Liza Gardner Walsh - Fairy House Handbook

Copyright 2012 by Liza Gardner Walsh

All rights reserved.

Cover photograph by Benjamin Magro

Interior photographs by: Brian Jeffery Beggerly, Liza Gardner Walsh, Eric Hill, Antoine Letarte, Emily Lilienthal, Michael Maggs, Benjamin Magro, Ari Meil, Nancy Quinn-Simon, Bresson Thomas, Amy Wilton.

Specimen box built by Celeste Crowley

April Victorias Lavender Faerie Cookies originally appeared in the Herb Companion, April/May 1993. Reprinted with permission.

Design by Lynda Chilton

ISBN 978-1-60893-173-6

Printed in China

5 4 3 2 1

Distributed to the trade by National Book Network

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication information available upon request.

CONTENTS

Beginning

Scouting

Gathering

Building

Accessorizing

Attracting

Expanding

Recommended & Reading Resources

Acknowledgements

Beginning

And as the seasons come

and go, heres 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

natures things, you might

just see a fairys wings.

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

Step outside. Listen carefully. Do you hear the rustling of wings? The jingle of bells? Do you see a faint orb of light out of the corner of your eye? It may be that there are fairies nearby. Are butterflies following you? Sometimes fairies like to disguise themselves as butterflies. As you walk, look down at the ground for a fairy ring. What are fairy rings, you ask? Dont worry, well cover all of this.

If you are committed to taking care of fairies and creating places for them to visit, they are no doubt watching you. And maybe, just maybe, you will catch a glimpse of one of them. Remember, though, that they are very private, and not everyone has the ability to see them. To increase your chances of seeing a fairy, they say you can make a special lotion out of four-leaf clovers or you can look through a self-bored stone, one that has a hole in it made by wind or waves.

Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice in Wonderland , offered the following advice on how to see a fairy:

The first rule is, that it must be a very hot day that we may consider settled: and you must be just a little sleepy but not too sleepy to keep your eyes open, mind. Well, and you ought to feel a little what one may call fairyish the Scottish call it eerie, and perhaps thats a prettier word; if you dont know what it means, Im afraid I can hardly explain it; you must wait until you meet a Fairy, and then youll know.

And the last rule is, that crickets should not be chirping...

So, if all things happen together, you have a good chance of seeing a Fairy...

Working with fairies is a trusting business. You build, they come, and every now and again they may leave you little signs that they appreciate your hard work. We will talk about the signs of fairy visitations later, because right now I want to remind you that trying to see fairies is not the only reason to build fairy houses. What are the other reasons, you ask? One is that if you take care of the fairies, they will take care of you. By building them a house, you are appealing to the organized and neat side of a fairy. Fairies love order. The sight of four walls, a roof, and a cleared out space in the messy, unkempt woods gives fairies an infinite amount of joy. Similar to how your mom feels when you clean your room without her even asking (a great thing to try, by the way). But there are more reasons. When one of our young local experts, was asked this question, she said the following about the business of fairy house building. Thats a good question. Believing in fairies is one reason. It can kind of make fairies think humans arent so bad and maybe then they will show themselves. It also can help you on how well you can build a shelter. Another friend said he makes fairy houses so the fairies dont feel left out. And one more said, I feel like Im helping tired fairies make a pit stop.

Now we need to back up and ask a few vital questions. What is a fairy house? As one of my young friends said very concisely, it is a small house we build in nature for the fairies. Exactly. But how do you make one? What materials do you use? Are there any rules? Where do you make them? This book will answer all of these questions. And dont worry, you do not need to live near the woods to build fairy houses. Backyards, city parks, or even a little garden plot will work just fine. Fairies can be comfortable in most places as long as there is green space and natural materials around. Which brings us to our first rule, the biggest, most important, and maybe the only firm rule in fairy house building: fairy houses must be made from materials found in nature. You got that? Sure, fairies love glittering gems and shiny marbles, but not in their houses! They like admiring these things in the human world, but bring them into the fairy realm and you are guaranteed to make a fairy mad. And a mad fairy is not a good fairy. Dont worry, this is not a problem. The list of materials to build with is long because there are endless supplies of natural materials to choose from.

So, now that we have that covered, here are the most important things that you need as you begin your career as a fairy house builder: a good imagination, an ability to work in the woods for long periods of time, a bag or box to hold the things you collect, a pair of binoculars in case you see something hovering around you while you work, respect for fairies and the natural world, and a good dose of curiosity and inventiveness.

This book is for those of you who have always wanted to make a fairy house but have never dared. It is for those of you who have been making them for years but might need a few new tricks. It is for moms, dads, grandmas and grandpas, aunts and uncles, and anyone who likes to build, create, and be outside. It is filled with pictures of fairy houses made by kids like you. I think you will find as you create these little houses that something takes over, that the fairies lead you to the perfect spot to build and provide you with just the right materials, and that the quiet of the woods, park, or your backyard allows your true creativity to unfold.