Why Dollar Stores are the Best Places to Shop for Fairy Garden Supplies

Last Updated on April 4, 2022

Part of our fairy garden setup a couple summers ago. The house, fairies, and many of the accessories shown here are from dollar stores.

A few years ago, some of my family members got interested in making fairy gardens. It started with my mom, and she then gave me a few items for my birthday one year to build my own fairy garden. Now, my children also set up their own fairy gardens each spring.

Fairy gardening is a popular hobby that involves creating miniature scenes with artificial houses, various small accessories, and fairy figurines or other small statues. You can set up a fairy garden directly in a garden on the ground, or you can create one in a raised bed or in flower planters, or really wherever you want to put one. You can even create a small fairy garden in a planter or attractive box indoors in a sunny window or in a sunroom. There are no rules except to have fun and make it look nice.

More of our fairy garden setup, with the houses, fairies, and many accessories from dollar stores.

I’ve had a few friends and relatives ask me where I buy fairy garden supplies. They can be expensive depending on where you buy them, and because you usually need multiple pieces (houses, furniture, etc.), the cost can add up quickly. A ceramic fairy house alone can cost you at least $15 — and even higher — on Amazon or at garden centers. Aldi sells fairy gardens sometimes, but even though Aldi is a discount retailer, I can still find fairy garden supplies for a lot less at other stores.

This is where dollar stores come in. In addition to being great places to buy some basic gardening supplies such as seeds, planters, gloves, and trowels, dollar stores are also fantastic places to get houses, fairies, fairy furniture, and other small garden figures and accessories.

$1 fairy garden accessories — a sleeping fairy and a tea cart — at Dollar General in March of 2022.

A $1 fairy garden mailbox at Dollar General in March of 2022.

I have purchased or found fairy garden accessories at all of the major dollar stores — Dollar Tree, Dollar General, and Family Dollar. In fact, one year for Easter I filled my kids’ baskets with $5 Family Dollar fairy garden sets that each included a ceramic house, a fairy, and several smaller accessories such as a log teeter totter, welcome signs, and a frog figurine and a bench for the frog to sit on.

Last summer, I also bought $1 ceramic garden figures at Dollar General, including a cute little sloth.

Fairy, house, and other small items from the dollar store in our fairy garden collection.

All of the fairy garden houses and accessories I’ve bought at dollar stores have held up well with minimal fading and no cracking over several years of outdoor exposure, too. I bring them in and store them in my garage during the winter so they aren’t exposed to snow and ice, but otherwise they’re out in the elements for most of the spring, all of summer, and well into the fall.

Fairy garden houses, cars, and even camper trailers at Dollar Tree in later winter of 2022.

Dollar stores are not to be underestimated when it comes to buying fairy garden supplies that are not specifically about fairies, or gardens. I’m talking about colored rocks or plain stones, marbles, colored or plain sand, and all the other little things enthusiastic fairy gardeners like to use to create paths, imaginary “water” features, beaches, and more.

A few pieces my kids picked out at Dollar Tree this spring: an ice cream figure, and a pack that includes a turtle, owl, and frog.

Buying fairy garden supplies from dollar stores turns a potentially expensive hobby into a much more affordable pastime. For $5 or less, you can purchase several items to get a good start on your fairy garden, and you can add to your fairy garden collection over time as your budget allows.

So if you’ve been thinking about setting up a fairy garden but weren’t sure about the cost, or if you didn’t want to spend a lot of money on it, go visit your local dollar store and see what you can find. You might be pleasantly surprised.