Old Tree Stump Fairy Garden With Great DIY Ideas

This story started early last year when we cut down several trees in our backyard to make way for a new fence.  

Instead of removing a large tree trunk, the idea of a fairy garden for the grandkids was born. 

A year later I am still adding playful additions to the small world created around this old tree stump. 

I have realized that as the grandkids grow the look of this fairy garden will constantly evolve. So today I am sharing the entire fairy garden and the small details that have brought it this far. 

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Adding in more fairy garden accessories becomes a playful obsession.

Walking through Michaels recently, I spied a large display of Fall themed fairy garden accessories complete with miniature pumpkins, fairies dressed in seasonal colors of gold, brown, and orange, and other adorable tiny accents like squirrels holding acorns and gnomes with their noses peaking out beneath rust-colored hats.

I was so tempted to buy them all and remove all the accessories from my tree stump fairy garden to replace them with new seasonal items.

Shaking off that thought, I realized that although I have shared some of my small DIY projects for our tree stump fairy garden, I have yet to share the entire project.

And that is when I also realized that it will probably never be considered finished anyway so why not go ahead and share what it looks like now?  Also to share the DIY projects and the repurposed accents that make up my current version of a tree stump fairy garden.

My dogs are always available for help.  Or they are camera hogs. 

Honestly, as adorable as the Fall fairy garden items are in the stores this time of year, I will squish my urge to buy them.  Taking my time to slowly build this tree stump fairy garden is a great way to enjoy it year-round with the grandkids one DIY project at a time.

The inspiration to build our DIY fairy garden started as a random comment from my husband that the old stump in the backyard was the perfect place for a fairy garden for the grandkids. Taking that as permission to jump right in on DIY ideas, that is exactly what I did.

I jumped in almost a year ago and I am still working on it.

Last year I prepared the area around the tree stump.

I cleaned the spot, set up a rock border, and filled it with new soil, bags of small pebbles, and natural items from our yard like moss, bark, and sticks.  Living on a wooded lot has its advantages with just one of them being the plentiful supply of natural materials like moss that I could scrape off the sides of the driveway area that doesn’t get much sun and repurpose it as fairy garden material.

Using what you have on hand is always a good idea for small projects like this.

Starting with a few required items.

Once the area had been prepped, the first thing I put in the prepared space was a kit for a glow-in-the-dark fairy door on the tree stump. Purchased from Amazon, the kit included small windows and a lantern.

Seriously, a fairy garden tree stump has to have a door and windows.

Envisioning a small world of creative fairy garden houses, I made my first one from a coffee mug. My second fairy home was a small wooden house purchased at a craft store painted with flower accents and topped with a moss-covered roof.

This is when the project stalled last Fall.  Cooler weather was coming and very few stores had premade houses still available.  Before winter, I boxed up the houses and accessories with plans to start again in the Spring.

So I started with my first two DIY fairy garden houses.

As much fun as it was to make fairy houses, it was just not practical to fill all of my creative time, and blog, about DIY fairy houses and never get any of the other DIY fairy garden ideas done. I purchased some premade fairy houses to fill the stump area until I make more.

Want to know the secret to making a perfectly magical fairy home?

There is no secret.

I soon discovered hundreds of inspirational posts on Pinterest about how to make a fairy home out of old bottles, glass jars, twigs, and of course, old tea cups.  There are no rules or requirements for making perfect tree stump fairy gardens.  Following your style is the most important thing to consider.

Fairy garden furniture ideas can be just as whimsical and creative as well.  Shopping for fairy garden decor is a great idea.  But so is thinking outside of the shopping cart to make DIY versions out of ordinary items. DIY is a great way to add a unique look.

Spring arrived and so did many inexpensive options for fairy houses in my local Dollar Tree store.

Once Spring arrived, I stocked up on smaller fairy houses from the local dollar store along with gnomes, fairies, benches, signs, and even a pink flamingo for the pond area. At the same time, I purchased tiny little accent pieces from Temu like hedgehogs, a picket fence, and mushrooms.

The fun is in the small details.

Focused on repurposing items out of my craft room or recycle bin as much as possible, and shopping thrift stores, this is how my fairy garden came together.

Three different sizes and colors of decorative pebbles are the foundation for each section around the tree stump. 

The pond is surrounded by small rocks and is made up of blue and white glass beads purchased from Walmart and Dollar Tree.

Leftover 2-inch tile pieces were painted to resemble moss-covered stepping stones.

Building block game pieces from Dollar Tree were painted brown and used as fencing, benches, and the swing set.

A ceramic church and the small green metal truck are thrift store finds.

The small John Deere tractor is a repurposed Christmas ornament. 

Fairies in all sizes and styles.

Playfully deciding that the fairies in our garden should come in all shapes and sizes as we do, I have slowly bought fairies to dwell in the tree stump garden from thrift stores, Dollar Tree, and even a few paintable kits found at an estate sale. 

My three-year-old granddaughter gave these paintable fairies her own overly paint-covered flare that I eventually tweaked before adding them to the garden.

While editing the photos for this post I realized that the size of the fairy garden appears rather large.  Much larger than normal.  However, making the rock perimeter so wide was a wonderful way to allow multiple grandchildren an individual space to play, use their imagination, and eventually bring their creative ideas to a favorite section. 

Currently, Harper loves the pond area, Dorothy plays with the animal statues, and Micah wants whatever they have.   

Are you wondering why I have solar lights around the rock border?

When I started adding the houses and accessories this Spring, my older dog may or may not have wanted to contribute some special smelly accents to the garden.  Once I installed the visual barrier ring of solar lights, he didn’t try to poop in the fairy garden again.

Unfortunately, the solar lights have not kept our German Shepherd from stealing the houses a few times as chew toys. Most days I find several houses knocked over like a game he thinks we are playing. 

The use of natural materials from our wooded lot is essential.

This summer I tackled a few fun accessories made from natural materials to sit on the top of the stump.   Soon after I posted about them, a fierce storm damaged them so I had to repair and remake them a second time before revealing the garden for this post. 

All of the heavy rains this summer promoted more moss growth on sections of my driveway so the fairy garden benefited from Mother Nature again as I was able to add more natural accents to the garden.

Pin For Later

Old tree stump repurposed for a child’s imagination.

What was once an ugly tree stump in our backyard is now a whimsical fairy garden.  It will change as the seasons and the grandkids grow as every outdoor fairy garden should.  I will continue to shop for fairy garden supplies each season and find creative uses for everyday things to add to it.

Soon though, when the leaves start to fall and the weather gets colder, I will pack up the fairy houses and accessories for safekeeping during the harsher winter weather.  Next Spring, I will bring everything back out, add new things, and listen to the grandkids giggle as they run to see what is new.

And expect to watch Harper cram a few of the little figurines into her pockets. 

Hugs,

Hebrews 3:4. 4 For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.

More posts to enjoy:

Make Your Garden Sparkle – DIY Beaded Windchime

Great Tips for Where to Find Fall Decor

DIY Painted Rocks for Grandkid’s Garden Area