Barbie has teamed up with TV presenter and ecology and wildlife expert Ellie Harrison to bring your windowsills to life this spring with a fun, fairy-filled window box that will attract the prettiest of butterflies and insects. Your children can help every step of the way with our how-to guide to installing a window box with the right type of flowers. Plus we can send you exclusive Barbie Thumbelina fairy cut-outs to flit around your box and add a bit of fairy magic!

Getting started with a window box

Choose the right window sill for your box to sit on. Ideally, it should be in quite a sunny spot (don’t worry if you can only find a shady one. It should be wide enough for a standard window box to fit safely on.
Get the right window box from your garden centre, one which fits to within 5 cm of the frame of your window, either side. If you can’t find the perfect match, why not get your kids to help you make and weatherproof a basic wooden window box?

Think about what plants you need for your window box. Will your kids choose some trailing plants and some with upright flowers, go for a wildflower riot or just have a box of daisies? Here are a few helpers to steer them along the right paths:

If it’s shady go for Impatiens, Pansies or Fuchsias (go or a sweet-smelling variety of the latter for a heady evening scent!).
If you’re away a lot choose plants which can withstand some time without water, like trailing Lobelias, upright French Marigolds or Geraniums. Herbs like Rosemary and Oregano also don’t mind some time untended.
For wonderful scents choose climbing sweet peas or trailing sweet alyssum.
If you like it wild, go for a whole box of Ox Eye Daisies, Cornflowers, Poppies or delicious-smelling Lavender. These might also help attract birds and insects to your garden.
Try some dwarf sunflowers .

How to prepare a window box

Line the box with a thin gauze like muslin or some dried moss, then put a thin layer of small stones down. Fill the box with pure potting mix, if you don’t have a garden, or a mixture of potting mix and earth from your garden. Make sure the box always has something under it to catch hold the water.
Check the back of your packet, but you can start most of these plants outside from the end of April. If there have been frosts or you’re keen for success, start your window box off indoors, then slowly start leaving it out once the plants are through – first during the daytime, then at night too.

Let the fairies fly in!

Email us for some beautiful Barbie Thumbelina fairy line-art and get the kids to colour them in using wax crayons, so the colour doesn’t run (unless you have access to a sneaky laminator at work, in which case use felt tip and cover them in plastic!). Go to town with glitter or left-over tinsel so they really catch the sun. Cut them out and mount the fairies on bendy straws or kebab sticks. Then firmly stick your fairies in the window box s...

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