Fairy lore exists in many parts of the world but particularly in Ireland, Britain and Germany. Fairies come in many forms such as gnomes, magical winged fairies, pixies, elves and brownies. If you walk through a woods and you find a little house decorated with natural elements like bark, flowers, moss, acorns, tree stumps, stones you might 
have just found a fairy home. Some of the homes are simple and others come complete with miniature furniture and tiny accessories. Creating small homes for the mischievous creatures has become a popular pastime for children and adults in the United States & Canada. An interest in all things small has gone from being an indoor pastime and is now moving out to the gardens and the forests. In Maine, where I live with its fields, rocky shores, remote islands and forests there is a renewed interest in fairy house building. However, the popularity of making or building homes that could be used by a visiting woodland creature is now popular in many parts of the world.
If you are new to the tradition of fairy homes you can
check out fairy house festivals at area botanical gardens, museums, arts festivals and sculpture gardens. One of the most famous is in August every year at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens located in Boothbay, Maine. The fairy festival has become so popular that now the Botanical Gardens hosts Fairy Fridays every Friday in the summer where kids can don fairy attire and engage in creating new fairy homes using a variety of mediums that are then added to the Fairy House Village at the Gardens. Monhegan Island and Mackworth Islands are also known as places where fairy houses have sprung up in the woods. If you walk through Monhegan’s Cathedral Wood and look down near the mossy floor you will likely see all kinds of creative homes fairies would enjoy. The number of fairy houses has multiplied so much in recent years that visitors are asked to just enjoy the ones that are there and not add any additional homes.
In Huntersville, North Carolina at the Latta Plantation Nature Center an annual fairy house festival is held where participants can enter contests to create the most wonderful and creative fairy homes and even fairy boats. Children can also participate in costume parades and gnome geocaching.
In Ann Arbor, Michigan, fairy homes began appearing in urban settings including shop
windows. The most popular were tiny doors and windows which have come to be known as Urban Fairy House Doors. An enterprising individual Jonathan Wright now offers tours of the fairy doors appearing around Ann Arbor, and recently offered a free festival for all ages on all things fairy and he has authored a book called Who’s Behind the Fairy Doors.
To get in on the fairy fun check out videos on youtube or this Wikihow how to video. A wonderful book on fairy houses is Fairy Houses of the Maine Coast by Maureen Heffernan. Don’t miss out on the magic – just suspend a little rational belief and enjoy the enchantment of miniature homes for sprites.
For sturdy dollhouse homes that are sure to delight any indoor gnome take a look at Le Toy Van’s at the Magical Dollhouse for colorful painted dollhouse homes. The pastel colors and tiny Daisylane Dollhouse furniture are perfect for visiting woodland creatures. The Magical Dollhouse doors and windows are also wonderful for creating your own Fairy Door or Window.