How to Make a Solar Powered Fairy House

Have you made a fairy garden yet? You can check out the fairy garden I made last year, here. 

This year, I'm upping my fairy garden game with a DIY fairy house that I made myself. 

But this isn't just any fairy house! This fairy house is made from recycled materials AND it's solar powered! 

The solar powered roof collects sunlight during the day--and then at night, the windows of the fairy house will glow! Sweet!

A big thanks to SolarCity for sponsoring this fun tutorial. If you want your solar capabilities to go beyond your fairy house to your people house, be sure to check them out (tell them I sent you!).

How to make a DIY fairy house

Supplies

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• Tiny pictures frames 
• FolkArt Outdoor Paint (steel grey)
• Translucent plastic bottle*
• Scissors or craft knife
• Mod Podge Collage Clay in Vanilla
• Fairy door 
• Small river rocks
• Q-tips
• Solar powered garden light*

*In order for this project to work for you, the diameter of the top part of the solar light must be 1-2 inches bigger than the diameter of the bottle you are using. Choose your light and bottle accordingly.

Directions

DIY fairy house step 1: Prep the windows

To make the windows of my fairy house, I used some mini picture frames I found in the bargain bin area of Michael's.

The particular frames I bought were pink (the only color they had). To help them coordinate with the fairy door, I started by giving them 2 coats of grey paint and letting them dry completely.

DIY fairy house step 2: Prep the bottle

To make the body of the fairy house, I used a bottle I had from an iced coffee beverage. It had a narrow neck and wider bottom so I used some heavy duty scissors to cut the top off.

DIY fairy house step 3: Assemble the house

I gathered these supplies for this step of constructing the fairy garden house (clockwise from top): Mod Podge collage clay, small rocks, painted frames, fairy door, and plastic bottle.

The collage clay is like a combination clay and adhesive that is the consistency of frosting. I started by drawing a line of collage clay on the back edges of the fairy door so I could adhere it to the bottle.

Repeat this step with the back edges of the frames and adhere to the bottle. It's ok if the clay squishes out from the edges of the frames and door.

Then, starting near the edge of door, I applied some collage clay to the bottle. It's not perfectly smooth - and that's ok!

Then, following the outline of the door, I pressed some rocks into the collage clay.

I continued adding collage clay and rocks along the outside edges of the door and windows. I also used Q-tips to wipe away excess collage clay poking into the inside of the window frames.

Once the door and windows were outlined, I kept going to fill in the other areas on the plastic bottle with more collage clay and rocks until the whole bottle was covered like a little fairy cottage.

Once done, I had to set it aside so they clay could dry. Mine took about 12 hours in a room with a fan to completely set - but the package says that depending on the thickness of the clay and the humidity in your area, it could take as many as five days

DIY fairy house step 4: Add the roof

To make the roof of the fairy garden house, I unscrewed the top off of a solar powered garden stake.

Once the clay on the fairy house was dry, I set it on top of the house.

Because I wanted to be able to access the underside of the roof as needed (like for swapping out the battery), I chose not to glue the roof onto the house. It fits quite nicely just being set on top, though!

That's it!

Set your fairy house in your fairy garden to gather sunlight and then take a peek as night falls and you'll see the glow of the little fairies staying up late into the evening!

Printable Fairy House Instructions:

Yield: 1 house Author: Carissa Bonham for Creative Green Living

How to make a DIY fairy house

Make your own DIY fairy house using recycling bin finds and a solar powered garden light. It's the perfect fairy garden house for all your fae friends. This fairy house can take a few days to finish setting up and drying, so give yourself plenty of time to work on the project if you have a deadline in mind.

supplies:

• Tiny picture frames (any color)
• FolkArt Outdoor paint in steel grey
• Empty plastic bottle
• Scissors or a craft knife
• Mod Podge Collage Clay in vanilla
• Fairy door
• Small river rocks
• Q-tip style cotton swabs
• Solar powered garden light*

instructions:

1. Prep by the tiny picture frames by painting them with the FolkArt Outdoor paint and set aside to dry completely.
2. Cut the top off of a plastic bottle. If your bottle is very narrow at the top, cut the bottle at the widest point.
3. Use the Mod Podge Collage Clay to adhere the fairy door and windows to the plastic bottle. Continue using collage clay to add rocks around the edges of the windows and doors before filling in the main body of the house with rocks. 
4. Clear up any clay that squeezed under the picture frame windows with a Q-tip style cotton swab. Set house aside to dry (can take up to five days depending on humidity in your area!).  Consider putting it in a dry room with a fan to expedite drying process.
5. To make the roof, unscrew the top of a solar powered garden light and place it on top of the house (mine is not secured to the house to make it easier to swab out batteries in the future as needed)

notes

*In order for this project to work for you, the diameter of the top part of the solar light must be 1-2 inches bigger than the diameter of the bottle you are using (measure at the point where you cut the bottle). Choose your light and bottle accordingly.

For more detailed photos and instructions, visit CreativeGreenLiving.com

http://www.creativegreenliving.com/2016/05/how-to-make-glow-in-the-dark-solar-powered-fairy-garden-house.html

Copyright 2016, Creative Green Living

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Once again, a big thank you to SolarCity for sponsoring this craft powered by the sun! Be sure to visit their website to check out their people-sized solar power solutions (tell them I sent you!).

About the Author:

Carissa Bonham is a lifelong crafter and mom of two creative boys. The owner and lead writer at Creative Green Living, she won the Craftys Award for the "Best Craft Blogger" category in 2016 and the ShiftCon award for "Best DIY Blogger" in 2018.

Her creative pursuits don't stop at crafts - she is also the author of the hardcover cookbook, Beautiful Smoothie Bowls (Skyhorse, 2017) and several ebooks. Her projects have been featured in magazines like Kids Crafts 1-2-3, Capper's Farmer and Urban Farm Magazine. Follow her on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter or join the Creative Green Living community group.

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Sponsored post disclosure: This post was brought to you by SolarCity. Fairy house craft, photos, instructions and opinions expressed are copyrighted and 100% mine. For more information on sponsored content, see my full sponsored post and review policy.