Hey there, fellow nature enthusiasts and whimsy aficionados! Have you ever wandered through the woods or streets, stumbled upon a gnarled old branch, and thought, “Hmm, that would make a fantastic roof for a fairy house”? If so, you’re in good company because (OMG!!) we do that, too!
Do you look for mushrooms, too? Do you dream of a cottage covered in ivy, surrounded by flowers, with one little window with a lamp glowing warmly? Do you store beautifully weird waste things with big plans of turning them into something? If you were even thinking of a ‘yes’ in answer to any of the questions above, then read, on… we hope you find joy and delight in these craft ideas to make Fairy Doors, Fairy House Jars, Mushrooms, Cosy-looking Lamps and the like. That’s right, we’re turning trash into treasure and inviting magic into our lives—because who wouldn’t want a fairy as a neighbour? :)
The Great Quest for Junk… I Mean, Treasure
Let’s be real for a moment: crafting fairy houses isn’t about fancy supplies or high-tech tools—it’s about scavenging for things few see beauty or utility in. We’re talking about the kind of junk that sparks joy and ignites your imagination. So grab your shoes and your sense of adventure, and embark on a walk to find the perfect materials for our miniature masterpieces. The walk could be anywhere… and you can look out for odd-shaped sticks, little branches and dried leaves, dried flowers, lost buttons, old seeds, or anything you think can be used in your little woodland craft projects.
Letting Your Imagination Run Wild
Once you’ve gathered your loot (I mean, carefully curated your materials), it’s time to unleash your inner architect and start building. There are no rules here, my friends—just pure, unadulterated creativity. That twisted old branch? It’s the perfect foundation for a fairy mansion. Those fallen leaves? They’re practically begging to be turned into a cozy bed. The world is your oyster, and your fairy house is your pearl.
Making Fairy House Doors
Let’s start with a little Fairy DIY project, shall we? We love love love making Fairy doors. They make lovely little whimsical wall-pieces, and add that magical touch to a room. Sharing a few videos here, below, to show you some fairy house doors we made. There’s also a detailed captioned tutorial for one of them, on our YouTube channel. You can see it here.
Basically, as you can see, we used a bunch of random things and spent blissful hours putting them together with a glue gun. Have fun adding special touches like signboards, fences, shells or tiny trinkets, and some (real or fake) green moss for good measure. Maybe a rope ladder leading to the door? Whatever catches your fancy! Make one for a friend, or make a bunch of these fairy doors for corners of your home.
Making Fairy Houses from Old Coffee Jars
We drink a lot of coffee, and over the years, have collected many little Nescafe coffee jars, which are too cute to trash! So we made a bunch of little fairy houses by up cycling the little glass jars with some help from air-drying clay. Have a look at the videos below to see!
Getting your hands dirty with clay is so much fun! You can make any type of house you like… an easy way is to use the lid of the jar as a base to build the roof of the fairy house. Air drying clay can be shaped into doors, windows and vines. One thing to remember is that the jar must not be oily, or the clay may not stick to it. If you let your clay creations go all around the jar, like a fringe of grass and vines connecting the doors and windows, there is little chance of the moulded clay pieces falling off. Once the clay is absolutely dry, preferably over a day old, you can paint the jar with acrylic paints. A coat of matte varnish on top helps keep the colours fresh. You can add an electric tea-light inside the jar in the evenings, and turn your jars into warmly glowing mini lamps.
Mushrooms for your plants
Nothing spells magic like mushrooms, don’t you think! How quickly they appear and disappear and their fantastic shapes and colours, make us think fairies will love our home if home has mushrooms sprinkled all over. We made some mushrooms to add to our planters, using found dried sticks and air drying clay. A dash of acrylic paint to give them colour, and whoa! You have sprinkled some magic into boring corners and dull planters!
A warm Campfire Lamp
Though not for fairies per se, campfires always give us that warm fuzzy gorgeous feeling… like there is really magic in the world. Sitting with friends and loved ones around a camp fire on a cold evening, swapping stories and laughs, eating roasted goodies … wouldn’t you like to do that every day? But for some of us who live in city apartments, campfires can’t be a daily thing, right? So we made a little campfire lamp for our home… with lots of dried sticks collected over many walks in the countryside. And used our trusty glue gun to put the lamp together. We mixed in some pebbles, some old cardboard, and lovely dried sticks, with a flickering fairy light, and had a cute and cosy-looking campfire lamp to keep at our bedside or in our living room!
A Fairy Window Lamp for your wall?
Another DIY adventure, with found natural waste, was a Fairy Window lamp we made for our wall. An old cardboard carton served as building material for the base, and layers of dried sticks, with some artificial grass powder did the trick. Watch this video to see. Tell us in the comments what you think! We would love to hear from you.
Mushroom Earrings, why not?
When mushrooms can pop up anywhere, why not on a pair of earrings? :D Made from an old pair of hoop earrings, and air-drying clay… this one was a labour of love for our daughter, who loves all things magical! Here’s a video of painting the final piece.
Spread the Magic
Once your magical creations are complete, it’s time to share them with the world! Display your creation on your Instagram (and tag us, so we can share back), in your home or if you want, anywhere that passers-by can stumble upon it and experience a moment of delight. Who knows? You might just inspire someone else to embark on their own fairy house-building adventure.
So there you have it, folks: a few craft ideas from the whimsical world of crafting fairy doors and the like, from found waste materials. It’s a bit messy, a whole lot of fun, and guaranteed to bring a touch of magic into your life. So grab your junk (I mean, treasure) and get crafting. The fairies are waiting, and they’ve got excellent taste!
