Make a Fairy Garden With a Laser Cutter

Learn how to make a fairy garden with a laser cutter machine! I used my xTool M1 machine to make a variety of fairies and accessories on stakes so my daughter can play with them in sand, dirt, or rocks. Affiliate links below; read more about those here.

Learn how to make a fairy garden with a laser cutter machine!

My husband has been on a roll lately with ideas for projects. His latest was the solar-powered rain barrel irrigation system…but today’s is a bit different 🙂 Today we’re talking all about how to make a fairy garden with a laser cutting machine—specifically the xTool M1 machine.

Our daughter LOVES fairy gardens, small figurines, and really any sort of imaginative play. She can really get into her own world playing with things. I have a whole bin of figures labeled “miniatures” that she can dig into to all types of play. It’s pretty adorable.

So a few weeks ago I decided to sprinkled wildflower seeds into a bare patch in the yard where we used to have a sandbox. Once they sprouted, they looked like a little fairy garden. Mike had the idea that I could put together some fairy figurines for her to use to play in the dirt.

I shelved the idea because of time. But one night I remembered the idea and started throwing together some figures using elements in Canva. I did a few fairies, a mushroom house, flowers, mushrooms, and some animals—all on stakes, you could stick them into something to play with (dirt, sand, whatever).

First stab at the fairy garden…

I cut out a few of the rough files on some scrap 3mm baltic birch I had on hand. And they were a huge hit! She was sticking them into all of the planters on the patio as “decorations.” (So immediately I thought—these would be adorable plant decorations, too!)

Keep in mind that wood will degrade quickly in wet soil—even protected wood. If you want to use these in dirt or soil, I’d recommend cutting the files out on something like acrylic.

After testing out these cuts, we also agreed that they needed a bit more detail to them. So I went back in and added some more cut-out elements to create some interest. It also helped to tie all of the elements together in a set by using mostly circles and starbursts.

Want more? Check out my tips for Cutting Acrylic With the xTool M1, my post about 16 Free Houseplant Trellis SVG Files, and my review on the xTool M1 Air Assist!

Final files…

So here is a peek at the files I ended up settling on! How cute are they?! My daughter flipped out for them. She loved the added starbursts on the fairies and animals. The girl never misses a little extra flair.

For her first play with these, I emptied out a little bin we have in our art supplies storage area. Then I filled it with kinetic sand. If you’re new to kinetic sand, it looks like regular wet sand and is easily moldable. It is mostly fine-grain sand mixed with 2% dimethicone (a silicone that is frequently used as a protectant in skincare products) and coated with olive oil.

The result is a fantastically mesmerizing sand that you can play with for hours, and it never dries out. We’ve had to throw some out because it gets gross, but the combination of ingredients means that it really never dries out. Very fun to play with.

And it’s the perfect medium for these fairy garden stakes! If you don’t use kinetic sand, regular sand, a bin full of fine pebbles, and Play-Doh are all good options. Again, of you’d like these to live in wood or dirt, I recommend against using wood for the material.

Want to download the files? Do so here!

Want to download all of these files? I’m not selling them—they are yours for free! These are scalable .SVG files, meaning you can cut them out of any material and make them any size you’d like.

I use Grow by Mediavine to deliver all of my freebie files. All I ask in return for freebies is your email address 🙂 You’ll be signed up for my mailing list—but don’t worry, you can unsubscribe at any time.

And you’ll get the Dropbox link to the files as soon as you sign up. Thanks for helping me build my audience and give away awesome free stuff! I hope you enjoy making these!!

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