DIY: Craigh Na Dun Fairy Garden

I’ve been wanting to do some sort of a fairy garden for a couple of years now but I couldn’t really decide on a theme and then I stumbled upon a few sheets of slate-type rock that I had in my back garden and, finally, an idea popped into my mind. An Outlander-inspired fairy garden! Sounds fun, right?

 

Now that I had an idea, I needed to figure out what I wanted to put in my fairy garden. At first, I thought about using succulents for the simple fact they’re easy to care for. Although they just didn’t have that wild Scottish Highland look that I was going for so I visited my local garden center, that just so happened to have an entire section devoted to fairy gardens, and found these wild looking 2 inch plants from a company called Ittie Bitties.

 

Next, I had to find a planter. Honestly, this was actually the hardest part. I wanted something stylish that looked a bit Celtic, had a drain hole in the bottom, preferably ceramic or terra cotta, was of medium size, and would work well indoors. After four stores, I actually found a lovely glazed ceramic planted made by Trendspot inc. at Wal-Mart. The only downside was that it didn’t have a base, so I ended up buying one those plastic ones to use until I can find something else.

 

Now I was ready to start putting my Craigh Na Dun fairy garden together. I actually found this to be relaxing. And, surprisingly, it went by rather quickly. I had the entire thing together in less than 30 minutes.

 

Here’s what you need:

 

Most of the supplies should be easy to find at your local store and garden center. Some items you’ll need to gather from your own backyard.

 

From the Store or Garden Center

 

1 Medium Planter               Indoor Potting Soil

4 or 5 Miniature Plants       Persevered Sheet Moss (found in the craft aisle)

 

Items to gather from out and about  

 

Gravel for the bottom of your planter

5 or 6 ‘Standing Stones’ (I used a sheet of thin slate-type rock that I broke into pieces)

Small river rocks or other small stones to place around the top of your planter

 

Step 1-Fill the bottom of your planter with 1 inch of gravel.

Step 2-Add in potting soil leaving about 1 ½ inches from the top
 

Step 3-Assemble your standing stones in the middle of the planter making sure they are deep enough they will not tumble over.

Step 4-Arrange the potted plants around the standing stones until you’re satisfied with the design.

Step 5-Remove your plants from the pots, gently loosen the soil around the roots and plant in your planter.

Step 6-Cover the soil with the Persevered Sheet Moss and add a few river rocks or pebbles for decoration.

 

 

Now, it’s time to add Claire and Jamie. Dinnae fash if you’re not crafty. This only requires scissors, glue, and a bit or sellotape.

 

Materials needed:

2 Sheets of Cardstock      Printer

Pocket Jaime and Claire  (Click Here for the printable)  Superglue

Scissors     4 Toothpicks     Sellotape

 

 

Instructions

 

1-Print out the two images of Jamie and Claire on cardstock

2-Cut out the images

3-On the back of the images, tape on two toothpicks.

4-Glue the images together back to back

5-Roll out about 10 inches of sellotape, place the image on top of it and fold the tape over the image so the both sides are covered.

6-Trim off excess tape leaving about 2mm around the edges.

 

 

A few tips:

 

1-When buying your plants, ask how often they water them. I’ve noticed that sticking to the same watering schedule (ie once day, twice a day, etc.) as the nursery often helps the plants to thrive.

2-Spritz the plants once a week to ensure they are evenly moist.

3-Make sure they are in bright, but indirect sunlight

4-If you have a flowering plant, be sure to pick the spent blossoms to ensure more blooms.

5-Trim off the dead leaves with a pair of cuticle scissors.

6-If placing outside, place in a shielded spot as the wind can destroy these tiny plants.

Have you made a fairy garden?