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DIY Succulent Fairy Garden

Fairy gardens are a huge hit right now, and my boys wanted to join in. They have been wanting a small indoor garden that they can help out with, so I thought a fairy garden to go with our Fairy Mobile would be a great idea! We decided that we would try out a succulent fairy garden and make it a family activity.

 

This succulent fairy garden is fun to make with kids | fairy garden | succulent garden | tutorial | DIY | gardening | kidsGreat for Pinning Image Pin It Button

 

This fairy garden was pretty easy to create together and you can make your own in various types of containers. Keep in mind that with succulents, they can be drought resistant, but that is after they are established, so you will want to keep them watered to start with. Unfortunately, my toddler ended up getting too excited about the garden the other day, after it sat untouched and flourishing for some time, and he broke several of the plants, but we plan to do a little maintenance to fix it. The ones you see in the left bottom corner were having issues falling apart from the start, so I would not recommend choosing that particular kind of succulent.

 

What You Need

 

  • Some type of pot or unfinished wooden dish or shadow box (I used a square hanging shadow box from Michael’s, laid flat, so we will stick with that for the tutorial)
  • Clear spray shellac spray
  • Cork (you can find round cork pieces in the garden section, for at the bottom of pots, but we purchased square pieces and cut them to size)
  • Rocks/pebbles (we purchased polished gravel)
  • Painter’s tape/masking tape
  • Cactus, Palm, & Citrus Potting Mix
  • Succulents
  • Fairy garden decorations (we used a broken pot/plate piece, pebbles, a curved piece of wood, sand, a mini turtle, glitter, and a fairy house)

 


 

Directions

 

Fairy Garden Tutorial Step 1

 

In a well-ventilated area, spray the entire unfinished wood shadow box with spray shellac to seal it. If needed, do a couple layers. Let dry completely before moving on.

 

Fairy Garden Tutorial Step 2

 

Cut the cork to fit neatly into the bottom of your box. The cork will help the water to drain properly.

 

Fairy Garden Tutorial Step 3

 

Add a thin layer of rocks to the bottom of the dish. Do not cover the bottom completely. This is just an added way for water to drain, beyond the cork. If you have smaller rocks for this, it would work better, but I just used the ones we’d gotten for the decorations.

 

Fairy Garden Tutorial Step 4

 

Add masking tape around the top ledge of the frame and pour some of the dirt over the rocks and cork. Do not fill all the way, as you will finish this off after you are finished planting the succulents. Leave the tape on until you are finished with the messy dirt parts.

 

Fairy Garden Tutorial Step 5.5

 

Choose where you want your succulents and plant them, adding some extra dirt around them to make sure they are in place and the roots are covered. The thing I learned about this dirt is that it likes to pool the water and run, so try to plan it so you can get water to the plants without completely ruining the decorations or making the wood dirty. You can always fix it, but I have had a better time with some of the succulents grouped in the corners. I used a variety to give the garden more interest.

 

Fairy Garden Tutorial Step 5

 

Add some decorative rocks. You can add a lot around the edges or move them around to make a path like we did, with a few extras around here and there.

 

Fairy Garden Tutorial Step 7

 

Begin adding your fairy decorations. Place the fairy house and scoop some sand to make a path and line it with decorative rocks.

 

Fairy Garden Tutorial Step 8

 

My toddler loves turtles, so we found him a tiny turtle to add.

 

Fairy Garden Tutorial Close

 

Find fun extra items you can add. We found a curved piece of wood in the yard and turned it into a bridge, then I took a piece from a broken pot and added it between the succulents to give it some personality. If desired, add a little shake of glitter to give it a little fairy magic.

 

Fairy Garden Tutorial Square

 

I had some extra cork leftover, so I cut a piece to fit half of the rim of the shadow box, just for fun.

 

Fairy Mobile and Art Wall

 

We placed the succulent fairy garden underneath our hanging Coloring Page Fairy Mobile.

This is a fun project to do with your children and is fairly easy to take care of. Use your creativity to make the fairy garden your own!

Read also: Fairy Mobile Coloring Page Craft Tutorial and Paper Fairy Puppets Tutorial

 

What will you add to your fairy garden? Share with me in the comments! I’d love to hear!

 

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16 Comments

  1. That is a cute project, thanks for sharing. My son likes turtles too, so he would also like the turtle in the garden. I like the rock-lined path also.

  2. I have Fairy Pictures in my house, and your Garden that you did is really cute and fun to make. I know my daughter would want to make this. Thanks for the fun idea. I like the fairies over the top!

  3. Such a fun idea! I have never had a fairy in my garden, but I think I will get one

  4. My granddaughter who will be 6 in a few weeks is coming to visit. Fairy Garden is on the top of the list for a real surprise, fun activity we can make together.

  5. This is so cute! What a fun project to do with the kids. My grandson would enjoy doing something like this.

  6. This came out so cute, and I can imagine how much kids would love this! especially being able to help decide what to add!

  7. I would love to make this for my garden area~!

  8. This is such a great project and perfect for kids to join in. I would like to have one myself! 🙂

  9. This is such a cute idea. I love succulents and they are about the only plant I don’t kill. I am going to try to make one of these.

    • Thank you, Terry! Same here (though my toddler managed to kill most of them…that’s what I get for putting it in his reach though.). Let me know how it goes!

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