Miniatures are fun to make, I used to make miniature sculptures when was in school but I don't anymore. Among all kinds of miniature crafts 'miniature garden' is my favorite! they look so fresh and adorable.

While and after making my first miniature garden I've learned a lot about mini gardens, such as- how to make mini garden decors by myself, what kind of plants are good for mini gardens, how to take care of them and so on.

This time I wanted to take my miniature garden skill to the next level and I'm really happy with how it turned out :D

In this ible I've tried mt best to show the instructions of every single decors of this miniature garden. I hope this ible is helpful :)

Step 1: Things You'll Need

To make this garden you'll need:

A concrete pot - it should have a drainage system for excess water,
Soil mix and sand,
Plants - suitable for mini garden,

For decoration:

This is the fun part, you don't have to buy a single piece of decoration for this mini garden because I'll show you how to make all these mini stuffs :D

Small tree branches, sticks,
Glue (hot glue, white glue, wood glue),
Scissor, utility knife,
crafting Paper,
Thick paper,
paint and brush,
Concrete mix,
others....

Step 2: Selecting Plants

Not all kinds of plants are suitable for miniature garden, you'll have to select the plants carefully.

Here's a list of plants suitable for mini gardens,

Dwarf trees,
succulent plants,
Preserved moss,
Miniature ivy,
Baby tears etc.

Do not push or smash the plants into the soil,
Make a hole in the soil before planting each plants,
In my mini garden I planted a dwarf tree, moss plants, a few plants which require less water and less nurturing.

Step 3: Selecting a Pot/ Vessel

Selecting a pot for the mini garden is very important,

Make sure that the pot or vessel has enough space at the bottom for holding soil, has drainage system for excess water,
Another important thing, the pot should have a large open surface as we are going to add a number of mini garden features,

Step 4: Mixing Soil

Soil mix is a must for miniature garden.

Soil mix is good but organic potting soil is considered as the best for mini gardens.
I filled the whole pot with organic soil mix,
The soil mix was dark, so I filled the top of the soil mix with a layer of sand (the sand layer is less than an inch).

Step 5: The Mini Cabin

This is the only thing that took a while to make, but I loved how it turned out!

I used a simple template for the cabin- see the first picture of this step,
I did a free hand drawing of the template on a piece of paper and then cut the template parts out using a scissor,

When you'll have your template ready, get all the small tree branch sticks and a utility knife,
Place the tree logs (one-by-one) on the template, mark the area that matches with the template size and use the utility knife to cut the branch sticks on that marked area, start measuring and cutting branch sticks from a side for each part of the template,
This should take a while,

When you'll have all the small sticks ready for the cabin, arrange them on their template appropriately,
I applied wood glue on top of the arranged sticks, especially between every 2 sticks,
Allow the glue to dry,

After the glue dries use the wood glue to join all the parts of the cabin together.
Later on I added a door to the cabin made out of cardboard.

You can add more features to the cabin if you want to, I was too excited to complete the garden so I didn't go for more details :D

Step 6: Mini Furnitures

I've been making these mini benches and tables ever since.... I was a kid :p they're sooo cute and easy to make.

I didn't take step-by-step pictures for a few mini garden decors (bench, table, gardening tools, fences...) this time as I already had the pictures in my first mini garden ible. So I added those pictures and details in this step as well,

You'll need small tree branch sticks and glue (white glue, hot glue or super glue) to make these.

Use anti-cutter to cut the sticks.
The size of the mini furniture and other stuffs would depend on the size of the mini cabin.
To make the bench I made you'll need 10 pieces of small tree sticks.
3 pieces for the seat, 4 pieces for the legs and 3 or 4 pieces for the back.
Cut a small piece of paper, glue 3 sticks on it (to make the seat). Now turn it over and glue 4 sticks on 4 corners for the legs. Finally make the back and glue it to complete the bench.

Similarly make the table, except for adding the back.

I also applied a coat of brown poster color on the bench and table.

Step 7: Mini Fences & Ladder

Again you'll need smaller sticks, anti-cutter and glue.

For each fences cut 2 sticks equally and place them in parallel.
Now glue small sticks on them vertically.

This is the easiest way of making miniature fences, but you can make fences with different patterns by using crafting wires.

I also made a mini ladder using the same technique.

Step 8: Mini Gardening Tools

For the mini gardening tools use thick crafting papers.

For the watering pot you'll need to cut out 6 pieces of thick papers. I've numbered the parts as, a- the vessel, b- spout, c- rose, d-handle, e-bottom, f-cover.
Fold and glue each parts individually as shown in the picture and then glue all of them together to form a watering pot.

Making the bucket is even easier.
Cut a small piece of paper, roll it and glue the sides.
Glue a round piece on the bottom.
Take a small piece of wire and attach it as the handle of the bucket.

I colored the watering pot and bucket with golden glitter paint

Step 9: Mini Planters & Plant Markers

I made these mini paper planters for my first mini garden but I noticed that the planters were not able to hold the plants after a week.
At first I decided not to make them for this garden.
But they're so cute and make the garden look quite realistic, so I changed my mind, decided (again) instead of adding plants I'll add tiny plant markers, just for show

Mini Planter
Cut a small piece of paper ( I used 3 X 5 cm), roll it around your finger and glue the sides.
Now fold any one side of the rolled paper to form the bottom of the planter. Use tape or glue while folding.

Mini Plant Marker
Cut a tiny piece of paper (I used 1 X 2 cm),
Use a marker to write down a few plants name on the paper,
Glue the paper on a small stick and allow the glue to dry.

Fill the planters with soil and then push the plant marker in it.
One plant marker for each planter (too sad these plants will never grow out :p )

Step 10: Mini Birds House

You'll need thick paper, scissor, glue, pencil and a small stick to make the birds house.

I did a free hand drawing of the birds house template on the thick paper,
Use a scissor to cut the parts out and anti-cutter cutter to cut out the small hole on the house,
Simply glue all the parts together and color it as you want.

Glue the house on top of a small stick and place it in the mini garden by pushing the stick into the soil.

Step 11: Mini Welcome Sign

Collect 2 small branch sticks (one small and another one relatively longer, white marker pen and wood glue.

Write 'welcome' on the small stick using white marker pen,
Glue the small stick on the longer stick horizontally with wood glue, allow the glue to dry,

Simply push the stick into the soil in front of the house.
I placed the sign beside a fence.

Step 12: Mini Concrete Path & Stepping Stones

Mini concrete paths are way easier to make rather than the real ones!
Gather sand, white cement and water to make the cement mixture for the mini path and stepping stones.

Mini Path:
Measure 1 part cement and 3 parts sand and mix very well,
Pour a small amount of water into the mixture and mix them well with the water,
The cement mixture shouldn't be too thin as you'll have to create a pathway shape and mini stepping stones with it.

Firstly, I made a guess of the length from the front of the house to the fences, it was 7 inches. Also noticed that adding a little curve on the path would look nice.

I placed a polythene paper on a flat surface and poured an amount (enough to make the pathway) of cement mixture on it and formed a basic path shape,
Kept it like that for 10 minutes and then used an anti-cutter to cut off some cement from the sides of the path to make it look smooth on the sides,
You can also use a sharp edged tool to draw stripes or tiny squares on the path while the cement is wet.

Mini Stepping Stones:
Take a small amount of cement mixture on hand, (don't forget to were gloves),
Roll the cement mixture on hand and press the roll to flatten it.
Allow the cement to dry.

Step 13: For More Tiny Details

For more tiny details you can add a lot of features.

I collected-

Tiny snail shells,
Small stones or rocks,
Glued 5 small tree branch sticks together (pretending as if they're tree logs!)

Get creative and add tiny details as you wish :)

Step 14: Decorate the Garden

Now that we have every mini stuffs ready for garden start arranging them.

I planted the dwarf tree first, then added 3 small flat concrete pieces to place the cabin, furniture,
Added the rest of the decors and plants one by one.

There! Done :)

Step 15: Mini Tips!

I really want to start gardening so I made this mini garden as a start,
I'll be taking care of this mini garden and once I get better at this I'll start my own garden (a big one!)....

Anyways, here are some tips for taking care of a miniature garden-

Decorate your mini garden with plants that are suitable for miniature garden, I think it's better to use plants which require less nurturing such as, vining plants and succulent.
If you want to add plants in the tiny paper planters make them without bottoms otherwise the plants won't grow and eventually die,
You can buy miniature garden accessories from stores but it's way fun to make'em yourself!
Use a dropper to water the plants in the mini planters and other plants,
Keep a water spray bottle to spray water over the mini garden everyday, making sure it looks and feels fresh,
The mini garden should be placed in a spot where air and sunlight can function easily. I placed my miniature garden in my balcony.
Don't forget to water and take care of the garden every single day.

phew! didn't know very much about gardening, but my first miniature garden ible was quite helpful in this case.
If you have any suggestions, tips, advice for this garden please leave a comment and correct me if there's any error, that would be really helpful :D

Enjoy!