21+ Crazy Cute Dollar Store Fairy Garden Ideas

Looking for dollar store fairy garden ideas?

The dollar store is one of the BEST places to get cheap fairy garden supplies (and I’ll give you a ton of dollar store fairy garden ideas in this post) – just look at this cute fairy garden we made almost entirely with fairy garden accessories from Dollar Tree:

But, you don’t HAVE TO stick just to the pre-made fairy figurines!

If you’re planning to make a fairy garden with your kids (or without the kids), I STRONGLY suggest a trip to the dollar store to see what you can find there before you buy any more expensive supplies else where.

If you look in the spring, the dollar tree (and most other dollar stores) do have sweet fairy garden figurines – like this tiny red truck…

This little bridge is from the dollar store too, and all the the tiny houses for this dollar store fairy garden are from the dollar tree! There were so many to choose from, but we just bought three of them. A little pinecone house, one with an upside down flower for a roof, and this one with a leaf roof.

Here’s our little dollar tree fairy garden – isn’t it cute?

It’s super fast to make your own fairy garden when the “décor” is ready made – you just plonk the stuff into your planter, and add some plants!

However, the dollar store is also a FANTASTIC place to pick up supplies to make DIY fairy garden accessories. 

Here’s 21 dollar store fairy garden ideas that look amazing

1) Buy your planters at the dollar store

Baskets, large bowls, or decorative buckets all make great fairy garden containers and can readily be found at the dollar store. You can find terrarium bowls at the dollar store, and you can even make a fairy garden in a tea-cup – see:

I have spent (don’t judge me!) over $60 on a single fairy garden planter just because I needed a certain “kind” (like a birdcage or a wheelbarrow) but the dollar store is a GREAT place to get affordable planters.

2) Use aquarium rocks as ground cover

Aquarium rocks are the PERFECT substrate to create tiny paths or give your fairy gardens a “clean” look – we used aquarium rocks in the above dollar store fairy garden we built in an old wheelbarrow!

We also used them in the bottom of this birdcage garden:

Just pour a layer of them on top of the dirt AFTER you’ve planted your plants (and before you add your fairy garden décor).

3) And crushed seashells

Just like aquarium rocks, crushed sea shells make a great ground cover. We used them in this garden a long the “river bank”:

4) Pick up perfect pebbles + river rocks

This is something that surprised me- I always thought of rocks as being so readily occurring in nature, I would never have believed you if you said I’d one day buy them from the dollar store for my fairy gardens… but I have and I do. LOL.

5) Crushed glass makes magical “rivers”

In this sea-side themed fairy garden, I used colored crushed glass to make the “water”.

6) Faux plants can give fairy gardens life all year round

Another thing I never actually imagined buying for my fairy gardens – but some fairy gardens, depending on the container they are in, or the environment they are in, just call for faux plants. The above pictured beach theme garden used faux grass from the dollar tree!

7) Seashells make great roofing materials for fairy homes

I also used dollar store sea shells for the beach theme fairy garden!

I have seen seashells used as a roofing material for fairy houses. 

8) And so do buttons

I created the roof for this little fairy house with buttons!

9) You can build ANYTHING with popsicle sticks

I make soooo many things for my fairy gardens with popsicle sticks! This little sign for example – and here’s a ton more popsicle stick fairy garden ideas.

 

10) Dollar store bird houses make great fairy houses

Creating your own fairy houses can be daunting – but decorating a bird house from the dollar store is really easy!

Here’s a little dollar store bird house that I covered in concrete and painted:

11) Acrylic paint adds color

I paint SO many things that I create for my fairy gardens with acrylic paint. It holds up well outside and it dries really fast!

I painted these tiny gardening tools green because I wanted to cover up the markings on the empty can I used.

12) Terra-cotta pots painted + tipped upside down make cute houses

Just like it sounds! Grab a tiny pot, paint it up and voila! Easy fairy house.

13) Wood Slices make great steps and bridges

It is SO much easier to buy wooden coins than make them, if you ask me.

We used wood slices from the dollar store to make these steps for this little wheelbarrow succulent fairy garden:

14) Faux plants can be fairy plants

These tiny little “planters” are just faux plants trimmed down and glued into pots (and anything can make a cute pot – a painted bottle cap or an upside down acorn cap, for example).

15) fake moss stones fill in the gaps

Fake moss comes in sheets and also as stones!

We used faux moss stones for this garden. I loved that it was an easy way to cover some of the “empty” spots.

It did discolor outside in the sun, but that didn’t bother me.

16) Glitter + Gems are a brilliant dollar store fairy garden idea

When you’re making a fairy garden for a child, plastic gems and glitter can really add that element of magic.

These things aren’t something I LOVE to add to my fairy gardens, but let me tell you, my kids think they’re AMAZING.

You can scatter plastic gems around and hide them under plants.

17) LED lights make things magical

If you’re building an indoor fairy garden, never hesitate to add LED lights.

This fairy garden in a lantern uses LED lights and turned on in the evening it looks spectacular:

(It also uses a bunch of other dollar store fairy garden ideas we’ve talked about here, like faux moss, faux plants and river rocks! )

18) Let your imagination go crazy in the toy isle

Tiny cars can become fairy transport, and dollhouse sized beds can be fairy beds.

You can also dismantle toys to turn them from one thing into another… here’s a tire swing from a $1 toy truck and some hemp string:

When you’re only paying $1 for something at the dollar store, it doesn’t seem to painful to rip it apart to make something else LOL.

19) Hemp string or ribbon

To make the tire swing above, we used hemp string from the dollar store.

You can also use it for making a rope ladder (like the one in this post), a fence, or bunting!

20) Craft wire

Craft wire is great for making SO many things – we made the grill for this tiny fairy BBQ with craft wire from the dollar store.

(The rest of it was also made with dollar store and “recycled” things – old wine bottle tops, black acrylic paint, and wooden skewers!)

21) Wooden Skewers

As you can see above in the tiny BBQ picture, wooden skewers (often found in the kitchen isle of the dollar store vs the craft isle) can be used to make plenty of great tiny things!

I used twigs to make these little chairs and table for our broken pot fairy garden, but you could cut wooden skewers to make them too:

22) Polymer clay to build ANYTHING your fairy garden needs

Dollar store polymer clay is not the BEST quality – if you were going to make things from it to SELL, I wouldn’t suggest getting it from the dollar store.

However, when you’re just creating things to last for one season, dollar store clay is fine!

You can make anything your heart desires from it – like these tiny clay toadstools:

Check out this whole list of diy polymer clay fairy garden accessories for beginners to make.

23) Glue to hold it all together

Of course, any time you’re going to be making any of your own fairy garden décor, you’ll want to have glue on hand.

For example, this tiny log cabin used a TON of glue lol.

Grab that from the dollar store too!

What are your favorite dollar store fairy garden ideas?

Is there anything that you love to grab from the dollar store when you’re making a fairy garden? Let me know what else should be on my list of dollar tree fairy garden supplies!