Rejuvenate the garden you’ve built with your kids by building your very own fairy garden. The beauty and whimsy of fairy gardens provide a bit of wonderment and fantasy to any yard or house. It is also a great way to spend time with your children while getting them outside and their creative juices flowing. But you don’t have to break the bank to make one of these whimsical creations. Instead, here are five ways to make a budget-friendly fairy garden for you and your kids to enjoy for years to come!
Look in your own backyard
There is more to a fairy garden than mini statues and cutesy doors that you can stick on trees. Sometimes, just looking in your own backyard will provide you with enough material for the entire fairy garden. You can salvage moss that might be growing around the swamp or a moist area in your backyard. Believe it or not, it is quite simple to move moss from one spot to another. Using a generic butter knife to slip under the moss mat will allow it to break free easily. If you stick it on moist ground, it should re-establish itself quickly.
You can also gather leaves, pinecones, and twigs that have fallen from the trees around your house after a summer thunderstorm. And a nice bonus is that you are tricking your kids into doing some chores while seemingly having fun! Then don’t forget to grab some rocks that might be strewn about, too. You will need all these things to create the ideal budget-friendly fairy garden.
Do some DIY
Now that you have gathered all the natural materials you need to start your fairy garden, you will need to do some DIYing to have it all come together. This includes buying some twine and maybe a hot glue gun.
Find a spot in your yard or grab a container if you want to set up one in your home. Gather all the materials you found from the previous section and lay it all out. Make teepees with the twigs you found or get fancy and build small cabins. Use the glue gun or the twine to ensure a steady home – fairies need a shelter just like us! Use the moss and lichens to create the roof to make sure fairies stay dry and warm when they need a place to rest their heads. The point is to just have fun and let your creativity go wild when you make a budget-friendly fairy garden!
Make use of that rock or seashell collection
Are your kids just like mine and like to collect every single rock and seashell that they find on adventures? I thought so. Now, you can get rid of those pesky collections and put them to good use. Line your fairy garden paths with seashells or use rocks as “boulders” for the fairies. Paint them to inspire more creativity for you and your children.
Go thrifting
There are so many things you can find at thrift stores, so you won’t have to spend your life savings to make a beautiful fairy garden. Make a list ahead of time of what you might need like a container to put your fairy garden in (a clear bowl works well for that!) or a small table and chairs (check out the toy section for any dollhouse furniture). I’ve even been able to find leftover crafts like pipe cleaners, craft rocks, and wire.
Make the most of sales at pet and craft stores
If you are lucky and have a few acres of land to find all the twigs, rocks, pinecones, and moss you might need, you won’t have to spend a dime to create a fairy garden. But not everyone is so lucky and might need to improvise and spend a bit of money to create the perfect masterpieces. But there are ways to make a budget-friendly fairy garden even if you must spend some money.
Pet stores are a great place to buy small houses and other little treasures. Head to their reptile section to get hideaways, basking platforms, and other miscellaneous décor. The aquarium section of pet stores are particularly fun to shop in and have an eclectic array of décor including ornaments like an Adirondack chair (perfect size for fairies!), cottages, hidden doors, pirate treasure chests, castle ruins, and even bridges. These items are not only way cheaper than buying something labeled as “fairy garden” décor, but also tend to have tons of sales at all times of the year.
Let’s not forget craft stores either, especially when there always seems to be a coupon ready to go on any of their websites. There is a section that is specifically dedicated to miniatures which range from fairy garden-specific décor to general dollhouse furniture!
The last place you should look is your local garden store. They usually will sell fairy garden decorations but are almost always expensive. However, many times garden stores have great sales and you can find some cheap deals to include in your budget-friendly fairy garden. Plus, it’s always a bonus to support local stores!
Go check out some other fairy gardens!
If you don’t have the means to create your own fairy garden, there are plenty of places around the seacoast for some whimsical adventures.
Every year, there is a Fairy House Tour that traverses the gardens of the Strawberry Banke Museum, John Langdon House, and Prescott Park. They’ve coined themselves the world’s largest fairy house festival and have more than just fairy house tours for you to enjoy. Kids can get their faces painted, folks will be telling stories of the famous fairies, and plenty of arts and crafts will abound during the fun-filled weekend. Get tickets for this incredible experience happening at the end of September.
If that doesn’t satiate your appetite for fairies, head north into Maine to the Mackworth Island Fairy Houses or even further north is the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens with their epic fairy village. Then stay to learn the secrets of the Guardians of the Seeds – giant trolls waiting to imbed their knowledge of nature to anyone who visits.
