or may not have watched a few too many Tinker Bell movies over the last few years, and I found myself thinking “what would the fairies use”? They seem to use anything they can find -at least in the movies, so I incorporated a few things they might have on hand too.

The first house I made this year has a pine cone shingle roof. I just bent little pieces of pinecone off with my fingers, and hot glued them in an overlapping shingle style to the roof. Afterward I gave it a coat of glitter paint for a little fairy sparkle.

The finishing touch was a front door made of twigs with a tiny little rock handle glued on.

Birch Bark Fairy House

For the second one, I made some sweet little shingles out of some birch bark, trying to alternate colours and textures for a little variation. The door of this one is another piece of birch bark. It’s really easy to work with, and all attached with hot glue, and finished with some glitter paint.

Seed Package Fairy House

The third one might be my very favourite, with three sides of it covered in a seed package. I just trimmed them to size and modge-podged them on. This one has a full glitter roof too.

Fairy Garden Containers and Plants

After the houses were made it was time to place them into the gardens. I like using old galvanized steel, and enamel ware containers I’ve picked up mostly at antique shows. Just make sure to add some holes with a nail and hammer first for drainage.

I’ve used some sweet little annuls in my gardens this year -just try and pick flowers with smallish blooms, and remember they’ll grow, so give them some room, and be sure to leave space for the houses and accessories too.

After the plants are in, I like to add moss to mine to make the fairies yard. I just dug up some from a shady spot in our side yard where it was growing.

Fairy Garden Decor

Then it’s time to add your houses, and pathways, and fun little accessories. I used some that I already had from other years, and added a few new ones too.

I was so pleased to see that Michaels is carrying some miniatures now. We found this cute wagon and mushrooms there.

I also found this little mailbox there too.

And, every busy fairy household needs a clothesline for the washing.

DIY Fairy Garden Arbour

I came up with a few new accessories too. I made this sweet little arbour by hot gluing a few twigs together, I think it makes a sweet garden entrance.

Tea Party for the Fairies

The arbour made the perfect entrance to a little tea party in the garden.

I made the cupcakes last year out of some polymer clay -see a tutorial on how to make miniature polymer clay cupcakes here.  They really held up great…makes me think about what else I could make.

The china tea set is from a miniature doll house store, I’ve had it out for three years now and it still looks great.

The table is a new addition from a local nursery selling some garden furniture this year, and what better seats than a couple of thimbles.

DIY Fairy Garden Mailbox

The shell mail box is new too. I used a sea shell, and added the flag with a little piece of birch bark, coloured red with a sharpie and hammered in place with a little finishing nail. If the flags up -you’ve got mail!

Fairy Garden House Number

And, every house needs a little house number so your friends can find you when they drop by.

I love making these little gardens and using them in pots along with some other flowers on my deck.

You might have noticed the black cords too, it’s an irrigation system -read how we installed it here, that is on a timer, and will hopefully mean that it’s impossible for me to forget to water these.

Last year, the system accidentally got turned off at one point.  So this year I’ll be taking extra precautions to make sure that doesn’t happen again. I’ll keep you posted on their progress as they grow.  And of course we’ll be keeping our eyes peeled for fairies too. 😉

With miniature fairy gardens, life really is a party!

You might also like our DIY Fairy Garden Gazebo post here.

Also check out How To Make A Fairy House here.

You might also enjoy our Camping Fairy Garden here.