Learn how to make a fairy door from popsicle sticks and add a little bit of everyday magic to your playroom!
It’s refreshing to add a little bit of magic into everyday family life! Sometimes we have a family dinner by candlelight or go on a treasure hunt around the backyard. A few days ago, we decided that our playroom needs a fairy portal. Of course, it’s a game, and children know it – my son helped make the doors! – but it works for bringing a magic touch to the room. We can imagine that a little creature lives behind the door. I like the thought of a tomte – a house spirit from Scandinavian fairy-tales that comes out at night and helps a little around the house. Goodness knows, a little domestic help wouldn’t hurt our house.
It’s a very simple project that you can customize, depending on what materials you have. Kids can make doors too, then decorate them any way they like.
Materials for Making the Fairy Door
- craft sticks (thin ones work best)
- little rocks (you can buy rocks or use clay if it isn’t a good season for finding them in nature)
- preserved moss
- wooden blocks (we used imitation Jenga blocks from a local dollar store)
- paints (I used acrylic paints, but it isn’t crucial for the project, and you can use any paints you have)
- white glue and hot glue
- miniature dollhouse accessories (hinges, doorknobs, plant pots, etc)
Make the Fairy Door
Prepare the craft sticks. If they’re longer than necessary, trim them with scissors to the right size. You don’t need to measure very carefully since their ends get covered later on. Using white glue, glue the sticks to a piece of stiff paper, with the ends at its edge. Press the sticks with something heavy on top while they dry for an hour or so.
While the door is drying, make the step. For this door, I used six Jenga blocks, glued together. If your blocks are long enough, you may be able to just use three. Or make it a one-step porch and only use one long block for that.
Paint the door and the step. I used acrylics, but tempera paints and watercolour paints would work as well. I painted the door green, then brushed raw sienna on top, for a slightly aged look. I used a mix of black and white for the step, then painted black lines to mimic the tile edges. I added a bit of green paint but ended up covering it withreal moss in the end.
Next, find an object (like a cup) of the right diameter or use a compass to outline the top of the door. At this point, I also glued more sticks to form some decorative trim.
I drew the layer of black around the door so that, if there were gaps between the rocks, white paper wouldn’t show up too obviously. The last step before putting the rocks on was attaching the fake hinges with hot glue. Now, the hinges I had were for making dollhouse furniture, so they would have actually worked if the door was built to open. But since it wasn’t, I broke one hinge in half,
I used hot glue for attaching the rocks to paper. This was my favourite part. A few years ago, I collected these tiny pebbles by the lake, hoping to use them for decorating a fairy house, and finally the opportunity to use them has come! Making a rock mosaic was just as satisfying as I imagined it to be,
Bits of dry moss can be glued with a hot glue gun or white glue. The moss smells nice!
The last step is adding bits and pieces you have on hand. I had some parts left from building a dollhouse-in-a-box and some that I got for future projects, but never used. I love looking through the dollhouse sections of the craft stores. So I added a couple of painted flower pots with polymer clay flowers inside, a doorknob, a miniature wagon, and a fence that can also be made of craft sticks, trimmed with scissors and glued together. We couldn’t snap a photograph with fairies (they’re too shy), but we invited some butterflies over.
Now, we still have snow lying in heaps around our backyard, but once it’s gone, I’d like to try for an outdoor fairy door. We have a stump that’s asking for some magic to happen! I think that if you use some plastic sheet for backing (like a folder cover or even a piece of a plastic container) and varnish your creation with outdoor varnish, the rest should be the same.
If you make fairy doors, we’d be delighted to see them! You can post them on our Facebook page, email me or tag us on Facebook or Instagram – @adventureinabox.
