Fairy Magic

On this lovely, mild, and sunny autumn afternoon, we explored the Wee Faerie Village at the Florence Griswold Museum. Is there anything more magical than seeing a fairy house?  (...And besides seeing actual fairies?)  Visiting more than thirty fairy places!

We started with a Japanese-styled community. Each little home included tiny tatami mats, and this building featured itty bitty traditional storage chests.  Enchanting!

As we approached this glittery home, a little girl grabbed my arm excitedly. "Fairy dust! A fairy dust factory!" she squealed.  (She pounced on me at another house as well, squealing: "You have to see this!")  Could she tell that I found all of these places magical too?

Tofu Girl and I peeked around the other side and found...fairy dust!  So sparkly and in so many different colors. Love those jars with the acorn lids on the left. I think we will be making some of those soon.

Such a sweet home surrounded by flowers and vegetables. Mischief Maker pointed: "Look! See the watermelon?"  (It is the green oval in the middle of the photo next to a cluster of gray rocks and some light green moss.)  The brochure guide offered a story and an "I spy" challenge for each home.

Could this afternoon get any better?  Yes, yes!  The barn-like education center offered two crafts, as well as cider, donuts, and a big bowl of candy.  Okay, back to the crafts: each child could make either a mask or a wand.  Guess which one was more popular.  Moreover, children could choose a short, stubby wooden wand or a long, pointy wooden wand.  Guess which one was most popular.  Decorated with bells, stars, pipe cleaners, and beads, all the completed wands were bright and fun.  I did, however, wrap a foam sticker around the end of Tofu Girl's wand after she inadvertently stuck me in the chin with the sharp tip.  We learned to keep away from the dozens of other kids' wands too.  One mother told her child: "Keep it low!"  As the girl obediently swung her wand down, she nearly clipped one of the guys on staff in the nether region.  He then walked around the craft room cupping himself in protection.  Watch out for those fairy wands.

We spent all afternoon marveling at all the incredible fairy places.  The museum gave every visitor a bracelet made of silver elastic, beads, and bells, and we were supposed to jingle to alert the fairies of our approach.  That meant the many, many visitors created a gentle music as the bracelets tinkled every time we moved our arms, which was often.

Here, Tofu Girl explains that the fairies who live in this home likely climb out and then slide all the way down.  More photos to come in another post.