Skill level: Beginner

You will need:

• 40cm plant saucer
• 13 cm terracotta plant pot
• Acrylic paints (non-toxic, including blue for the pond water)
• Acrylic paint pens (non-toxic)
• Sealer
• Buttons x 4 (for windows)
• Aquarium stones (washed) – approx 1kg
• Reindeer moss – approx 20g
• Buttons – duck, flower and butterfly shapes
• Mini toadstool embellishments
• Mini artificial flowers
• Wood slices x 3 - 3-4cm diameter
• Twine – 10cm
• Mini pegs x 2
• Matchsticks x 3 – length 3cm
• Shells x 5
• Jam jar lid
• Small twigs x 3 – length 5cm
• Mini lolly stick
• Black acrylic paint pen
• Bobbin
• 25g red polymer clay

Tools

• Paint brushes
• Scissors
• Round cookie cutter – the same size as the base of your plant pot
• Ceramic tile
• Acrylic rolling pin
• Strong glue – suitable for outdoor use
• Sticky tack
• Use of an oven
• Table cover

To make:

Take your plant pot and paint the outside with white acrylic paint. Leave to dry. You may need to do 2-3 coats of paint for full coverage. Allow to dry after each coat of paint.

Using your paints and paint pens, turn the pot upside down and paint a door just above the rim of the pot. Add any other painted designs you would like on the house. When dry, add a coat of clear sealer. Put the pot to one side and leave to dry.

To create the roof of the house -
Ensure the working area, tile, and rolling pin are clean and lint-free.
Take 25g of polymer clay and warm it up by rolling it with your hands and with the rolling pin on the tile. To check if the clay is ready to use, roll it out, pick it up and fold it in half. If the clay is ready to use, it will not break or crack when folded.
When the clay is ready to use, roll it out onto the tile, 3mm thick.
Take the cookie cutter, and cut the roof shape out of the clay. Remove the excess clay from the tile.
Follow the manufacturer’s instructions to bake the clay. The clay can be baked directly on the tile.
When baked, remove from the oven and leave to cool.

Take the roof you have made and decorate it with spots of white acrylic paint.
Paint the bobbin in white acrylic paint. When dry, glue the bobbin to the roof.

Apply glue to what is now the top of the plant pot and place the roof you have created onto the glue to stick it on.
Apply glue to the back of each ‘window’ button and glue them to the plant pot as windows.

Collect together the pieces you would like to add to your garden.
Along with the embellishments, we used blue acrylic paint to paint inside the jam jar lid (pond), and we also created some items:

• Washing line
  Take two twigs (length of 5cm each) and a piece of twine approx. 10cm long
  Knot one end of the twine near the top of one twig.
  Knot the other end of the twine near the end of the other twig.
  Peg two small pegs onto the twine,
  Add a small ball of sticky tack to the bottom end of each of the twigs.
• Welcome sign
  Take the mini lolly stick and write ‘Welcome’ on it in acrylic paint pen.
  Add a layer of sealer and leave to dry.
  Glue a 5cm twig to the middle of the back of the mini lolly stick.
  Add a small ball of sticky tack to the bottom of the twig.
• Flowers
  Using the acrylic paint/pens, paint the matchsticks green.
  Apply a small amount of glue to the back of each flower button and add a matchstick to each one.
  Add a small ball of sticky tack to the bottom of each matchstick.

Take the plant pot saucer and place the house you have made at ’12 o’clock’.
Add a layer of the aquarium stones to the saucer, ensuring all of the saucer is covered.

Add the other embellishments to the saucer, moving the stones as you do so.

Tips and ideas:

• Children can help to make the fairy garden and paint the fairy house. If children are helping, ensure they are supervised at all times.
• If you don’t have the exact items listed above, use similar items you have in your house/garden/craft stash – be creative!
• Create seasonal gardens by adding different components – for example, add festive decorations (mini Christmas tree, mini fairy lights, ‘snow’ etc.) for a Christmas-themed fairy garden.
• Although the items used are fine to be outside, we recommend taking the fairy garden inside if there is bad weather.
• Avoid using very small parts if very young children will be playing with the garden.
• Cover your work surfaces when using paints and glue.