You can tell my son has gone back to school after the Easter holidays as my daughter and I have been spending a lot of time crafting together. Yesterday afternoon we looked through our recycling to see what we could use to make a fairy garden.

I’ve seen some amazing fairy garden ideas on Pinterest (check out my outdoor play board for some ideas) but let’s be honest, I don’t think many of them are made by or for children! Today we’ve made a really simple fairy garden, child-friendly, achievable and I’d love to know if it inspires you!

Equipment needed to make a recycled milk bottle fairy garden
Empty milk bottles (washed with the labels removed)
Scalpel or scissors
Empty flower pot
Gravel
Shells

How to make a recycled milk bottle fairy garden

The first step was to make a fairy house from the empty milk bottle. I did this on my own as I didn’t want to be using a sharp blade with my children around. I cut a door and window from the bottle and gently sanded the edges to make sure there were no sharp edges.

We chose an empty planter and placed the milk bottle on the top, weighing it down with a few heavy stones. This way it’s off the ground but at a suitable height for my children to play with it. We can also keep it all summer so there will be lots of opportunities to add to it.

My daughter added the painted stone fairy door we made last year. We added a shell path from the treasures we picked up at  the beach earlier this year.

We finished off with a shell for a pond and a painted stone ladybird. Then she added her fairies inside the house.

She was worried about what would happen if it rained so she added a shell over the chimney to keep the rain out. Then she started to worry about the rain coming in the window but I’m not sure what we’re going to do about curtains!

It’s right by the back door so it’s really easy for her to go and play with it when she wants. Nothing is permanent so I can’t wait to see what happens to our recycled milk bottle fairy garden.