Fairy Shop in a Tree Trunk
I made this 1/12 scale scene for my daughter's 6th birthday. It was inspired by the fairy shop in a toad stool, as done by Joann Swanson in Dollhouse Miniatures of March 2000. While I was planning this scene, I joined the Mini Projects group on Yahoo, who was about to get started on a tree trunk project. I got many useful hints and tips from its members. I made the trunk from a chicken wire frame, covered with a mixture of paper pulp, glue and sawdust. The scene is based on a poem, The Second-hand Shop, by Rowena Bennett.
THE SECONDHAND SHOP
Rowena Bennett
Down in the grasses
Where the grasshoppers hop
And the katydids quarrel
And the flutter-moths flop-
Down in the grasses
Where the beetles go "plop"
An old withered fairy
Keeps a secondhand shop.
She sells lost thimbles
For fairy milk pails
And burnt-out matches
For fence posts and rails.
She sells stray marbles
To bowl on the green,
And bright scattered beads
For the crown of the queen.
Oh don't feel badly
Over things that you lose
Like spin tops and whistles
Or doll's buckled shoes;
They may be things that
Fairy folks can use;
For down in the grasses
Where the grasshoppers hop
A withered old fairy
Keeps a secondhand shop.
Rowena Bennett
Down in the grasses
Where the grasshoppers hop
And the katydids quarrel
And the flutter-moths flop-
Down in the grasses
Where the beetles go "plop"
An old withered fairy
Keeps a secondhand shop.
She sells lost thimbles
For fairy milk pails
And burnt-out matches
For fence posts and rails.
She sells stray marbles
To bowl on the green,
And bright scattered beads
For the crown of the queen.
Oh don't feel badly
Over things that you lose
Like spin tops and whistles
Or doll's buckled shoes;
They may be things that
Fairy folks can use;
For down in the grasses
Where the grasshoppers hop
A withered old fairy
Keeps a secondhand shop.
Business is a bit slow today....... The old withered fairy has lots of little helpers, but she is nowhere to be seen.
I suppose she is out hunting for stuff to sell in the shop.
I suppose she is out hunting for stuff to sell in the shop.
The shop entrance with the shop counter and shopping bags inside.
The shelves at the back of the shop, with the fridge magnet fairy guarding the beads "for the crown of the queen", and the marbles "to bowl on the green". The shelves as well as the shop counter, were made of square wood strip and craft sticks, and then painted, distressed and aged.
A fairy selling doll shoes. In the right front corner is a tea light candle in a decorative container. At the back a tiny (real) tortoise shell is visible.
This fairy's job is to cut pencils to size, and sharpen them of course. Fence posts and rails, made from burnt
out matches, are also on offer.
out matches, are also on offer.