Since we purchased our castle in the sticks, my husband and I have been spending a lot of time outdoors. Instead of loathing our new chores, we are embracing the change. I am enjoying raking leaves, cleaning up the deadfall in the woods out back, dredging debris from the garden ponds, mulching and so on. I’ve rediscovered the joy of being outdoors. The woods surrounding the house are idyllic. We have a meadow, a fragrant cedar forest and ancient hardwood trees that used to provide shade to cattle when the property was a farm a hundred years ago. Old stone dividing walls still survive intact at the edge of the property. Slowly I’m getting to know my neck of the woods, exploring a little each day. It’s been fun to discover its unique charm–the mossy rock that reminds me of a great big hill, the twin oaks, the circle of gray birches, the old garbage dump with the buried old perfume bottles, the big old stump by the waterfalls. In short, every time I walk around my new property, I become more and more aware of the magic in my woods. It’s a place that stokes my imagination. A day doesn’t go by that I don’t picture some magical creature scurrying in the underbrush. Hell with the vineyard next door, I half expect to run into a satyr skulking around in my woods.
The other day, while clearing a trail from the top of the hill down to the stream, I began thinking about fairies. It occurred to me that the fairy residents of Ravensrook should have respectable homes. After a few hours of work on the trail I came home and sat at my computer determined to buy a couple of fairy doors. Lo and behold I found a lot of fairy doors for sale (who knew!), but none were to my liking. Most were cheaply made out of resin or plastic or they cost a fortune. That’s when the idea struck me to create my own.
I connived my co-author into a crafting session with little or no hope of success. I’ve never worked with wood before or handled a scroll saw so I wasn’t expecting much. We went to Michaels 10 minutes to closing and had to rush through the isles grabbing anything that looked interesting. Within 15 minutes we had a hodgepodge of strange stuff: Gems, abalone fragments, tiny hinges, photo corners, twigs, pinewood boards, the list goes on. We headed to his house and set to work. I quickly sketched some patterns on the wood, plugged in the saw and gave it a go. The first door was a bit of a mess with a lot of splinters along the cut, but as the night went on we found our groove.
After cutting the three doors we began the task of sanding them. Once sanded we chose some wood stain and painted both sides to make the door have a richer wood tone and some protection against the elements. The hardest part of making the fairy doors was screwing on the tiny hinges. I wanted to create doors that actually opened. My fairies would have an actual portal to another world.
We were so engrossed in creating these tiny doors that we both went to bed past 2AM. When the first two doors were finished I was astonished. I honestly never thought they’d come out so awesome. I was overjoyed. I had found a brand new talent–making homes for fairies. In the process I also discovered I really enjoyed crafting something with my hands. For too long my creative energies have gone to digital mediums. The fairy doors gave me a great deal of satisfaction, so much so, I might make more.
Today I took out the doors to the woods and photographed them. One of them already found a home at the base of an old wooden stump.
Did you enjoy the end result of our fairy-sized journey? If so, drop us a note.
