You will need:
A garden pot, potting mix, plants
An old/cheap oil burner, with tea light
Small bowl (for toadstool roof)
Spray primer paint in white
A small medicine cup, or similar
A small lid (water bottle cap) and wire (a paper clip will do), for bucket
Red and black paint
An artist’s paintbrush
5 popsicle sticks, rectangular dish (like a takeaway container), paper towels
Red and black permanent markers
Scissors/secateurs
Glue gun
A small bead
15mm piece of dowel
Walnut shell and thick twig, for letterbox
Small stones
Plus whatever you fancy for styling (we used a frog ornament)
Method
Step 1: Clean oil burner and small bowl, then spray with primer. Also spray primer on the medicine cup and lid. Wait half an hour, then do a second coat. Leave to dry for about an hour.
Step 2: To make a wash for your fairy-house door, put a dab of black paint in the bottom of the rectangular dish, add water and mix well. Throw your popsicle sticks in to soak.
Step 3: Once your painted bowl is dry, draw outlines of spots on it with the red marker. Paint in areas that aren’t spots with red paint – we did two thin coats. Leave to dry after each coat.
Step 4: Remove popsicle sticks from the paint bath – if you are happy with the colour, leave to dry on some paper towels. If you’d like a darker door, leave to soak for longer. When all pieces are dry, hold the sticks up to the front of your painted oil burner and mark where you need to cut them to cover the hole to make a door. Secateurs are good if you have them, but sharp scissors will work too. Glue sticks into place, then glue on a bead doorknob.
Step 5: Glue the medicine cup upside down on top of your oil burner to give your house ‘roof’ a bit of height, then glue the bowl on top of that.
Step 6: Fill the garden pot with potting mix, decide how you want to arrange the house and flowers, then plant your plants.
Step 7: Cut a small piece of the tealight candle case to make a little flag for your letterbox, and another piece for the tiny trowel. This is soft foil and can be cut easily with scissors. Colour the tip of the flag with the red marker. Colour the spray-painted lid with the black marker pen to make a bucket. Use pliers to shape the wire into a handle and glue to bucket.
Step 8: Colour the dowel red with the marker pen to make the trowel handle. Fold along the centre of the foil piece to shape the trowel. Glue this to its handle. The letterbox is a walnut shell glued onto a thick twig, which is pushed into the soil. Glue the flag to the shell. Lay a stone path from the letterbox to the house. We added a small ceramic frog, but feel free to get creative. Dolls’ shoes at the doorstep would look just like they belong to a fairy.
Tip: Your fairy garden can be as simple or elaborate as you like. If it’s going to live outside, though, make sure you don’t use paper or anything else that will not withstand the elements.
Photos: Kelly Vize
