Mini Fairy Garden in a Tin Gift + Handmade Mother’s Day Gift Ideas

A couple of weeks ago, we visited a beautiful greenhouse nearby and we stumbled across the most adorable little fairy garden. I hadn’t thought too much about fairy gardens in the past, but when I heard both of my daughters audibly gasp when they saw the one at the greenhouse, I knew that we had to do some fairy garden projects this Spring! With Mother’s Day coming up soon, I thought some mini fairy garden gifts would be a great way to give this new & adorable little art form a try with my girls. We rounded up a bunch of suitable supplies we had on hand, made some others, and came up with a couple of absolutely sweet DIY mini fairy gardens in tins that will be a fun gift to give to moms for Mother’s Day this year! These would also make unique teacher’s gifts or gifts for friends too! Here’s how we made our mini fairy garden gifts.

Head down to the bottom of this post to watch a video tutorial of one of our fairy gardens in a tin, or follow below for a photo tutorial. I’m also sharing some other fabulous Mother’s Day gift ideas from my blogging friends at the bottom of this post along with an exciting giveaway!

We made two different mini fairy garden gifts, so follow along below to see how we made the one in the tin on the right (that comes with free printables!) or watch the video at the bottom to see how I made the one on the left in the vintage planter.

Mini Fairy Garden in a Tin Gift

Supplies: 

• a small indoor plant
• a tin (mine’s approximately 5 x 9″)
• gravel/rocks for drainage
• potting soil
• faux sheet moss
• real moss
• an unfinished mini birdhouse (I found mine at Michaels for $1.50)
• stain (I used a water-based stain so that my daughter could paint with it)
• fabric scraps
• willow twigs
• twine
• mini mushrooms (or make some with small wooden knobs + paint)

Cut and glue some faux sheet moss to the roof of the birdhouse.

Paint the birdhouse with paint or stain. We used this pretty grey/brown stain to make the house look weathered. Little A loved this step – she’s a painter!

Fill the tin with about 1/4 of gravel and then with potting soil. Dig a hole in the soil and plant the plant to one side of the tin.

Make a mini fabric bunting banner out of fabric scraps. I cut some triangles out of fabric and machine sewed them to some twine using a zig zag stitch. Then, I glued them to some willow twigs with a glue gun.

Insert the banner and posts to the back of the planter, and then pat some moss down on the bare dirt to create “grass”. We’re lucky to have a little forest behind our house, so I harvested some moss from some trees there.

Place the fairy house next to the plant. Use some fluffier moss to create little “bushes” around the bird/fairy house.

Embellish the landscape further with mini toadstools. You could also add little stones to create a pathway or some more interest (we did this in our second fairy garden in the video).

Tie a scrap of fabric around the tin and glue gun it in place.

Make some labels and flags with this free printable and attach them to the tin & pieces of willow twigs with a glue gun. Click here for the free printable or on the image below. I’ve included tags and banners for mom, a friend, or a teacher!

These little gardens would make such a unique and beautiful gift for your mom on Mother’s Day, a teacher, a friend… or for yourself!

They don’t take long to make at all, and they’re a fun project to do with kids.

Have a blast making these mini fairy garden gifts!

Here’s a video tutorial on how to make the fairy garden gift in a vintage tin.

I found a set of beautiful enamelware tins at our local antique store that were perfect for this project.

Now it’s time for some more beautiful, handmade Mother’s Day gift ideas from my blogging friends!

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