I often find I wish for books for months before I buy them.  Then they arrive, and I am lost in the deliciousness of pages I had wished to devour for what feels a lifetime.  Same will hopefully hold true for Barry and Tracy Kane’s, Fairy Houses.  It’s pretty self-explanatory.  It sounded like a fantastic and magical childhood activity, but I kept thinking…NO, we can’t build Fairy Houses NOW.  It’s WINTER.  In INDIANA.  Close up.  Go home.  Shop is closed for the season.

Sunday was in the the 50’s and Cousin Avery came for an afternoon of play.  But this isn’t a FARM.  I grew up in the country.  This is Spec Home city, with an endless array of .4 acre lots.  That’s POINT 4.  Not 4.  I spent my summers on hundreds.  How on earth would we find enough natural materials to build an enticing fairy house in winter, in a subdivision?  But you know how I am when I get my idea on…

So we grabbed up some pails and headed over to the empty lots.  We collected rocks for a foundation and sticks for some walls.  Then we circled the small pond to gather dried up leaves for the floor.  We cut some tall dried grasses out of my sleepy flower beds.  We grabbed Sara’s recently painted pine cones.  We found a small soft dirt circle where Greg removed a dying tree last year.  And we got to WORK.

The girls were in love with this idea almost immediately.  After we built the basic structure, we went to swing on the playset.  But that Fairy House just kept drawing them back across the yard.  First they decided to add sand to make it softer.  Then grasses.  Then mulch.  Then Kelly both added and ate some dirt.  They spent 2.5 hours on their Fairy House, almost non-stop.

I see many more of these in our future.  I encourage you to read the rules of Fairy House construction before beginning.  The basic tenets are that materials must be natural and must do little to disturb the surrounding landscape.  Don’t let a little thing like “city living” stop you.  God’s beauty is just outside your door…apparently all year ’round.