Spring Fairy Garden – A Magical DIY project

A spring fairy garden is a perfect way to add a bit of magic and creativity to your life. This is a simple project that anyone can do regardless of garden space and budget. Building a fairy garden is a wonderful way to get ready for spring! Not only are you scratching that creative itch but you’re also working with and adding plants to your life which can help reduce stress levels. Multiple studies have shown that engaging in creative activities and working with the natural world can be beneficial to our long-term health.

I fully believe that becoming healthy is more than eating well and exercising (though you should do those too!). To be truly healthy you need to take care of your inner self too and this spring fairy garden project brought both me and my kids a lot of joy. It’s a small magical project with a lot of potential for future add-on projects.

What do I need to create a Spring Fairy Garden?

A fairy garden can be as simple or complex as you want it to be! Even better they can be scaled to fit either a large empty space in your garden or a small corner of your balcony. I have even seen a micro version on top of a coffee table.

Once you start going down the rabbit hole of fairy gardens things can start to get a bit overwhelming. This is because there are just so many options available. Thankfully if you break it down to the bare bones this project becomes very simple.

Fairy Garden Basics

• A Container or Designated Garden Space
• Plants
• Soil
• Decorations

Practically any container can be used to create a spring fairy garden, just keep your intended space in mind! You can upcycle an old sandbox, birdbath, planter box or aquarium if you feel like being extra creative. If you have nothing laying around that will work there are many options online to choose from or take a browse through your local thrift shop.

For plants, I chose to use succulents in my fairy garden. Succulents are a great choice for many reasons. They come in a variety of shapes and colors and are easy to take care of! Most succulents tend to stay on the shorter side as well which makes them ideal for fairy gardens since you don’t want your plants to overgrow your decorations! All my Succulents come from Cacti Creations – a succulent nursery run by an amazing couple in California. I prefer to buy from them rather than big box stores because I know my plants will be healthy and I always get a far better selection! I have ordered from them several times now and have never been disappointed!

Here is the Succulent Big box I received from them!

Fairy Garden Specifics

Once you have chosen your container and gotten an idea about the plants you want to use its time to get down to specifics! I highly recommend creating a spring fairy garden plan (Bullet journals are great for this!). Your plan doesn’t have to be overly complicated and you can change your plan as you go of course, but it gives you a starting point when looking at decorations and deciding how many plants you need.

Here are some questions to get you started on your plan :

Do you want a theme? – A spring fairy garden doesn’t need a theme.  But, once you start looking for decorations you will find there are quite a few options. Having a theme can help you narrow things down! Recently beach/mermaid themed fairy gardens are popular. If you have young boys you might consider a Knight theme. My garden is basic fantasy, it has mushroom and flower houses along with fairies and unicorns. The unicorns were added at the insistence of my youngest daughter.

What size of decorations do you want? – Fairy garden decorations come in a variety of sizes from micro to large. There is no rule saying you can’t mix it up but most people find sticking to one size makes the garden more cohesive. The size of your container should be taken into consideration when choosing decorations. You don’t want a giant house for a tiny pot!

 

Do you want to DIY your Decoration’s or buy pre-made items? – Some people enjoy making everything from scratch! Others prefer to pick out pre-made items. All the houses and little figures in my garden are bought pre-made but I did make my own waterfall. Because of my container, I couldn’t find a waterfall that would fit. Planning ahead will make it easier to pick up the supplies you need!

What’s your budget? – I know, I know! We all hate coming up with a budget for fun projects but, trust me, there are so many cute spring fairy garden items out there you are going to want a budget! Otherwise, you might end up with enough items to make 4 fairy gardens. This might not be a bad thing but try not to spend the grocery money on ALL the adorable figures you find! Having a plan will help with this since you have planned out your space and are not going to buy more then you need!

What else should I take into Consideration?

Spring fairy gardens are pretty versatile but there are a few things you should consider! Things such as your weather – do you have harsh winters? Make sure you pick plants that are suitable for your conditions. You don’t want to go to all this work only to have it die off during the winter or because you picked plants that need more sunlight then your coffee table provides.  I live in south Georgia, it’s hot and sunny here most of the year but my container is very easy to cover up on those rare occasions we get frost.

How much time do you have to maintain it? I picked succulents because I know my time is limited. I knew I wasn’t going to have time to prune back, deadhead or water plants that require extra attention. Succulents are easy and although they spread they don’t grow so fast that I will need to devote a lot of time to thin them out. Do you need some help looking after succulents? Here is my Succulent for Beginners post to help you out!

Where should I buy Fairy Garden supplies?

In truth, these can be found almost anywhere. Spring fairy gardens have become so popular that most stores have at least some options. But, here are some of my favorites!

1. The Dollar Tree – This is a great place for rocks and other decorative items. Surprisingly they also sell a Fairy Garden set with houses, windmills, gnomes, and fairies that are extremely cute! You can order the entire set online (check the link above) for only $15!
2. Michaels – They can be expensive but if you take advantage of their coupons and sales you can get some really cute items. My unicorns came from Michaels.
3. Amazon – You can find almost anything on Amazon and bonus – it comes right to your doorstep! Several of my fairy garden houses come from Amazon!
4. Cacti Creations – I know I have already mentioned them but I really can’t recommend them enough! I love them and their plants. They are worth looking at I promise! Bonus – you should really follow them on social media if you into that too. They love doing giveaways and sales!

All of this is great, But I really just want to get one built the easy way!

Don’t worry I have you covered! Here are some really great spring fairy garden kits that I have found! These come with almost you need minus the plants. Check these out if you want a pretty garden without the hassle of designing one yourself. Some of these are pre-made containers with attached houses, others are housing kits and might require a container! pick whatever works best for you!

Let me see your Fairy Gardens! If you already have one or build one I would love to see! Post your pics below!