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Easy DIY Fairy Garden
Do you love DIY fairy gardens? I've been loving the Michaels fairy garden aisle and all the fairy garden ideas on Pinterest, especially the ones with live plants. I haven't made a fairy garden with live plants because my cat thinks plants are toys. If you have an indoor kitty, then you know what I mean! That's why I made a moss DIY fairy garden using a Smoothfoam disc as a base. Skip the live plants, grab your glue gun, and let's get started:
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DIY Fairy Garden Supplies:
Gather these supplies to make your own DIY Fairy Garden without live plants. Yes, this one will be a-ok if you go on vacation *wink wink*!
- 6″ Smoothfoam disc
- Aleene’s Turbo Tacky Glue
- green acrylic paint
- foam paint brush
- reindeer moss
- lacquer mushroom picks – you can also get these in the Michaels dollhouse aisle
- sisal bottlebrush trees
- plastic ballerina
- nylon butterfly – find similar items in the Michaels fairy garden aisle
- hot glue gun
- wire cutters
- cake plate or pedestal to display it on
Want a GIANT DIY FAIRY GARDEN? Make your dining room table into a huge fairy garden with make over-sized mushrooms made from recycled plastic felt and old pillows: DIY Mushroom Fairy Garden Tablescape
Tips for making a fairy garden on the cheap:
Wanting fewer but more purposeful things in my life means that crafts supplies need to be “smart”. I love the idea of repurposing old things – fixing something that was broken, sourcing used supplies from the thrift shop instead of paying full price for new things, and even using items around the house to make a “new” project.
I staged this project on a broken cake plate that I glued together to hold craft supplies alongside my grandmother's collection of old pincushions. As I have gone through this transition where I am getting rid of things, it is even more important that the things I keep get used. Collections of things from my grandma or from trips or whatever are moved around and used as decorations around my house.
I have thought about making a pretty display of my great grandmother's antique tea cup collection on my mantle but then I remember that I have an 8 year old boy in the house and the sound of crashing and breaking might just be too much to bear. So I display the collections within reason. That tea cup collection will stay safely displayed in my curio cabinet until Matthew is, I don't know, 45 or something! LOL
Here are some tips for getting fairy garden supplies on the cheap!
- Look for items in the thrift shop in the toys area. Miniatures from doll houses work great!
- Check out the miniatures section, cake decorating area, and doll house section in the craft store for items. They're usually 10-20% cheaper than the same stuff in the “fairy garden” area. I got the ballerina on this piece in the cake decorating area and turned her into a “fairy” by gluing on some butterfly wings.
- Think about making some things yourself. I picked up a “fairy garden fence” at Joann's and it fell apart in my hands. It was just twigs twisted together with wire. You could totally make that for much less than the $10 they were charging for that fence.
- Look for Christmas ornaments and decor. The bottle brush trees I used were from my Christmas stash. You can bleach them and dye them fun colors for a really fun fairy garden!
- Instead of buying a fancy glass cloche, place your decorated fairy garden on a cake plate, like the one I have in the photo. I only use my cake plate a couple times a year – use the glass done from a cake plate or a cheese dome as a “cloche” for your fairy garden display.
- Wait until they go on sale. Most craft stores have fairy garden items so wait for a 40% off sale or buy items one by one with a coupon.
How to make an open air fairy garden:
Got leftover supplies? Make a beautiful flower crown with the leftover mushroom picks and flowers: DIY Flower Crown
The key to this fairy garden is the lightweight Smoothfoam disc base. It’s solid enough to provide enough surface area to glue the moss down, yet porous enough to allow the wire ends of flower and mushroom picks to be inserted with ease. Change out the elements seasonally without worrying about the base crumbling – the Smoothfoam base will stay intact for years.
I plan to make several more of these with larger and smaller sizes of Smoothfoam discs to decorate for a fairy garden tea party I plan on having this summer. Display them under fancy glass cloches, on top of cake plates, or even under glass cheese and cake domes for a fun look on a dining table or mantle. I've actually had this one in my kitchen on the bar top on our island for a couple of years … it's adds a pop of green without being another plant I need to water. Plus, the cat can't get on the counter 😉
Find even MORE fairy garden DIY ideas on our Pinterest Board here:
Have you created a fairy garden? Where do you display it?
PIN THIS IDEA:
About the Author
Jennifer Priest is a 20+ year designer in the arts & crafts industry and home DIYer with a passion for creativity. An Army veteran raised on a ranch, from her experience, she shares smart DIY projects that save money and fun craft ideas that anyone can make. Besides blogging, Jennifer is a Master Practitioner and Trainer of NLP, Hypnosis, and MER, and coaches other online entrepreneurs on money mindset, business, and living an intentional life. When not blogging, Jennifer is having adventures in the wilderness, on road trips, playing with her cats, and making paleo food.
I love fairy gardens!! This one is so neat, Jennifer. 🙂
-Katie
Thank you so much!
This is so adorable!! I want to make one!
That would be awesome!
This is so cute! I like the open air approach– it’s a fresh spin on it!
adorable!
Thank you!
This is precious!!
I love your fairy garden and my girls would enjoy helping me put one together! I was refraining from making one because I thought I’d kill all the plants. But I definitely think I can handle this one.
So cute! Who doesn’t love a fairy garden?!
Some of the stuff sold for fairy gardens can get really expensive, so these are great ideas for getting accessories cheaper. I will have to start looking in the toy section of thrift stores. And I love how you displayed your fairy garden on a cake stand. It’s lovely.
Thank you so much!