Faerie houses.

Summer is such a busy time for us, we spend more time outside than in. So, i'm feeling very behind on this blog again. This past weekend we took an overnight Trip to Raleigh, NC to visit and expore their science museums. ( that will be it's own blog, once i get my pictures edited. ) While sitting in the childrens play area with Sage, i happened upon the book Fairy Houses by Tracy Kane. It has been quite a while since we have made faerie houses, and this was all the inspiration i needed.
So when we came home from our trip, this was one of the first things we did.

We chose a spot on the edge of the woods, there was a fabulous toad stool coming up, that looked like it might be a perfect table for a faerie tea party! For our first house we used a really cool piece of wood i snagged out of the firewood pile earlier this year. The husband gets quite a annoyed with me for stealing the firewood...but sometimes i just can't help myself. i have several faerie houses inside that were taken straight from the woodpile. :) This is one of those cases. The inside of the log is nicely hollowed out, and it has a perfect front door. There is also a tree knot that is hollowed out and makes an excellent window or secret back door. We set this up up first and then the kids began to decorate it.

If you've never built a faerie house, you can find some basic instructions here How to build a fairy house at Family Fun. There really isn't much too it though, you can make it anyway you like...just make sure to use all natural materials. If you want a bit inspiration, check out Green Spirit Arts blog. She has some of the most amazing faeries houses i have ever seen.

The second house we made, was made from a piece of bark that we found in the wood pile. We used a couple sticks to prop it up and placed it against a tree for support. It was so much fun seeing the kids imaginations really come to life. They began exploring the yard for faerie items. Acorns for bowls, nut shells for seats and baby faerie cradles... My boy found a a flower to use as a broom, and red and yellow leaves to add some color.

We set up a faerie tea party. With fresh blackberries for them to eat, and dewdrop tea in acorn cups. The kids added the flowers to look like the little umbrellas you often see in fancy drinks. :)

The kids had such a good time, they didn't want to stop. i promised them another day of building faerie houses. :) We placed a few gifts inside each house. Fresh flowers and a few ripe blackberries, hoping the faeries would chose the houses we made.

Later that evening, my boy suggested we check the houses to see if faeries had come. Imagine our surprise to find this lovely note. :)

In case you have trouble reading 'faerie' the note says;

Thanks for the house and berries humans. We honor you. The Faeries.




And as the seasons come and go, here's something you might like to know. There are fairies everywhere: under bushes, in the air, playing games just like you play, singing through their busy day. So listen, touch, and look around - in the air and on the ground. And if you watch all nature's things, you might just see a fairy's wing. ~Author Unknown