How to Make a Micro Mini Fairy Garden House

I love miniatures and fairies, and I've heard that to encourage fairies to visit your garden, you need to provide attractive habitation. Whether that's true or not, these easy to make and inexpensive fairy homes look good in planters or as shelf sitters.
You can make these with recycled material and air dry clay, which doesn't require baking. Acorn caps, fabric flowers and moss provide the cutest embellishments.

1. Clear, flat plastic from packages for the base.
Food containers, like clam shell fruit containers or pastry covers from the grocery store work well.
2. Scissors
3. Hot glue and glue gun.
4. Air dry paper clay
5. Utility knife.
6. Pastels
7. 1/4 inch flat paint brush and fine point paint brush.
8. Clear matte spray finish and clear gloss finish.
Mr Clear matte works the best and Modge Podge works well, for the glossy finish.
9. Acorn caps, moss and lichen.
You can buy them, but foraging the forest floor is much more fun.
10. Small fabric flowers.
Miniature dried flowers look great too.

1. Cut out a rectangular shape, with slanted sides (like a trapezoid) out of the clear plastic. It should be roughly 2 inches tall and 3 inches across.
2. Put hot glue along one of the slanted edges.
3. Curve the plastic around so the slanted edges overlap.
4. Hold in position until glue cools and holds the plastic in a cone shape.
5. Trim the top and bottom edges.

1. Form a golf ball size lump of the air dry clay into a ball.
2. Roll out the clay until its about 1/8th inch thick,
3. Wrap the flattened clay tightly around the plastic base.
4. Trim excess clay.
5. Smooth the area where the clay joins.
6. Store in a zip lock bag until your ready to carve and sculpt the clay.

Let the clay dry completely before painting. If you leave it overnight, the clay will usually be dry enough. You can leave the house unpainted too and skip to the next step.
1. Using a wet 1/4 inch flat brush, rub the main color of pastel until the brush is loaded with pigment. Acrylic paint works for this step as well.
2. Apply this color over most of the house except for the doors and windows. Let this dry and add another layer of color if you wish.
3. Paint the rest of the house with matching or contrasting colors using this same technique and the fine point detail brush.

1. Spray the painted house with a clear matte finish.
2. Apply hot glue to the inside of the acorn cap and place on top of the house.
3. Glue fabric flowers, moss and lichen to the house.
4. Paint the door and window frames with a clear gloss finish.
This is optional but does add a touch of fun realism.