Fairy Houses

As the snow melts, daffodils and hyacinth sprouts will begin to emerge, and fairy gardens will be uncovered. 

The beginnings of my fairy garden in our backyard, in 2021.

I am enchanted with fairy gardens. They are whimsical and I love finding them in surprising places: under a flower or next to a tree trunks, maybe under rocks in a rock garden. I also like creating one in my own backyard flower garden.

A fairy garden on St. Olaf Avenue (summer 2019) is large, and has a theme “reading”. You can find many animals scattered throughout the garden, reading books.

Some fairy gardens are elaborate, like one on St. Olaf Avenue in Northfield. The garden is filled all kinds of miniature critters with some fairies, most are reading books. It is clever.

An inviting entrance to a fairy house, at the bottom of a tree trunk. Photo taken: 2019.
A frog enjoying a cup of tea while reading a book. Photo taken: 2019.

My fairy garden is simpler; a table with chairs, with one fairy drinking from a tea cup and another fairy with a watering can…and oh yes, I added a Norwegian troll last summer.

My fairy garden in summer 2022.

I’m planning an expansion to my garden this year with a few trinkets I’ve picked up in thrift stores…a lamppost and wishing well to name a few. 

One of three fancy sheds on display at the Home + Garden show in Minneapolis.

A couple of weeks ago we went to the Minneapolis Home + Garden Show in the convention center downtown Minneapolis. The show always has colorful flower gardens to show off and lots of different vendors promoting their wares.  Every few years we think it’s interesting to go see “what’s new in home-style”.

I like the porthole window in this one…

This year my favorite display was…what I call… life-size fairy homes…uniquely designed sheds that look like fanciful fairy houses. I wanted to bring one home to play in, but they were asking an exorbitant price!  

This shed has a large side window, for a lemonade stand or such fun.

What fun it would be to have an adult-size fairy house in a backyard…especially if it were tucked in between some trees. It could be a great place to set up a small library scene: book shelf full of books, a lamp, and a comfortable chair… or a place for sitting in quiet contemplation…or a fancy garden shed with all manner of plants and dirt, tools and planting supplies…or maybe even a game room?

A side view…

When writing about these sheds, a memory surfaced of playing in a shed in our backyard when I was a little girl. My dad and brother made an adult-size play shed out of scrap wood – nothing fancy like these fairy sheds – but it had a door and a window and that was enough. The neighborhood kids and I played for hours in that shed.

My brother had two photos of the shed. This is when he and my dad were building the shed.
The finished shed. Looks like deep snow that winter…up to our waists.

I’m thinking that subdued memory was what sparked such a joyful response in me when I saw the creative fairy sheds at the Home + Garden Show.

10 thoughts on “Fairy Houses”

  1. Valerie, I love the sparked memory and the joy you find in spotting fairy gardens and in creating your own.

    I love finding them, too, along with stones upon which uplifting messages are painted.

  2. What a joy to read your blog today! I love fairy gardens too – my
    neighbor in Waseca had a darling little one and several years ago my granddaughter started one too. Those sheds from the home
    and garden show are wonderful – reminds me of the term
    ‘she shed’ that is a takeoff of the ‘man cave’. I loved your story of
    your very own shed – what a joy to have that to play with neighbors in! You’ve taken fabulous pictures!

    1. Thanks Shirley.

      I have heard of she-caves. This might be a good example of one! 😉

      I know your love of flowers and gardening would include fairy gardens! They are delightful.

  3. What a fun connection you made with warm memories from childhood! How awesome to live with a sense of wonder!

    1. It was fun to make the connection to my childhood, after the fact.
      I’m glad we went.

  4. Valerie, I love these giant fairy houses! That is like a kid’s dream come true. Wow! We didn’t have a little shed, but we lived across the street from some woods, and we piled rocks and stuff and made our own little areas where we gathered. Thanks for jogging that memory forward!

    1. Your play time in the woods sounds like fun! We also had a woods a block away that we would spend time in.

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