My Vegan Apron: Faerie House & Faerie Garden

Wouldn't you like to attract the fun and mischief of faeries into your garden? Well, first they need a place to live..

So today I'll give you some tips on, first building a Faerie House, and then using this house as the cornerstone of the Faerie Garden design.

This easy DIY project is one of my favorites for several reasons:

Faerie Houses are whimsical, so precision and exact carpentry skills are not required (you might even say that they'll be the ruin).
It's a great way to use recycled and re-purposed materials (my boards came from an old birdhouse and some fence pickets).
You can make your house and garden as simple as you like, or you can let your imagination run wild and go crazy with detail.
It's FUN!!!

For the Faerie House, I believe it best not to follow a specific plan, but to just have a general idea of the style and effect that you are going for. Perhaps draw it out on paper first to get the proportions down. The one I built has approximate dimensions of 16 inches (40 cm) tall, 4 inches (10 cm) deep by 7 inches (18 cm) wide. You'll want to scale yours for the size of the pot or garden area that you are using.

For doors and windows, I prefer the look of curved lines, so I used some of the natural knotting and holes in the wood for inspiration and then cut them out with a jig saw (a hole saw could also be used if you want them round). I nailed the sides together, but an outdoor waterproof glue could be used (just make sure that its vegan). Add other materials that you have on hand for architectural detail (the finial on top was a scrap from an antique claw-foot furniture leg). I added a stake to the back wall so the wind doesn't blow the little house down (it gets rather windy in these parts).

For the garden, try to find plants with small foliage so the scale works (ours has a pine seedling for a tree). Add rocks for a path and other details; if you want to go nuts, small scale furniture can be made or purchased. The second one is a work in progress; stay tuned for more pics as it develops.