How to Make DIY Pixie Dust (Without Glitter!)

Create your own pixie dust with this easy DIY activity! Whether your kids want to make a magical blend of homemade fairy dust to safely sprinkle around the house, or you’re hoping to find an enchanted aromatherapy blend to help ease kiddos into a calming sleep routine, this DIY pixie dust tutorial is sure to do the trick. With just a few simple ingredients, you can mix up your homemade fairy blend in no time…

We had a small overnight visitor this weekend who was a little nervous about staying over without her parents for the first time. She’s going through a serious Peter Pan phase (as in, she loves watching it over and over and OVER again).

Determined to make it a stress-free, fun weekend for both of us, I quickly checked my random item inventory and pulled together this DIY fairy dust project.

After a visit to a Michigan lavender farm, we’ve been attempting to grow our own, so we have a lavender plant outside I was able to pick some fresh lavender from before she came.

If you aren’t trying growing lavender (as I assume most are not!) don’t worry – you can use a scented oil or buy lavender buds. With the addition of a few gathered simple supplies, I was able to throw this little kid plus adult DIY together at the eleventh hour.

After a Peter Pan marathon, we made our own “sleeping spell” and “energy enchantment” pixie dust bottles and cast a magic spell over each of them.

After the little one went to sleep, I added a couple of special little touches to make the bottles look extra magical, filled them with our homemade pixie dust, and put them by her bed so she’d find them in the morning.

Little did I know how into our fairy dust-making project that kiddo was going to be! She LOVED helping in the kitchen by mixing the lavender into the baking soda, putting a “magic spell” on the jars, and waking up to her own enchanted pixie dust concoctions. She had tons of fun sprinkling a bit of magic “energy” all over the house.

And maybe the best part? She could not WAIT to go to bed so she could use her special sleeping spell dust under her pillow! There were no tears and with the aid of a little natural magic, she was asleep within minutes. This project is honestly the gift that keeps on giving.

Do your little ones love mixing activities like this? Try making your own simple paint potions lab – a low-prep process art activity that allows little alchemists to explore the magic of combining household ingredients with watercolors or colored water.

How to Make Pixie Dust – DIY Instructions:

Prep your pixie dust jars.

Wash and clean 1 or 2 old spice jars or salt and pepper shakers – using some that already have shaker lids with very small holes is the most convenient! I actually used a couple with cork lids because I thought it looked most authentic, even though it added an extra step.

Drill 2 small holes in the cork lids (optional).

If you’re using cork lids as I did, soak them in water for a couple of hours to soften them. Using a drill and 5/28th drill bit, make 2-3 small holes in the cork for optimal shaking delight without the worry of finding unexpected enormous baking soda piles.

Use Mod Podge and glitter to add sparkle to your jars.

If you want to add instant magic to your pixie dust, without the mess of glitter – this is the way to do it! 

I wanted to add some sparkle to our fairy dust jars, but if you don’t have glitter or Mod Podge already, it’s not necessary! I drizzled a little Mod Podge into the bottom of our jars, added 1-2 drops of water, and threw in a handful of glitter. After swirling it around (being sure to evenly cover the sides) I let it dry for about 20 minutes.

This gave me just the look I was going for, and there’s zero chance your kid will wake up with half their face glittered. Bonus. 🙂

Make the fairy dust mixtures.

This is a great time to get the kids involved! Combine the baking soda and lavender (or citrus) in a small bowl. Don’t have lavender buds or citrus peel? Just use about 3-5 drops of essential oil instead. I used both to give a little extra zing to ours.

Cast your spell…!

L didn’t hit Level “Super-Excited!” until we placed our magic spell on the powder. Suddenly, we were actually doing magic. And for this step, I have to thank J.K. Rowling – because I pretty much threw together a few words I had remembered from Harry Potter books and did a little (very) amateur rhyming.

Fill the jars with the linen powder fairy dust.

I did this step on my own overnight because L hadn’t seen the glittered jars or labels, and I knew it would make it more special if she woke up to them ready.

Add a pixie dust label.

I printed mine onto an old sheet of Avery address labels I had lying around. But you can also print them onto a piece of paper or card stock, trim, & tape! Even though our labels are formatted to be 2″ x 4″, I trimmed them to fit the bottles.

Our printable fairy dust labels include a pre-formatted PDF for #18163 Avery Shipping Labels with (1) of each design.

Because not every kid is a big pixie fan, I’ve also done an alternative set of labels for “Drowsy Dust” and “Power Powder”. These go over better with kids who may be more into wizarding than fairies!

After we ” dusted “, we made a big deal of smoothing, fluffing, then turning the pillows over with extra verve and dramatic flair after we “dusted” them. This little performance adds to the sense of sorcery, but it also prevents the linen powder from sitting on the top of the pillows and getting in hair, faces, and eyes during the night.

Even with what looked like reasonably large holes, it took a decent amount of shaking to get much baking soda out. It’s just enough to satisfy kids without creating a big messy pile of fairy dust.

We decided to stick with the lavender and citrus as a “wake-up” and “calm down” pixie dust set, but there are so many ways to make it your own!

If fairy play is a favorite, stop by our DIY pixie peg doll tutorial, or make a magical set of paper leaf wands.

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