How To Host a Fairy House Party

We love building fairy houses and have been constructing them all over, though mostly in our backyard, for more than a year. Slowly, we have introduced our hobby to our friends, building houses together during playdates. And then we decided, not long after going to the Fairy Village at the Florence Griswold Museum, to have a party with all of our friends.

Step One: Pick a time of year when there will be a lot of materials to work with. Fall, after the leaves are down and before you rake it all up, is perfect. Spring would be okay, too, with all the detritus of winter--just remember one of the main rules of fairy house building is "no living things." In other words, don't pick the flowers!

Step Two: When you invite your friends, suggest they start gathering their own materials to bring to personalize their houses. Also, advise them to wear outdoor play clothes.

Step Three: It's good to have other activities. Fairy-house building is not for everyone. And even enthusiasts (especially our preschool-aged ones) will tire of it after awhile. So, we started by reading Tracey Kane's illustrated tale of fairy-house building, Fairy Houses. This introduced the activity to novices as well as laid out some suggestions for building and rules to follow (no living or artificial materials). By then, our guests were excited, so we went on a quick nature walk around our suburban neighborhood to find additional materials (which we placed in paper bags I provided).

Step Four: Then it was time to start building! I suggested different structures--"teepee" or "lean-to"--to help each group (usually a mom and child) get started, planting the main sticks for the little ones. Then they enthusiastically finished and decorated each house, making suggestions to each other, sharing materials, and admiring the creations. The moms were as interested as the kiddos and got into the design of the houses (kudos to Mommy Goose for her interior decoration!!).

Step Five: Provide lots of snacks! While there is a great proliferation of precious and pink fairy food in special fairy cookbooks, I think fairies themselves would probably eat more natural things. So, we had veggies and dip, fruit salad, some breads, and yes, of course, some chocolate chip cookies!

Step Six: I took pictures of the houses-in-process and then with their creators after they finished. And got several pictures of all the houses arrayed under our tree.

Step Seven: Send something special home. I had several ideas about crafts to make, from magic wands to fairy silhouettes, but none struck the right tone. So, instead, we made peanut butter pinecone birdfeeders; after all, birds are friends of the fairies, right? And they took them home in their nature walk paper bags.

All in all, it was a great day, about which Bud said he dreamed last night; Sis is hoping for a repeat soon. Perhaps come spring . . . .