DIY Hanging Fairies

From idea to finished product, these hanging fairies took me a LONG time to finesse. Granted, I am an obnoxious perfectionist, but I was also creating them for my Etsy shop customers, so they needed to be perfect. Everything from their fingers to their little noses was drawn and re-drawn so many times my hands aged in the process.

But now finally, I am happy with them and happier to be able to share them with you. These are lovely hung in a little girl’s room or over a table at a fairy birthday party. They would also be a beautiful addition to an indoor fairy garden. If you do make these I would love to see how you use them!

Visit my SVG Shop to purchase my collection of hanging fairy SVG files.

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Materials:

Cutting Machine
Cardstock Paper
Bone Folder Tool
Ruler
Double Sided Tape With Lining
White Glue
Small Paintbrush
Clear String

Step 1: Cut fairies

Cut two fairies out with your cutting machine along with the hanging notch. You will need two of the same fairy design for each hanging fairy.

Update: My hanging fairies (Avaline, Kahlia and Seraphina) have all been updated with dotted fold lines at their wings (see below). If the red dotted line at the base of the fairy wing in your file is showing up as a solid line, please change it to a dotted line for cutting. 

Step 2: Create fold lines for fairy wings

Update: You can skip this step since the fairies have been updated with a dotted fold line at the wings for cutting. Of course if you still prefer to create the fold line by hand, you can delete the dotted fold line on your fairy before cutting and proceed with this step.

Create a fold line in each fairy wing. I use a bone folder tool but another tool I’ve discovered that’s great for fold lines are metal knitting needles!

In my fairy designs it should be obvious where to create the fold lines, basically where the wings meet the fairy’s back. Keep this line in mind if you are designing your own fairies.

Step 3: Attach hanging notch

Below are guides on where to place your hanging notch on each fairy. These guides are also included in the PDF file of your fairy download folder. 

Flip one fairy cutout over so her head is to the left. Put hanging notch in place* and tape down with double-sided tape. Keep the lining on the tape.

*The location of the hanging notch is very important as it will determine the angle at which your fairies hang.

Step 4: Align two fairies

Align second fairy on top of the first one, with the fold line facing upwards. This part may take some micro-maneuvering. I like to make sure all fingers and toes are perfectly aligned so it looks neater.

Step 5: Tape fairies together

Here is why I like to use the tape with lining: you will be taping the two fairies together, and with the lining in place you have the freedom to move the top fairy around until it aligns with the bottom fairy.

Once you’re happy with the alignment, hold down the fairies with one hand and with your free hand lift up one side to get access to the double sided tape. Remove the tape lining—I use an x-acto knife to peel the lining off. Make sure you are still holding the top fairy in place, then press down the top fairy onto the tape underneath.

At this point, you have two options: you can move on to the next step where we GLUE the two fairies together or you can save time and simply add more double-sided tape to different parts of the fairy to attach the parts together. I like the glue method because it’s a cleaner look, but the tape method works fine. Especially if you need these done quickly. The glue method takes a little more time.

Step 6: Glue fairies together

Using a small paintbrush, apply glue to one fairy and press both fairies together. Start in the area closest to the tape and work your way outwards, gluing a small area each time rather than applying glue to the entire area at once. Work from the tape towards the feet and likewise on the head side, work from the tape towards the head. Glue the arms together last.

Optional: after fairies are glued together, place it between wax paper and let dry between two heavy books to flatten.

Step 7: Open wings and attach clear string to notch

Open your fairy wings by folding back on the fold lines. Tie clear string to the notch for hanging. Use a double or triple knot to make sure the string stays tied.

These fairies are so light they will hang by taping the string to the ceiling with scotch tape. You can also create a loop at the end of the string and hang these on a hook.

When your fairy is hung you can adjust the wings to adjust the angle of the fairy’s body. Open her wings wider to make her hang more horizontally. Make sure both wings are opened equally or your fairy will hang lopsided.

And your lovely fairy is done!

Please share your fairies and tag us on instagram at @chaivdesign. We love to see them!