DIY Broken Clay Pot Fairy Garden

Spring is coming….FINALLY. I can’t believe it actually hit 48 degrees today and the sun was shining! We are a long ways off all of the snow melting, but I can now see little glimpses of warmer days to come and this means gardening, DIY & crafting time! So what better way to welcome in Spring than with a fun DIY broken clay pot fairy garden. 

If you’re like me, you’ve been admiring these adorable fairy gardens and have been wanting one of your own but didn’t know where to start. This simple tutorial will show you the basics to get your first element started and from there, it’s so easy to keep building on to your collection. 

I LOVE the look of the broken clay pot serving as hillside stairs up to a rustic wooden cabin for your little garden fairies. 

This project is actually easier than it looks and if you don’t find yourself too handy in making the fairy house yourself, you can always just make the broken clay pot portion and use a purchased house on top! 

Here’s what you are going to need: 

• 2 Feet Pallet Wood
• 8-12 Inch Clay Pot
• Soil
• Dried Leaves
• Various Plants
• Glue Gun
• Handsaw
• Angle
• Hammer
• 1-Inch Nails
• Small Twigs
• 4-5 Small Flat Stones
• Wood Glue
• Super Glue (optional)
• Clamp (optional)
• Drill (optional)
• 1-inch and ¾-inch Hole Drill Bit (optional)

Now let’s get this cute DIY broken clay pot fairy house put together! 

To begin, you will need to cut your pallet wood into 6 separate pieces for your fairy house.

We used a miter saw, however, you can simply use a handsaw and an angle.

The first two pieces need to be 3 3/8-inches wide and 4 5/8-inches in height.

These two pieces will need to have one end that is pointed with 45-degree angle cuts.

These two pieces make up the main frame of the house.

Once your angles have been cut, you need to make sure from the point to the bottom of the piece equals the 4 5/8-inches.

The next two pieces of wood will be the smaller side pieces of the house.

They need to be 2-inches wide and 3 1/2-inches tall.

They will need to have one end that has a bevel cut which means that instead of cutting your 45-degree angle head on, you will need to cut it along the top edge of the wood.

Once cut, the tallest point to the bottom needs to be 3 1/2-inches in height.

For your last two pieces of wood, they will need to be 3 3/8-inches wide and 3-inches tall.

These are your two pieces for your roof. Your roof pieces will also need to have a bevel cut like your last two pieces of wood.

Use a 45-degree angle cut and be sure that your tallest point to the bottom is what equals the 3-inches in height.

Once your pieces of wood are cut, you will need to glue them together.

Start by gluing together the frame of the house and then add the roof.

Be sure your wood glue is placed along the inside edges and once you’ve pushed the pieces together, wipe away any excess glue that comes out of the cracks.

You may add a few screws or nails for strength on the roof as needed, these will be covered up later.

If you don’t have a clamp, you can use something such as a rag or twine to tie around the house in order to keep it tightly together until dry.

Leave to sit for about 20-30 minutes.

While it’s drying, feel free to cut the holes for your window and door.

You don’t have to do round ones however, if you want to, you will need to use a drill and the bits mentioned.

The ¾-inch bit is for the window and the 1-inch bit is for the door.

We didn’t do any measuring for these, we just put them where we wanted them.

For the door, you will need to cut the hole a little way from the bottom and then mark straight lines down on each side of the circle to the bottom of the house and then cut that out to make a square bottom.

We made an arched doorway like this but again, you can choose to do it differently with different tools in order to make it easier. A handsaw or a chisel and hammer would work for cutting these as well.

To finish the window, take a twig and cut it to be about 3/4-inch in length.

Then split that small twig in half long ways.

Using super glue, glue one piece, flat side down, going vertical across the window and the other going horizontal across the window.

At this point, you will need your dried leaves and glue gun.

Starting on one side of the roof, begin hot gluing leaves in a straight line, at the bottom edge of the roof.

Work your way up from there until the roof is covered. It took three lines each side for us.

Leave the house to sit and grab your clay pot. In order to break it the way you need to, take two pieces of something solid (we used some pieces of wood we had) and hold one on the inside while hitting the outside with the other object, directly in front of where you’re holding the first object.

This should provide a more controlled break.

You will want to break it all the way down to the bottom and open up the front to make layers as shown in the photo.

If you accidentally break too much off, simply super glue the pieces back on that you need to fix.

Now, you will need to assemble your layers with dirt on the inside of the pot.

You can choose to do this however you like, and it may depend on the types of plants you are using.

Fill your pot halfway with dirt and begin choosing broken clay pot pieces to make the layers.

Simply bury them partially in the dirt long ways to create an illusion of a layer.

Be sure to leave yourself enough room to plant your plants in each layer and place your house at the top.

Once you have your layers set (we did three, two small and one large one at the top to be sure the house was secured) add in more dirt and slowly pack it down.

Keeping adding and packing the dirt until you have it filled and your house can sit on the top with stability.

Your house should be finished drying by now.

Place it on the top however you like. We faced ours outward in order to build steps along the edge.

We then used a small piece of clay pot as the front door step.

We used the few flat stones and placed them in the dirt about every half inch or so until we were close enough to the bottom to make it look like stair steps.

We also used a small piece of the clay pot to act as a doormat!

After placing our stones, we simply worked around the house and décor and started planting our plants.

We liked the droopy look where the plants were hanging over each layer. However, you can plant them however you like.

This part took us the longest because it truly makes a difference in where and how you place the plants. It changes the look!

There are so many ways you can customize your fairy garden.

We simply covered the basics and in no way, covered even a small portion of all the neat things you can add.

Most of the items we retrieved from the woods for decorating which can turn into a fun outing.

That’s it! Pretty easy right? Now it’s time to embellish with all those fun little accessories you find at the craft store.

I’m going to place mine in my garden and add more houses and fun little pathways, ponds and bridges. What will YOU do with yours?

You’ll probably also love these fun projects:

Easy Hanging Herb Garden

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Thanks for Sharing!