Magical weather is a perfect reason to spend the day in the company of the little people. Find a friend, and fill baskets with things to enjoy a special morning outdoors among flowers or autumn leaves.
Before starting out, you can make fairy wreaths and prepare a picnic fit for the wee folk. Fairy Bread is easy to make and is a favorite in Australia, the land down under. Just spread slices of bread with soft butter (a fairy favorite), shake on colored baking sprinkles, and cut into triangles. Pack your favorite juice, and you have a simple, sweet treat to take along on your travels.
If it's a cold or rainy day, you can create your own fairies to keep you company safe inside.
A Clothespin Fairy
For this project you will need:
- An old-fashioned clothespin, without a metal spring
- Paints and brushes or fine-tip markers
- Glue
- Scissors
- 4 or 5 pipe cleaners
- Yarn in a hair color
- Fabric or tissue paper
Take a simple clothespin, and paint or draw a face on the top knob. Make a circle in the center part of a pipe cleaner, like a cursive, lower-case e. Put glue around where you would guess the shoulders should be on the pin. Put the clothespin through the pipe cleaner e. Tighten and twist pipe cleaner branches into arm shapes, and let dry.
Wrap the bottom part of the clothespin with a pretty, shimmery fabric or tissue paper for a skirt, and add some more for a top. Lightly glue the fabric in place. Cut some yarn into strips for hair. Unravel the plies of the yarn, and glue them to the top of the knob. Use more pipe cleaners, preferably shimmery ones, to twist into wing shapes. Make a girdle (belt) out another pipe cleaner, and wrap around the middle of the "waist" of the pin (use glue if needed), to give a place to attach the wings.
You can add fabric or tissue paper to the wing shapes with glue if you wish or leave them bare for a see-through effect. Give your fairy a magical or nature-inspired name, and she can watch over you while you read or sleep. Fairies made with tissue paper must be kept away from water.
Grab some fairy books from our list for storytime fun for little ones or long, lazy afternoons of magical getaways for independent readers. Click on any title to go into its record. From there, you may request a book be held for you at any of our branches.
