My First Fairy Garden Doors

I was so impressed with how great popsicle stick fairy doors look, I had to try it myself. What I didn’t know is that they’re quick easy projects you can do with your kids. Very satisfying without a ton of effort.

Fairy Garden Tools

I gathered stuff from around the house… found the old popsicle sticks, raided the sewing tins and junk drawers for buttons, thumbtacks, jewelry. After my first two, a ‘fairy door shoebox’ filled with tools and goodies, was a necessity. I started with Gorilla Wood glue, with hopes that they will hold up to water outdoors and in fairy garden containers. Its rated indoor/outdoor use with Type2 water resistance, but what I like about this glue is that it sets quickly and theres no foam like with regular gorilla glue.

Fairy Garden Door Construction

Its a rather straightforward process. Lay popsicle sticks out to create the design you want. Cut two cross pieces to hold it all together and glue. Pick out cool buttons, charms from old jewelry, moss and glue it on. I used wood stain on some, paint on others and left on bare. Here are the first two.

Add some color! I have a thing for red doors. After posting this picture on facebook, I found out so much more about red doors. “Feng shui says that they are good luck.” “In China, it’s tradition to paint the front door red before the new year, to invite good luck and happiness.” “In Catholocism, the red door on a chapel symbolized the blood of christ, and other martyrs, to signify that the ground beyond the door (inside the church) was holy, and a sanctuary from physical and spiritual evils.” “In Ireland, front doors are painted red to ward-off ghosts and evil spirits.” And last but not least, It is just a “pop” of color for a house. I had no idea!

So I kept going, loving every minute of it. Honestly, they go so quick you can do a half dozen of them in no time.

At this point, I had a question. How do you get these things to stand up. Most fairy doors Id seen online were attached to a tree, but I wanted to put them in containers. So I did some searching and I found the most impressive fairy door Ive ever seen. Its elaborate and breathtaking with a ton of detail.

I was inspired to say the least! Since we were just working with the hole boring drill bit to build our hoop house cold frame (and i didnt have to go outside in 20 degree weather to get them) It made the most sense to attach the doors to branches, then drill holes the size of the branches in a base. This is what I came up with. I poured a little glue into the holes to get them to stay.

My First Fairy Garden Doors

How to Build A Cold Frame

Cold frames are great for all sorts of garden related things… Storing plants you didn’t get a chance plant the previous year. Extending your growing season for cold weather veggies, and hardening off seedlings you started indoors.

Good thing cold frames are so easy to build. Sure you could buy a cold frame kit, but theres not much to building one yourself. Any scrap wood, any old garbage picked window and you’re good to go. Some key things to think through during your cold frame construction.

Location.
If you have a south facing location to put your cold frame, preferably close to the house, this will provide the most heat. Size and shape? Thats totally up to you and your location.

Solar Angle
As far as the angle to set the window, the general rule of thumb for winter is your latitute plus 15 degrees for the optimal solar angle.

Air Flow
When its COLD, you want your cold frame to be air tight. That means filling any gaps between the wood or windows. ALSO, it gets super hot in a cold frame when the sun is blazing down on it, even when its not hot outside. It smart to attach your windows with hinges and devise some sort of prop to hold the windows open slightly for ventilation. It’s also smart to invest in a cheap thermometer to monitor your temps.

Here is our south facing cold frame.

Size and shape were 100% determined by the location, the wood and the salvaged windows we had laying around. It could use some soap and water, but overall it blends nicely. The window is not set at an optimal angle, because it wouldnt be tall enough in the front to actually fit plants in, but Im sure it will suffice… temperature reading in mid February was 50 degrees, on a 30 degree day.

Another smaller (prettier) cold frame at a better solar angle. Wood salvaged from freecycle.org

Dont have windows? Plastic works just as well. You could staple or clamp 4 mil plastic right onto your wooden box. Just make sure its easy to open and close so you can check on your plants AND that it stays relatively air tight when you close it back up. We’ve even built a wooden frame to staple plastic on, and then clamp onto the cold frame.

Cold frames are easy, just about anything that will retain humidity and keep out damaging, drying winds will do. Even something like this milk jug clotche.

How to Build A Cold Frame