Fairy gardens are all the rage lately. Blogs, Pinterest and magazines abound with ideas for these miniature living spaces meant to attract fairies. Planting a tiny garden can be a magical experience for kids of all ages (and their parents!). Although an internet search will reveal some very elaborate garden ideas, here is a tutorial for your own simple project. Of course, you can add as much detail as you like. Besides, who knows what decorating ideas the fairies will have?
Choose your planter - This can be anything from a large plant saucer to a basket lined with plastic. It should be at least a couple of inches deep and wide enough to put your fairy house, pathway and a few plants.
Purchase plants - Cruise your local nursery for plants in miniature. Plants labeled as ‘groundcover’ will work best. Because you are creating a tiny garden, most four-inch pots of greenery will yield four separate plants, so keep that in mind when buying. Moss, ferns and grasses are cute for a fairy garden. Be sure to pick a variety of heights and textures to add interest to your landscape. While in the garden section, grab a bag of potting soil and also a bag of gravel. The gravel will provide drainage and can also be used to create the pathways.
Find or buy accessories - For the fairy’s abode, you can create a house from a recycled yogurt container (instructions below). You could also purchase a home for your fairy, anything from one of the tiny castles meant for aquariums to a wooden birdhouse from the craft store. Use your imagination!
The fairy will need a path to lead them home. You can use colorful rocks meant for fish bowls, decorative stones or even tiny ceramic tiles instead of plain gravel for your fairy’s path.
If you would like a pond, a small scallop seashell is the per-fect size. A fancy soap dish or candle holder works as well.
Next, look around the yard and house for other items to add. Small rocks can be fairy seats, and a sprig of pine becomes a tree.
If you don’t find everything you need in nature, check the craft store for unfinished wooden furniture meant for dollhouses. Tiny flags and picket fences are great additions, and miniature wooden spools combined with wood circles can be used as a table and chairs.
Create your fairy garden - Prepare your garden by lining your planter with gravel if it does not contain drainage holes, and then add potting soil.
Since everything in your garden will be in miniature, it’s a good idea to divide your plants. Simply remove them from the plastic pots, and then use a sharp knife to divide each one into quarters.
Next, you will lay out your landscape. First, decide where you would like the house and place it in the planter. Set the plants on top of the potting soil, along with any accessories. Rearrange everything until you have it just right. Once you have a sense of the layout, remove everything from the garden and set aside.
Now you can put in the garden. Plant the greenery and then water lightly. After the plants are watered, add the house and create a path to the front door. Last, put in your other accessories.
Once finished, you should have a perfect world for a fairy to visit or even move into! After all, if you build it, they will come.
Make a fairy house from a recycled yogurt container
Take a clean, dry, individual yogurt container and turn it upside down. Use scissors to cut a small hole for a doorway. Then, cover the outside of the container with artificial moss sheets (found in craft stores in the artificial plant section), which you have cut to size. Cut an additional piece of moss and glue it on the inside of the container, opposite the doorway, so that when you look inside the fairy house door, it will look like the inside is made of moss as well. Top off your house with a real or artificial flower for a roof. Simply choose a blossom that is slightly larger than the roof of the house. Snip off the stem with scissors or wire cutters, leaving about an inch of stem. Then, use a hot glue gun to attach the flower upside down on top of your house.
Tiffany is a freelance writer, and the mother of three children. They have planted fairy gardens, but haven’t had any fairies visit - yet.
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