Dress up your garden with a touch of whimsy by adding a fairy house. I'll show you how to make your own step-by-step with items laying around.
A well-kept flower bed is already attractive enough on its own, sure, but one with a fairy house is downright adorable. Especially a fairy house that is homemade. There is something fascinating about them. When you see one, it automatically sparks the imagination. They are surprisingly easy to make too, with things you have laying around or in nature. Whether you want to add just one or start a fairy garden of your own, it's an excellent hobby that can add lightness to your spirit. This is a fun craft idea if you have children, or if you are young at heart.
Faeries, Fairies, Gnomes, Trolls, Dwarfs, & Pixies
"If you build it, they will come"
There are many creatures living in the wild, you see. Some are friendly and some are mischievous. However, if you wish to attract any of them to your garden area, you'll first need to make a desirable place for them to dwell. I have been working on my fairy garden for a while. It has been a relaxing, ongoing activity. If you want to get the most out of your fairy garden, you should take it slow and add a little at a time, here and there. To me, the enjoyment is in the doing of it. I don't feel like I would get as much out of it if I have everything in place all at once. At that point, it is finished and the fun is short-lived. Building on it little by little can be a hobby that can last far longer.
Choosing a spot
If you wish to add a single house; a flower bed, under a tree, or on your porch are ideal spots. Also, consider the weather in your area. The style of house you make (or buy) will need to be able to hold up under rain and snow. I have an area in my backyard where we used to have a woodshed years ago. The woodshed has been since torn down but the location is under the canopy of a couple of trees that offer some protection from the elements. Even if you don't have a place like that, you can always bring them inside if you need to, or cover them during harsh weather.
What to use
Fairy houses or towers can be made out of anything just use your imagination. The only rule is not to destroy anything living in order to do so. Some ideas include; wood, stumps, cartons, pine cones, bark, sticks, and rocks. The fairy house I made didn't cost me a dime but if you don't already have craft supplies on hand, you may need to acquire a few things in order to accomplish this. Here are step-by-step instructions on how to make simple a fairy tower. Use your imagination, if you don't have these exact items, use what you have and modify it to suit your needs. You can build this exactly or take the basic outline and come up with something completely different. The ideas are endless.
Materials needed
1 empty half-gallon of coffee creamer container
A hot glue gun and a supply of glue sticks
Small pebbles
Utility scissors - ideal for cutting popsicle sticks, small twigs, pine cones, and thin tin
Pine cones
Popsicle sticks
A small stick
Outdoor acrylic paint and a small brush
2 Bottle caps
2 Acorns
1 BB
1 Small piece of tin
A bowl of water
Paper towels
Caulk gun and caulk
Let's get started
I had just finished off a half-gallon jug of coffee creamer and started to toss it in the recycle bin but I thought it's a pretty good size and shape for a fairy tower, So, I set it aside, and the next rainy day I decided I would see what I could do with it. First, the label needed to come off, easy enough to do with scissors. With that done, decide the placement of a door and windows. The windows needed a little something so, I added a cross-section in the center of the windows. You'll see that in the next set of photos when I began to paint. Hold them in place while they dry, especially on the curved portions of the container. The glue dries pretty quickly.
I took four popsicle sticks and cut them to size. Making the center one a little taller, the next ones, slightly shorter, and finally the outer two shorter still. Giving the appearance of being rounded off. I chose a 'front' for the tower and glued the popsicle sticks in place. I decided I would put a smaller window above the door and a larger one on the backside. Finding a small stick outside, I cut it to size and glued it in place, in the fashion of a window (as shown). * Please be very careful when using a glue gun. They get very hot! I managed to get a second-degree burn when the glue dripped onto my finger. Don't let this deter you, just be mindful of what you are doing.
Next, take some paint and a small brush and paint the door and windows. For the door, I used brown and a thin line of black in between the popsicle sticks to give it a realistic look and glued a bb very carefully for a doorknob. I used yellow and orange paint for the windows. This gives the appearance of candlelight. Using orange sparingly around the outsides and more yellow for the inside.
Don't worry about getting the paint on the container, it'll be hidden once you cover it. You just don't want it on anything that will be showing. Even so, it's an easy fix. If you get paint on the sticks, just paint over it with a little brown. It's all good. Now, we need to cover the container with stone. I have a sack of pebbles I use for my flower bed, I used those. There are no rules here, you can use any small rocks or bark, whatever your imagination comes up with will be fine. I glued the rocks in place all over the whole thing. I used the smaller ones around the windows and door. I even found a small, reddish one that was somewhat flat to serve as a window sill for the backside window. Rocks are an ideal choice for this because once they are added, it gives the whole thing some weight. This will keep the wind from blowing it over when you set it outside.
Look at that! It's starting to take shape; the fairies will love it, I just know it. It looks fine as it is but I felt it would need a roof. The shape of this thing had me stumped for how to do it and web searches weren't much help. The top portion is slimmer and curves outward midway down. I had no idea what to do about a roof. At first, I thought I would use another container, maybe a funnel, or a terracotta pot. Nothing seemed to work out right, perhaps I was overthinking it. I decided I would just make one with the popsicle sticks. I started with a basic triangular frame and went from there. As you can see (below) I doubled up the popsicle sticks to fashion 3-dimensional triangular frame. This made it sturdier and also gave more surface space to glue the sticks to. I used the full length of the popsicle sticks. For the side portion, I cut them to size. Keep in mind, it doesn't need to be perfect. Once they are painted and the 'shingles' are added, slight imperfections won't be noticeable.
After I had it together, I painted the whole thing brown (except for the bottom) and let it dry. I left the bottom for last so it wouldn't stick to the paper towel I had it sitting on. For the chimney, see what you have around. Pebbles or a small piece of pipe are good choices. I found a small piece of thin tin that the workers that replaced my roof had left behind. I cut off a small, rectangular piece and using my scissors, folded it into a cube shape. I set in on the roof to gauge how it would fit on the slanted roof, then I unrolled it a little and cut a small piece off one side so that it would sit flat, yet point upward as a chimney should. Then I rolled it back into a cube, and glued it together and held it together with the scissors to dry. Then I glued it onto the roof.
Now for the shingles. I had some leftover cinnamon-scented pine cones from our Christmas decorations. So, I allowed I would use those. Breaking the petals off was easier said than done. These were pretty sturdy little buggers. Not to mention the little barb on the end, be careful not to stick yourself. You may need to trim some of them with the scissors. I broke off several and glued them all around. Start at the base of the roof and glue them upward so each row overlaps.
You can add them all the way around if you want. I only added shingles to the slanted sides of the roof leaving the ends bare. I was thinking I would add a smaller, upstairs window, or decoration of some sort. I went through my collection of bottle caps I keep for random projects and found a couple for 'Frosty Root beer'. Ah, this will be 'Frosty's Tavern'. So, I glued one on each side, right in the center. I learned from experience that bottle caps don't glue down easily, so I cut about four small pieces of popsicle sticks and glued two inside of both caps. This gave me something more stable to secure it to the roof.
Now, I painted the bottom of the roof and found a place to rest it to dry.
I felt like the rocks may need a little extra protection since it will be outside in the weather. I fetched my caulk gun and caulk. This will also give the appearance of mortar for the rocks. It is messy so have a bowl of water and paper towels handy. I caulked the rocks all over and let it dry a little, trying mostly to get it in the crevices and gaps. Then I took a wet paper towel and wiped off the excess. Keep in mind, if you get it on the door or windows, which I did, it wipes off easy and you can paint over it where needed.
All that's left now is to place the onto the tower. Another good reason to double-up the frame because this made it a sturdy fit. Just line it up to your door with the shingled sections on the sides, making sure it is straight and carefully set it down. If you have glued it well enough, you should be able to slightly spread it with a little force without breaking it. Viewing the slideshow below, you'll see that I added an additional row of popsicle sticks to the bottom of the roof. My first attempt was a little too short for the curve where the jug expands, making the roof appear to small. It was an easy fix, just four more popsicle sticks, some paint, and pine cone petals. No biggie. I also found a couple of acorns to add to the front. I painted them orange and yellow to give the appearance of lights above the door. The chimney also needed a coat of black paint. Now, we're good to go. I set it next to a paper towel roll so you can get an idea of the size.
How cute is that? Pretty freaking adorable in my opinion. I found an ideal spot for it in my fairy garden. In doing so, I discovered a small piece of glass and set it under the door then I made a little rock path and added a couple of toad stools and some glow-in-the-dark pebbles. All ready for a little faerie, pixie, or gnome to move in.
As a cute little addition, I also made a 'Neighborhood Watch' sign to let any mystical creatures know that this land is occupied so they can be aware there is a potential danger lurking about. Danger being my cat Buster. He has been known to find fairies quite tasty. I uploaded a photo of him to Word, added the 'neighborhood watch' phrase and printed it in the size I wanted. Then I cut a popsicle stick into a couple small rectangles to the size of the photo and glued them together. I then glued the sign portion to a popsicle stick and painted it brown. After that dried, I used outdoor mod podge to secure the picture to the popsicle stick sign with a few generous coats. Don't worry if you haven't done this before, mod podge dries clear. Also, if you use outdoor mod podge, it isn't fully water resistant, you'll need to place the items where they won't get the brunt of rain.
Check it out!
This is one activity that I really hope you will try. It's so easy and much more affordable than buying fairy houses. I have bought a few cute ones, when I can catch them on sale, that is. It's kind of hard to pass them up. Though, there is a certain amount of satisfaction that comes with making your own little houses. It's an enjoyable, relaxing activity. A great way to spend a rainy day either by yourself or with a friend. Take your flower bed to the next level by adding a touch of whimsy.
Take care folks, and thanks for reading!