The Fairy House Remodel

A few weeks ago I participated in a library-sponsored fairy house-building program. I do not consider myself skilled when it comes to crafts, so this was outside my comfort zone and really stretched my imagination's capabilities. Recently an exchange of comments took place following a post by @quirky.countess, in which I promised to tag @dreemsteem when I got around to posting about this adventure. Here we go!

This is what I took home after the program! I used a plastic ice cream bucket for a base, dried leaves and both dried and fresh moss on the sides, buttons to outline a doorway, and feathers glued to a paper plate for the roof. All of the moss, leaves, feathers, buttons, etc., were provided by the library.

But then I wasn't sure where to put my creation! I really didn't have room in my house, but the paper plate roof was not going to hold up outdoors. As a compromise, I put it out on our covered deck, and then the paper plate roof blew off one day. So I decided to remodel. (Note to @jacobtothe: the gnome contractors were not available, so I had to make it another DIY project.)

Some of the moss had been quite damp when I first put it to use, and it didn't stay glued in place. One of the stones I put along part of the bottom had also fallen off. So my first task was to glue those back in place.

This is looking better!

A brief ramble in our woods produced plenty of potential building materials.

With only a slight plan in mind, I began layering bits of bark on the top of the bucket.

I continued to layer the bark, attempting to cover the plastic so it can't be seen.

Now I'm getting somewhere with this!

I added some bits of moss and lichens here and there, and used something that was almost like hair to cover the edges near the top. It was growing on a larch tree, and I'm not sure what its proper name is. The original door was bits of a pinecone glued in the button doorway. I took those off and glued a smidgen of fabric in its place. I'm still not sure about that upside-down butterfly! I might re-do that doorway one more time.

Here is a view of the back side.

Since heavy rain was in the forecast, I opted to put my remodeled fairy house back on the patio table for now. I hope to move it back under the tree when the weather gets a bit more summery.

All photos except the first one were taken on my Android phone. The first one was taken by the librarian in charge of the program and is used with his permission.