Do you believe in fairies? I do, I do, and I love re-purposing odd bits and turning them into fairy abodes. Like this little Gypsy caravan that we made for a group of travelling fairies that camp out at the bottom of our garden in Spring. And I bet you would never have guessed that we recycled an old lunchbox to make it too.

 

Old lunch box turned into a gypsy caravan that's perfect for a fairy garden. Full tutorial on the blog

Yup, this old, plastic lunchbox 😀 If you remove the handle at the top, it’s the perfect base for a Gypsy caravan. If you don’t have a lunchbox, you can make this Gypsy wagon using a tin can.

 

An old lunchbox gets an epic makeover that made our garden fairies so happy

Okay, before we get to the tutorial, be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. And don’t forget to click the subscribe button so you’ll never miss a post!

What you need

Besides an old lunchbox, you’ll need:

  • Ice cream sticks
  • Bark
  • Gorilla Glue
  • 4 x Wood Slices
  • 2 x Skewers
  • Craft Paint
  • Small Beads (optional)

 

A few fairy things we'll be using to make the gypsy caravan

Transforming the Lunchbox into a Gypsy Caravan

For the roof, we used a large piece of bark. Clean it off first to get rid of any cobwebs and dirt.

 

Use a dry paint brush to clean the piece of bark

Soak the piece of bark in a bucket of warm water and then tie it tightly to the lunchbox lid. As the bark dries, it will take took on the shape and curve of the lid. Depending on how thick the bark is, it can take a few days to dry completely.  If I remember correctly, ours took about a week.

 

Wet the bark and tie it tightly around the top if the lunch box lid

Once the bark dries, remove it from the lid and stick it down permanently with Gorilla glue. There will probably still be a few gaps between the lid and the piece of bark, but that was easy to fix.

 

Leave the bark on the lid to dry completely

All you need is love, trust and a little bit of fairy dust. Click to Tweet

We were out of fairy dust, so we used ice cream sticks instead 😉 They were stained and then cut to fit snugly under the roof.

 

Clad the sides of the lid with ice-cream sticks

If you’re going to clad the lunchbox with ice cream sticks as we did, it’s best to paint the lunch box first. That way, any small gaps between the ice cream sticks won’t be so obvious. To make the door, we used a few more ice cream sticks and some beads for the two hinges and door handles.  That’s the fun bit about making something for the fairies. You can use whatever you have and just let your imagination do the rest. You can find a detailed tutorial to make fairy doors here.

 

Use ice-cream or popsicle sticks to make a little door

To make the windows, we used these pretty little wire bits that I found at the bead shop down the road. We stuck them to bits of aluminium tape and then onto the sides of the lunchbox.

 

Use bead and aluminium tape to make the windows

I ended up changing my mind about the windows once I started putting the Gypsy caravan together and replaced them with round windows instead. That happens sometimes 😉

Finishing Everything Off

The Gypsy caravan is almost finished except for the wheels. After throwing a few ideas around, we decided to make a base from a piece of wood that we cut to size.

 

Old lunch box turned into a gypsy that's perfect for a fairy garden. Full tutorial on the blog

While I stained the base to match, Hubby cut four equally wide wood slices and marked the center point …..

 

Use branch slices to make the wheels

.. before drilling a hole on the mark. The hole needs to be big enough to fit the skewers through. The skewers will become wheel axles.

 

Drill a small hole in the center of the wooden slice

To attach the wheels to the base, position the skewer axles and drill two holes—one towards the front of the platform and one towards the back. Insert a piece of wire into each hole and loop it back into the hole, as shown below.

 

Thread wire through the hole

Insert an ice cream stick in the loops so they don’t slip back through the hole, and then add the skewers on the bottom of the platform.

 

Use wire to attach the skewer and branch slice wheels to the platform

For hub caps, I used some silver beads and just glued them over the tips of the skewers.

 

Add the wheels and use small beads as hub caps

To finish off, I added some embossed metal strips to create a small railing around the platform.

 

Old lunch box turned into a gypsy caravan that's perfect for a fairy garden. Full tutorial on the blog

I think it was at this point that I realized that the windows didn’t seem to fit.  So I cut two ornate window frames from sturdy cardboard and stuck them over the old ones.

 

Old lunch box turned into a gypsy caravan that's perfect for a fairy garden. Full tutorial on the blog

The round windows seemed to fit the whole look better. What do you think? And no Gypsy caravan is complete without a few posters.

 

Resize and print out a few gypsy posters

The posters were mod podged onto the fairy Gypsy caravan.  Don’t you think they add such a lovely pop of color? Sorry, I can’t seem to find the photo I took of the back, grrrr I hate it when that happens.

The fairies made me do it 😉 Click to Tweet

 

Old lunch box turned into a gypsy caravan that's perfect for a fairy garden. Full tutorial on the blog

I love how it turned out, and the wheels make it perfect for all types of road conditions 😉

 

Old lunch box turned into a gypsy caravan that's perfect for a fairy garden. Full tutorial on the blog

There’s even a little ladder that we made by glueing twigs together. I know fairies can fly, but what if Thumbelina needed her palm read or something 😀  She wouldn’t be able to get up there.

 

Old lunch box turned into a gypsy caravan that's perfect for a fairy garden. Full tutorial on the blog #fairygarden #repurposed

Let me know what you think.

 

Top View of the Fairy Gypsy caravan.

If you look carefully, there are so many things you can use to make something for your fairies. We’ve repurposed bottles to make a little toadstool fairy apartment and even a lampshade too. Have you used any unusual items in your fairy garden?

If you like the idea of making a fairy Gypsy caravan from a lunchbox, don’t forget to pin it for later.

 

Old lunch box turned into a gypsy caravan that's perfect for a fairy garden. Full tutorial on the blog #fairygarden #repurposed

 

Oh, and if you’re looking for some of the things we used, we’ve got you covered. Disclosure: Clicking on the links below means we may receive a commission from Amazon. But don’t worry, it won’t come out of your pocket, and it helps us keep our fairies happy 😉

Your Hearts Delight Vintage Lunchbox, Multi
Sale Unicorn SPiT 5771006 Gel Stain and Glaze, Zia Teal 8.0 Bottle, 8 Fl Oz (Pack of 1)
CraftyCrocodile Metal Ribbon for Decor Craft (2', 3 Yards Long)

And if you prefer to buy rather than DIY

Sale Opening Fairy Door and Window with Light, Fairy Doors for Trees Outdoor, Fairy Door, Fairy House Kit, Fairy Garden Decor, Fairy Doors, Fairy Garden Decor, Fairy Garden Decorations, Garden Fairy
Fairy Door and Windows for Trees – Glow in The Dark Yard Art Sculpture Decoration for Kids Room, Wall and Trees Outdoor | Miniature Fairy Garden Outdoor Decor Accessories with Secret Garden Sign
Sale Fairy Doors for Trees, Fairy Door, Fairy Garden, Fairy House Kit, Fairy Garden Decor, Fairy Garden Accessories Outdoor kit, Fairy Doors for Trees Outdoor, Gnome House, Fairy Doors

Sending you blessings and fairy kisses as always. Thank you for popping in for a visit.

Made with love by a Crafty Mix