Childlike Magic

As a child growing up in the forests of Vermont, building fairy houses was one of my favorite pastimes. I would wander in the forest, find a special place at the base of a tree, clear away the pine needles and ground cover, and build homes for the magical folk I was sure appreciated my efforts. I’d divide rooms with twigs and branches, make beds out of moss with leaf blankets, and leave them colorful meals of berries in acorn tops. Returning the next day to check on them, I was sure the fairies had visited as the beds were often disrupted, and the berries gone.

Now that I have children of my own, fairy magic has come back into my life. Creating these tiny homes in nature sparks their imagination and is also a creative craft you can do as a family. Constructing the houses can be as simple as gathering and rearranging items you find in the forest and your home garden. Here are a few ideas for constructing a more elaborate fairy house of your own. Enjoy your fairy house and the joy it brings to your family!

• Construct the house out of a cardboard box cut into the shape of a house, cutting holes for the door and windows, then gluing thin sticks along the walls and roof to create the “logs.” Windows can be made into stained glass using glassine or tissue paper. You can also construct a house out of a natural fiber planter turned upside down with holes cut for windows and doors. A large piece of birch bark in its natural round shape makes an excellent fairy house.

• Go on family walks to collect treasures for the houses a few days before building. Look for rocks for the front door path, pine cones for fences or chimneys, and acorn tops for baskets. Bits of bark, moss, milkweed, dried mushrooms, feathers and tiny flowers are all great for decoration.

• Use Sculpey or Fimo polymer clay (found at any craft or art store) to make tiny fruits, flowers and vegetables for a fairy garden. Bake at a low temperature in the oven to harden the clay. Dried and fresh flowers also make a sweet addition.

• Cut tiny prayer flags out of fabric or colorful paper and string them on sewing thread between two sticks to make the yard festive.

See the Fairy House photo gallery from Ingalls Photography.