The Craftiest Thing I Have Ever Done, Take 2, Fairy Houses

Where did this start? How did this start? I think I saw charming pictures on Pinterest of planters with fairy houses, like below, and decided that was just what my children needed for an Imaginative, Enchanting Childhood. Just think of the hours they will spend carefully setting up and playing with the houses, anticipating tiny people living in them, dutifully tending to their gardens, spending happy hours outside!

Here is what I imagined creating, only even better!  I did NOT make these:

With spring fever, I dived into make fairy/leprechaun houses.  You start with bird houses then disassemble, paint, glue on rocks, branches, attach dried moss, dried flowers, visit craft stores no less than 10 times, and so on. I had Justin buy a special Dremel with a small jig saw attachment so as to remove roofs and make openings in the back, making easy access for play.  With each new hassle, I thought "this will be worth it in the end!" I sent the older boys on long walks, ordering them not to come home till they had filled two sacks of twigs (for door headers and structural reinforcement) and lots of pinecones (for roofing material). I bought loads of new plants with "does this look like a tiny tree or bush?" in mind. 

Working on the houses made an enormous mess, strewn out on my dining room table for days at a time. Moss and pinecones and paint everywhere. Justin was really starting to worry about me.

I hadn't finished with the houses, (I had at least 5 in the works), they were missing the finishing details, but I used a couple of them on a fairy themed lunch table. (see header and below)

Then one warm spring day, my heart softened and I thought 'why not let the kids play with them now?' also, I wanted them out of the way, so I took them outside.  That's when disaster struck.

At first there were moments like this.  They were playing and imagining! Sticking snails and slugs in the houses, but I'll take it. Soon I found the houses in shambles. Whitman's goal was to pick the houses apart.  If you look carefully, you can already see he's made some headway on the chimney. I spent no less than an hour carefully bricking that chimney! Jerks. 

After that, I took a good look at myself and gave up. I hate unfinished projects, I had come so close to the dream. Friends had been tolerating stories about my fairy house development for a while, ("Sorry, I'm busy tonight, laying the pinecone roof for my tall house.  Good news, the escape ladder is almost done!") But even I knew I had put far more time into this project then anyone would ever get out of it. So I slapped the houses into the unfinished planters, in their unfinished yards, unattended yards, and there they remained for the rest of summer.  They had a few snails pass through them, but that's about it. My kids won't have an Enchanting Childhood. The end.

My only successful planter, and it's Fairy House-less.

The Craftiest Thing I Have Ever Done, Take 1, Hand Puppets

Several times this year I have caught myself saying "this is the craftiest thing I have ever done!"  And Justin, amused, shakes his head and wonders who he married. Because I like extra credit and praise, here is the first project I said that to: hand puppets.  But not just any hand puppets, this set is of my sister Juliann and her family!  See below.  A younger Grandmother-aged woman in my church pulled out a set of hand puppets she had made of her family years ago, when her kids were young, and I nearly died.  Adorable, funny, ripe for humor. 

I had Juli's name for Christmas this year and the rest was history. The idea of her opening up a box, finding little puppets inside, and putting together the pieces of who's who delighted me.

You wouldn't believe how I studied photos of each face in new way, trying to capture them in puppet form. Juli has a wider smile, Jason a longer nose, sewing those tiny eyelashes was nerve wracking.

 

Violet gave Max, their son, a stuffed puppet owl for Christmas that year. (We just bought it at a store.) So Max-the-puppet is holding a mini version of that puppet owl. Are you following me? A puppet holding a puppet!! I'm panting with delight.

Of all the faces, I had to study Jimmy-the-dogs the most. Imagine, me studying a dog's face.

What I really, really wanted to do, and you'll believe me when I tell you this, is set up the puppets in real life situations and photograph them, playing with the depth of field so it looked real. If only I had a 2nd pair of willing hands and some extra time! They could have been having a small squabble in the kitchen while preparing dinner, sending a smirky Max to time out while Jimmy chewed a shoe...So many wasted possibilities. 

I want a puppet set of my own family, but fear I will never complete it. Poor Trevor and Davy have lived their younger childhood years going without!  Also, I want to make a puppet Nativity set that the kids can use every Christmas to act out the Christmas story. So far all I have done is cut out some puppet robes and a few beards.