Whether on the outskirts of woods or deep in the woods, under a lone bush or the only tree in your yard, every Fairy needs a home!
I began making fairy houses a few years ago after my girls began attending a near by Montessori school. In the pine grove, the children were encouraged to use fallen twigs and branches, leaves and bark to make little fairy houses up against the base of the nearby trees during their outside playtime. I would get a tour at the end of the day at pick up time and thought they were the cutest things. We've been making them ever since.
Recently I took my family up to the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay Harbor, where they have a special area designated for making your very own Fairy House. I took quite a few pictures of the ones we made and some others to give you some inspiration! Before you begin, there are some rules about these Fairy Houses I'd like to share, especially if you'd really like a fairy to live inside yours.
First - anything you use can't be living. You can use bark, leaves, pine needles, pine cones, broken branches, acorn tops, etc. only if it has already fallen off a tree. Moss or Lichen should not be used if it's still green and still thriving. Once it's fallen off and dried up, it is considered "non-living" then it's ok to use! Second, you can't use anything that you wouldn't normally find in the woods. No plastic, metal, rubber, paper, etc. (the only exception here being - you can also use feathers and shells and that sort of thing - because they are non-living and biodegradable). Third (and most important) don't go into the woods alone or even with an adult if you suspect there is poison ivy, poison sumac or poison oak - because that's just no fun at all!
Other than those 3 rules - there are no rules! You can make it big or small. You can make one house or an entire village. It can take on any shape, a teepee, barn, cottage, mansion, you name it, you can make it!
Now all you have to do is gather your supplies, find just the right spot to build, and invite the fairies to move in. Here are some photos to give you some ideas to get you started:
For your reading pleasure check out Tracy Kane's Fairy Houses book from your nearby library. It will bring the magic of your Fairy House into your heart! Have fun!
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today's post by:
Kerry - Kid Giddy
http://kidgiddy.blogspot.com/
http://kidgiddy.etsy.com/
Congratulations to the winner of this month's challenge 2. Paisley by georgiablue!
Whether on the outskirts of woods or deep in the woods, under a lone bush or the only tree in your yard, every Fairy needs a home!
First - anything you use can't be living. You can use bark, leaves, pine needles, pine cones, broken branches, acorn tops, etc. only if it has already fallen off a tree. Moss or Lichen should not be used if it's still green and still thriving. Once it's fallen off and dried up, it is considered "non-living" then it's ok to use! Second, you can't use anything that you wouldn't normally find in the woods. No plastic, metal, rubber, paper, etc. (the only exception here being - you can also use feathers and shells and that sort of thing - because they are non-living and biodegradable). Third (and most important) don't go into the woods alone or even with an adult if you suspect there is poison ivy, poison sumac or poison oak - because that's just no fun at all!
Grace Hester of gracehesterdesigns has a knack for presentation. One look at her Etsy shop and a quick pa-rouse of her blog and you know, nothing leaves her hands without it looking like it stepped away from a photo shoot.
You can find the tutorial and the freebie download on her blog, here. See the lovely teal and white bakers twine - that little something extra that makes those little tags sing? Well she's even got a little giveaway going on ('til Wednesday 8/18/10) for some, so be sure to check that out as well!
I used two under bed storage bins, filled them 1/3 full with warm tap water, had a plastic watering can for each child, plastic cups in different sizes and measuring cups. If your kitchen isn't fully tiled like mine, consider setting this up in another location with a tile, cement or linoleum floor that can withstand getting wet. Even the garage would work in some climates. Just be sure you choose a safe location and monitor the amount of water on the floor so children can safely move around without getting hurt. 
Since I was doing this a preschool activity, I needed the kids to make it home somewhat dry, I used plastic store bags to make 'smocks' for each of them. I flattened out the bag and cut out a shallow C shape from the middle of the bottom 'seam' of the bag to make an neck opening. Leave 3 inches of the seam on both ends, these will be the shoulders of the smock. Next cut open both sides of the plastic bag all the way to the bottom seam. Snip the handles apart to create ties. This should resemble something like a scrimmage jersey.
These kids played with this set up for a 30-45 minutes, with no sign of getting bored.
