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How to Make a Fairy Garden in Four Easy Steps!

Want to learn how to make a fairy garden the easy way? This DIY fairy house uses clay pots and takes only four steps! Click for the how-to.

Be sure to scroll down to the bottom of the post see a video of the same fairy garden technique on a birdhouse.

Skills Required: Beginner. All you need to be able to do is use a paintbrush, scissors, and glue to decorate a fairy house. Other fairy gardens are more involved, but I made this one simple for a reason!

DIY fairy house in a fairy garden

If you’ve ever wondered how to make a fairy garden the easiest way possible, then you’re going to love this project. Did I mention it’s probably one of the most budget friendly ways to make a fairy garden? I don’t know if you’ve looked at prices recently, but the supplies for a fairy house can add up quickly.

DIY Fairy Garden

This DIY fairy garden is nice because the base is clay pots – which are known for being inexpensive yet durable. In addition, I used some inexpensive wood pieces and paints from my stash to make my garden. You’re going to go through four steps to make this fun craft:

  1. Paint the Pots
  2. Paint the Wood Accessories
  3. Add the Moss
  4. Glue it All Together

So easy, even a kid can do it. In fact, I did the project with a child – my six year old niece. Now these awesome gnome houses are sitting right outside my front door!

Before we dive into the project, I wanted to go over some details for how to make a fairy garden. I know it seems like there’s not much to it, but here are the craft supplies I used and why so that you can achieve success! If you’re ready to just dive into the project, scroll down.

DIY fairy houses

Made Out of Clay Pots

The reason I selected clay pots for my DIY fairy garden is, first and foremost, I wanted something that could go outdoors. Clay pots are very durable, and I knew that they would hold up to the rainy weather of the Pacific Northwest (like my painted rocks!).

If you want your garden to stay outside most of the time, consider clay pots. Also consider drilling drainage holes in the clay pots if you get a lot of rain in your area.

Paint to Use

My DIY fairy garden is for the outdoors . . . if that’s the plan for yours as well, I recommend FolkArt Outdoor or FolkArt Multisurface. The Multisurface is my favorite paint of all time because of the colors and coverage! You’ll want to use a few coats of paint to completely cover the pot and saucers.

If your project is going inside, regular acrylic paint will work just fine. You can also use regular paint with an Outdoor sealer, but it will fade more quickly if it’s not outdoor rated.

Fairy House Accessories

I highly recommend using unfinished wood pieces as much as possible to save money on your DIY fairy garden. I got my pieces directly from Plaid, and they are no longer available. BUT you can find windows and doors on Amazon as well as eBay.

I rely on both Michaels and Dollar Tree these days (in addition to online) to get a lot of my fairy garden accessories. I have the Michaels app and I’m always looking for those coupons for purchase!

Mod Podge to Protect Your Fairy Garden

I wrote an entire post on how to protect a fairy garden – and I’ll give you the summary here. The secret is Outdoor Mod Podge! If your houses are going to be outside in all types of weather, read this article to learn more about Outdoor Mod Podge and what its abilities are.


Are you ready to get started on the project? Keep reading to learn how to make a fairy garden!

DIY Fairy House

Gather These Supplies

  • Clay pots – each fairy house requires one 10″ saucer, one 7″ saucer, and one 7″ pot (or sizes of your choosing)
  • Acrylic paint for outdoor use – colors of your choice
  • Mod Podge Outdoor
  • Unfinished wood accent pieces
  • Floral moss – can be adhesive or not
  • Wood slices in various sizes (optional)
  • Outdoor glue like E-6000
  • Paintbrushes
  • Spouncers (optional)
  • Gnomes, fairies, and other garden embellishments

Before beginning, make sure your terra cotta pots are clean and the labels are removed. You can use mild soap and water to clean a clay pot; just make sure it’s fully dry before painting.

Paint the lip of a clay pot

Start by painting the rim of your clay pot(s) with a few coats of acrylic paint. Let dry.

Paint the base of a clay pot

Choose another color and paint the base of your terra cotta pot. Don’t worry about the bottom of the pot; it won’t be seen.

Unfinished wood fairy house door and windows

Choose the unfinished wood pieces that you’d like to paint to decorate your house.

Painting fairy house doors

Paint the pieces with multisurface paint and let dry. These are going to look fantastic on a fairy house!

Turn a clay pot into a mushroom

Paint the saucers of your DIY fairy garden with whatever colors you like. I recommend painting the larger saucers green to match the moss. We turned the tops of the fairy houses into mushrooms by adding polka dots with a spouncer!

If you’ve never used a spouncer before, you simply place a bit of paint on the bottom. Then press straight down onto the surface to make a dot (practice before trying it on the pot). Use a flesh or white color for the dots if you do the mushroom design.

Finishing my fairy garden houses

Cut a piece of moss to fit the 10″ saucer. You can do this by tracing the bottom of the pot onto the back of the moss, if it’s a sheet. If you decide to use moss pieces, glue them down with a waterproof glue to cover the base.

Use E-6000 or another waterproof glue to attach the top of the fairy house to the bottom of the pot. Then place a ring of glue around the top of the clay pot and put it down on the base (into the moss). Let dry for several hours.

Adding a path to a gnome house

Add embellishments to your DIY fairy garden, like small wood circle steps. Add them with the waterproof glue. We also placed gnomes, but we didn’t glue them down because we want to be able to change those out to various animals, fairies, etc.

Fairy Houses

Give your houses a few coats of Outdoor Mod Podge (minus the pieces that will be moved). Let dry before placing your homes outside. In the corner of my yard near the front door I created my little fairy garden with a few houses and slices of wood. I love it!

DIY Fairy Garden
Yield: 2 fairy houses

Fairy House

DIY Fairy Garden

Want to learn how to make a fairy garden the easy way? This DIY fairy house uses clay pots and takes only four steps!

Prep Time 5 minutes
Active Time 35 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Difficulty Easy
Estimated Cost $20

Materials

  • Clay pots - each fairy house requires one 10" saucer, one 7" saucer, and one 7" pot (or sizes of your choosing)
  • Acrylic paint for outdoor use
  • Mod Podge Outdoor
  • Unfinished wood accent pieces
  • Floral moss
  • Wood slices in various sizes (optional)
  • E-6000
  • Gnomes, fairies, and other garden embellishments

Tools

  • Paintbrushes
  • Spouncers (optional)

Instructions

  1. Before beginning, make sure the terra cotta pots are clean and the labels are removed. Use mild soap and water to clean a clay pot; just make sure it's fully dry before painting.
  2. Start by painting the rim of the clay pot(s) with a few coats of acrylic paint. Let dry.
  3. Choose another color and paint the base of the pot. Don't worry about the bottom of the pot; it won't be seen.
  4. Paint any embellishments with acrylic paint and let dry.
  5. Paint the saucers of the pots with coordinating colors. I recommend painting the larger saucers green to match the moss. We turned the tops of the fairy houses into mushrooms by adding polka dots with a spouncer!
  6. Cut a piece of moss to fit the 10" saucer. Do this by tracing the bottom of the pot onto the back of the moss, if it's a sheet. If using moss pieces, glue them down with a waterproof glue to cover the base.
  7. Use E-6000 or another waterproof glue to attach the top of the fairy house to the bottom of the pot. Then place a ring of glue around the top of the clay pot and put it down on the base (into the moss). Let dry for several hours.
  8. Add embellishments like small wood circle steps with the waterproof glue. We also placed gnomes, but we didn't glue them down because we want to be able to change those out to various animals, fairies, etc.
  9. Give the houses a few coats of Outdoor Mod Podge (minus the pieces that will be moved). Let dry before placing outside.

Did You Make This Project?

Please leave a rating or share a photo on Pinterest!


Now that you know how to make a fairy garden that will 1) last outside for a long time and 2) be budget friendly, I’d love to know if you try it in the comments! This project is part of our garden crafts, spring crafts, summer crafts, cute things to paint, boredom busters, and clay pot painting and decorating posts. Take a peek at those for more ideas.

Also if you’re wanting to get a video of how to make a fairy garden house using a birdhouse (and some of the same wood pieces!). Just press “PLAY” in the center of the video in this post.

DIY Fairy Garden Web Story

Connie hudgel

Wednesday 12th of June 2019

I love love the lil clay pots for fairy gardens i have actually spent a fortune on fairy gardens i have four really big gardens but 1 is decor is frogs 1 is a campground for gnomes and 2 is fairies this makes the second year i have done it i love doing it and you're right it takes alot of and patience to get it done right

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