Fairy Garden in a Box
Have you heard about the lovely little fairy gardens people are making lately? The concept is for children to make a little garden space where fairies would be comfortable, should they decide to show up. Since my children have recently fallen in love with the magic of gardens and all the living things within, I knew they would be enchanted with this idea.
There are a lot of talented people who have spent a lot of time making amazing, elaborate fairy gardens (you can see a few here and here). When you’re just getting started, the sheer amount of ideas out there can seem overwhelming. I’ve found, however, that you really only need a few simple things. I love the idea of placing the items in a box, tying it with string, and presenting it to a little one in your life. The rest is up to them!
Gather a simple box and fill it with:
1. A few plants and flowers. These can be store bought, or from your own garden.
2. Dried moss. This can be found at craft and garden stores. It makes for a pretty addition and the children will love the fact that they can move it around the garden as much as they would like. The moss won’t actually grow, but it will stay in good shape with regular watering.
3. A small bag of rocks. These can be used to build things, make paths, or as decoration in your garden.
4. A few embellishments. We stumbled upon a fairy section at the gardening store and decided to buy a few trinkets, but you probably have a lot of usable items around the house and outside. Spools, thimbles, and sticks all work great! You can also fashion your own shapes out of clay. Get your children involved in finding things, they will love it!
Pick a small container or corner of your yard and get started. I assisted with the planting in our garden, but the rest was up to my little designers. They enjoyed digging in the dirt and making rock paths. Watering the flowers was especially fun for them too. I anticipate our garden evolving and changing a little every time we visit it!
Here are a few books to get you started:
How to Find Flower Fairies (our favorite!)
The Complete Book of Flower Fairies
Fairy Gardens: A Guide to Growing an Enchanted Miniature World
