How to make a cable reel fairy house

A while ago now we spotted a couple of wooden cable reels and knew they would be fun to upcycle into a fairy toadstool house for the children to play with. My 5 year old loves her fairy play and I thought this would be a great little upcycling project, as well as making something for her to play with during the summer months.

As a Pinty Plus ambassador I used some of the Pinty Plus Basic range which has a range of brilliant bright colours. I also got to try out the the new spray gun which makes spray painting easier than ever before.

I used:
wooden cable reel
Pinty Plus Basic Pure White 9010
Pinty Plus Basic Mint Green 6029
Pinty Plus Basic Traffic Red 3020
masking tape
newspaper
self healing cutting mat and scalpel

The cable reel was wooden and in pretty good condition so I didn’t do anything to it before painting.

I placed the spray gun attachment on to the Pinty Plus Basic Pure White (9010) and spray painted the top and drum of the cable reel white. This was the first time we had used the spray gun and it made it a lot easier to apply the spray paint evenly.

Pinty Plus paint is very quick drying in around 20 minutes. So whilst this was drying outside I started to prepare the circles for the toadstool top.

I applied pieces of masking tape to a self healing mat, cutting a few different sized circles. I carefully peeled these off and placed them on top of the toadstool. Then we spray painted the top with Pinty Plus Basic Traffic Red (3020). This is a gorgeous red colour, perfect for a toadstool.

Whilst this was drying I started preparing the base of the reel. I chose Pinty Plus Basic Mint Green (6029) for this and wanted to cover the base of the reel and half of the drum. To make a grass effect I placed strips of masking tape on a self-healing mat, drawing strands of grass.

I cut and removed the strands of grass and carefully applied the remainder of the masking tape to the drum of the cable reel. After I spray painted the drum and base with the green paint I then removed the masking tape and was left with grass.

I removed the remaining masking tape and newspaper to reveal the finished fairy toadstool. It was a lovely little project and the Pinty Plus paint dried super quick, meaning this only took a few hours.

You can buy Pinty Plus Chalk Paint through Novasol, their UK distributor.

Other makes using Pinty Plus Chalk Spray:

DIY Emoji Easter eggs for kids using Pinty Plus Chalk Paint Spray in Mustard

Creating an Easter crate for kids using Pinty Plus Chalk Paint Spray in Mustard

How to make a Pez display case using Pinty Plus Chalk Paint Spray in Mustard

Handmade Valentine paper cut art using Pinty Plus Chalk Paint Spray in Red Velvet

Christmas Eve crate using Pinty Plus Chalk Paint Spray in Red Velvet

Upcycled pallet Christmas Tree using Pinty Plus Chalk Paint Spray in Vintage Olive

Category: crafts, Fairy garden crafts, garden crafts, Pinty Plus Ambassador, upcycling

14 thoughts on “How to make a cable reel fairy house”

I just love this! What a brilliant but simple idea! Thank you for sharing. Kaz

Oh I am loving that! what a really lovely idea! we love a big of magic in our garden

Looks like a lot of hard work and something that involves patience. Glad it turned out great! I’ll share this with my niece, she might love it!

This cable reel fairy house looks like it has literally been plucked straight out of my dreams. I like the mint green paint from Pinty it is very cheerful x

This is so creative. I envy your creative brains and wish I had known about you when my kiddies were toddlers, we would have had a ball with your ideas. I have shared this with my friend who has kids that love fairy stuff.