Building a Fairy House

Growing up in Southern Indiana, I learned to entertain myself with whatever was at hand. My neighbor's yard had an old tree with exposed roots. Inside those roots, I built fairy houses.

This weekend I had an irrepressible urge to try my hand at yet another fairy house, but this time I didn't want the elements to make short work of my efforts. Months ago, I purchased a wooden box from JoAnn's Fabrics, knowing it would make a great miniature room box. A couple of weeks ago when we cleaned the garage, I found a light, a Christmas tree sized bulb on a switch. Last night I set to work.

Here's the empty box, the light fixture and a few "found objects."

I added burlap to the inside walls, and brown paper to the floor. I started gluing pieces of driftwood and roots from a ficus tree around the opening to make a frame. I also made a loft to the right.

I drilled a hole in the back and stuck the light through. I created a "fixture " to go over the bare bulb. The  fixture is a grouping of jingle shells, very thin shells, that gives off a warm golden glow. I also added seashells to the wood around the front opening. Oh, and I made a bed out of palm tree fronds, a "hamburger" sea bean, and three shells. There's also a table made of a stone and olive shells.

Here it is nearly done. There's a sofa made of a seagrape leaf, a footstool of a sea urchin shell, a ladder made of twigs goes to the loft. On the table is a placemat of palm fiber, a shell plate and food. See the chair of twigs?

For me this was like taking a mental vacation. Maybe that's why the Brits say, "Away with the fairies," meaning that someone has lost their mind!