Make a Little Church for Your Miniature Garden

5 Materials
Miniature gardens fascinate me, they take us back to our childhood and I love getting lost in them and living, even if it’s only for a moment, in a tiny world where anything is possible. One of my favorite people, my Aunty G, feels the same way. She’s like the Pied Piper when it comes to us kids, we all just want to be around her and I’m almost 50, lol. To celebrate her birthday we wanted to make her something different, something that would always remind her of how special and loved she is. So we decided to make her this miniature garden with a little thatch roof church.
Like most of our other miniatures we used a wooden tissue box to make the church. You should be able to find something similar at a craft store or you could use a shoe box that’s been sealed with outdoor mod podge.
The first thing we needed to do was change the look of the tissue box so we measured the sides and played around with some ideas until we were happy. A friend of ours cut the design out of hardboard for us and we stuck the new sides on using silicone glue. To make the a support beam for the top of the roof we drilled a hole on each side and inserted a wooden skewer and hubby cut up some hardboard to use as a base for the actual roof.
We stained the whole lot using a water proof outdoor sealer and started gluing on small stones to give the church a rustic look. To make the door we glued ice cream sticks to the door frame, stained and white washed the sticks and then stuck on bits of jewelry to make the hinges and door handles. That what’s so nice about miniatures and fairy gardens, you get to be so creative.
To thatch the roof we used coconut fiber (coir), masking tape and tacky glue. I found the easiest and least messy way to thatch a miniature roof is to first stick the coconut fiber onto some masking tape and then layer it starting from the bottom and working your way up.
We found a small concrete planter which was the prefect size for the little church. Just add few stones, rocks and small succulents and the church is done.
View from the top
I've posted the full tutorial on the blog if you'd like to make one. We'd love you to come say hi from Hometalk.
Suggested materials:
  • Tissue box
  • Coconut fiber
  • Stones
See all materials
Michelle Leslie
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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