How To Make Realistic Looking Water For Fairy Garden

Water features can create a focal point in a fairy garden, diorama or miniature garden that just brings the display to life.

Fairy garden streams, river and ponds are also fun to make and there are limitless possibilities with a huge range of products and designs to try.

Before we get into it, if you're in a hurry and want to know the best product for making water features for fairy gardens then try Woodland Scenics Realistic Water – it's easy to use and looks very realistic. You can buy it here.

Here's some general tips and tricks for planning and making fairy garden rivers, streams and ponds.

Types Of Water Features For Fairy Gardens – The Basics

I'm pretty new to modelling water effects, so I wanted to share a little bit about what I've learned so far.

Firstly, the two main types of water you can create are still and flowing water:

Still water is used to make ponds, puddles, small lakes or for deeper areas of rivers.
Flowing water is used to make rivers, streams, waterfalls, seascapes and fountains.

You can use the same products to make both, but the techniques used are different.

When making still water, you don't need to add any ripple or wave effects (unless you want to!).
When making flowing water, you'll need to add a layer of texture on top of the still water to give the illusion of movement.

Creating water texture can be done with specialist water effect products such as Woodland Scenics Water Effects or use PVA glue such as tacky glue or Mod Podge Glossy to create surface ripples.

You can even just use some white acrylic paint to give the effect of surface ripples. Whichever method you use, you'll have to wait until your base layer of water effects is completely set before you add anything to the surface.

In the model I made below, I used white acrylic paint on Woodland Scenics Water Effects to create the illusion of flowing water.

I have written a huge blog post about how to use resin, water effects products, PVA glue and other materials to make water and waves, so check out the post How To Make Fake Water For Miniature Water Features to find out more.

Below, I walk you through some of the easiest and most fun ways to add fake water to your miniature project.

1. Miniature Polymer Clay Pond

I have lots of polymer clay so I decided to have a go at making my own miniature pond out of it.

This is how I made a tiny pond:

I used Cernit polymer clay to create the base of the pond and folded the edge of this over to made the sides.
I then added small stones to the sides of the pond before baking the whole thing in the oven at 140° for 20 minutes
Once it had baked and cooled, I added a layer of Mod Podge to the stones to seal the edge of the pond. I did this so the water effects liquid didn't bleed through.
I then painted the bottom of the pond with a mixture of brown, green and yellow acrylic paint. I also added a bit of sand and a polymer clay koi carp as well. I made the koi carp out of polymer clay, using one of these moulds.
When everything was fully dry, I poured 3mm of Woodland Scenics Water Effect into the pond. This takes a whole 24 hours to dry.
Once it had dried, I noticed there was a sizeable air bubble in-between the pond wall and the stone near the middle of the pond. I popped this bubble and added another layer of water effects liquid.
It took a lot of patience and two days of drying out, but when it had, the pond was looking pretty good!

2. Miniature Mirror Fairy Ponds

This has to be the easiest method of creating a fairy garden pond or lake. All you need to do is pop a small mirror in your fairy garden and disguise the edges with moss or small stones.

You can also use mirrored acrylic sheets to create this effect or you can buy these specially cut in the shape of a miniature lake, such as these ones. But ponds made out of acrylic sheets aren't suitable for use outdoors.

You could even use a smooth piece of tinfoil for a pond surface for indoor fairy gardens. Mirrors, foil and shiny acrylic sheets work particularly well for Christmas or winter themed fairy garden displays.

3. Water Effects From Coloured Gems And Crystals

I'm using the terms gems and crystals loosely here as, really, any sparkly stones or glass can create a beautiful water effect and will be much cheaper! You can use beads, bio glitter, small stones, fire glass (the glass pieces used in fire pits), sea glass or glass pebbles to create a sparkling fairy pond. Basically, as long as it's sparkly and shiny, you can use it as a water effect!

Clockwise from the top left: gem stones, beads, sea glass, fire glass and glass pebbles.

If you're making a fairy garden with kids then be very careful if you're using fire glass or sea glass (or glass of any kind!) and use gloves to avoid cutting yourself.

TinyCreationsandMore on Etsy has created this lovely fairy dog park, using blue glass to create a pond effect.

Image courtesy of TinyCreationsandMore on Etsy.

If you're building your fairy pond outside, then it's best to use larger stones or crystals so they don't become lost in the soil. You should also avoid using small plastic pieces of anything in outdoor fairy gardens as these can cause harm to wildlife if eaten.

The best option for outside fairy ponds are coloured glass pebbles. These are stocked in most garden centres and hardware shops and can add a lovely sparkling pond or river effect to your miniature garden.

FairyElements on Etsy uses small sparkling stones to create a stunning fairy ponds and rivers. The one below looks like the perfect place for a fairy to cool off!

4. Make A Fairy Pond Out Of A Plastic Sheet

My model train enthusiast father-in-law shared this tip with me for making fake water – use a sheet of acetate on top of a blue piece of paper! It's a very simple technique and it obviously doesn't look realistic, but it's a really easy way to make a miniature pond if you're making an indoor fairy garden with kids.

You can paint or draw pictures of fish, plants, rocks and anything you want to make the finished pond look more detailed.

Here's how I made the one above:

I cut out a pond-shaped piece of blue paper and painted it with blue, brown and green acrylic paint. The paint I used ended up being very bright, so I think next time I'll use a darker blue!
Once the base layer of paint had dried, I painted on a couple of goldfish and let these dry.
I then stuck the paper pond to a piece of scrap card to make it more sturdy.
When everything had dried, I used PVA glue to stick the acetate sheet onto the painted side of the paper to make the shiny pond surface. When that had dried, I cut the edges off the acetate so it was the same shape and size as the cardboard pond.
When the PVA glue had dried (I could tell this as it was no longer white), I glued some stones around the outside of the pond and one in the pond to finish it off.

The pond is obviously not realistic but it was a really fun project to try out with my five-year-old daughter. It now lives in the garden of her Barbie dollhouse!

You don't actually need acetate to make this pond, you could just add a layer of PVA glue on top of your painted pond surface to get a lovely glossy water effect.

You can also make ponds out of sheet plastic too. This is a little more complicated but a lot of fun if you're up for an experiment! Check out the instructions here.

5. Make A Realistic Pond With Fake Water

If you're building a diorama rather than a fairy garden, you might want something more realistic looking for your pond. This cute koi carp pond is much more complicated than the one I made, but I have to admit, it does look a lot better!

It's made from foam board, cement and stones, and is filled with resin.

TOP TIP: All of the above techniques can be adapted to create rivers and streams for your fairy garden. All you need to do is change the shape of the base you're using!

6. Make A Miniature Stream With Fake Water

You can use PVA glue, epoxy resin or specialist water effects products to create a realistic water effect for any miniature water feature. All of these need to be poured in thin layers and each layer needs to be set completely before adding another layer to add depth. I've written in depth (ha ha!) about this in the blog post How To Make Fake Water For Miniature Water Features.

To create the effect of moving water on PVA glue and epoxy resin, you'll need to add another layer of the product and add texture to this with a brush or stick.

If you're using a specialist water effect product, once the base layers are fully dry, you'll need to use a specific product from the same brand to add texture to the final layer. For example, Woodland Scenics have an entire water effects system with products that can be used together.

Below I've posted some useful videos covering the best way to make water effects for rivers and streams.

Epoxy Resin Water Effect

PVA Glue Water Effect

Woodland Scenics Water Effects Product

7. Make A Fairy Garden Stream From Glass Pebbles

As well as using the above techniques to make realistic looking rivers and streams, you can also use the techniques from the top of this post and adapt them to fit the shape of rivers and streams.

In the image below, you can see how blue shiny pebbles have been used to make a beautiful fairy garden river. This cute stream is made by FairyElements and is for sale on Etsy.

8. Use Buttons For Fairy Garden Streams And Rivers

Again, this is not the one to go for if you want a realistic look for your water, but using buttons to make a river can add a super cute feature to your fairy garden.

You can combine blue, silver, white and green buttons together to make a river or stream and either stick these down to a curved cardboard template or let them 'flow' free.

The button technique is best used for indoor fairy gardens. You can also use buttons to decorate your fairy garden as they come in a variety of designs including leaf and animal shaped buttons.

9. Coloured Sand Fairy Garden Rivers

Coloured craft sand is often used to add colourful layers in terrariums but it can also be used to create fairy garden rivers and ponds. Also known as decorative sand, this material is used in a range of craft projects and can be mixed with PVA glue. So you can glue the sand to a base board for your fairy garden or take a more natural approach and just pour it where you want it!

The great thing about craft sand is that you can put cute features such as fairy bridges or little rocks in it and it will look as though the 'water' is flowing around them.

You can buy craft sand from hobby shops, but if you want specific or more vivid colours then check out Etsy as there's a huge range of options to choose from. The beautiful deep blue sand below is from adorablyimperfect on Etsy.

Image courtesy of adorablyimperfect on Etsy.

10. Hot Glue Waterfalls For Fairy Gardens

Hot glue is the material of choice for making miniature waterfalls! It's super simple as all you need to do is press out a few lines of hot glue onto a metal or glass surface (this is so it doesn't melt the surface and it's easy to remove), wait for this to cool and then stick it to where you want your waterfall to flow from.

A similar technique is to apply strands of hot glue to plastic and then attach the plastic to the top of the waterfall – I imagine this will be a less fiddly technique!

I've trawled through loads of videos and the one below seems the most simple for using hot glue to make a mini waterfall. If you need to invest in a hot glue gun, try this one from Amazon.

You can use the hot glue waterfall technique for waterfalls in real or artificial fairy gardens – or in a mixture of the two!

Finally, Some Tips For Looking After Your Fairy Garden

Indoor fairy gardens don't need much looking after at all, other than a quick dust from time to time. But if you're using real plants then you'll obviously need to follow the care instructions!

Outdoor fairy gardens do need a little more planning and care:

Choose a shady spot for your garden so the sun doesn't bleach the colours out of your water feature or other accessories.
Make sure the garden is sheltered from the wind so any loose elements in your miniature garden (including parts of the stream or river) don't get blown away.
Cut back fast growing pants regularly and avoid planting these in your fairy garden, I planted some nasturtiums in our outdoor fairy garden last year and a few weeks later you couldn't even see the garden they had grown so much!
Avoid using containers to put the elements you're using for your stream and rivers in. For example, if you use a bowl filled with glass pebbles for a pond, then you might find water will collect in this and turn the pebbles green over time. It's fine if you want this look, but worth bearing in mind if you don't!

There you have it, 10 ideas for creating streams, rivers and ponds in your fairy garden that range from super easy to much more advanced, so there's something for everyone to try!