tiny tiki hut
fairies sing whirl dance all night
gone by morning’s rise
—
“you wait here, I’m going to the tiki hut.”
– Special FBI Agent Seeley Booth, Bones
Aug14
Tag Archives: fairy
Nov7
a dream is a wish your heart makes.
the holy grail for me, as a great admirer of fairy houses, i finally had the chance to see
colleen moore’s dream come true and breathtaking fairy castle
at the museum of science and industry in chicago
—
Silent film star Colleen Moore was always fascinated by dolls and doll houses. She owned several elaborate doll houses as a child, but later in life her father, Charles Morrison, suggested that she should pursue her passion for miniatures and doll houses by creating the “doll house” of her dreams. Her position as a popular actress in Hollywood gave her the resources to produce a miniature home of fantastic proportions. Beginning in 1928, Moore enlisted the help of many talented professionals to help her realize her vision.
Creating the Fairy Castle
Horace Jackson, an architect and set designer who worked for First National Studios, created the floor plan and layout of the castle with the basic idea that “the architecture must have no sense of reality. We must invent a structure that is everybody’s conception of an enchanted castle.
Moore also enlisted the help of art director and interior designer Harold Grieve. Grieve had designed the interiors for Moore’s actual mansion, so he was a natural to create the interiors of her fantasy castle.
By 1935, approximately 100 people worked on the Fairy Castle. The price tag for this 8’7″ x 8’2″ x 7’7″ foot palace, containing more than 1,500 miniatures, was nearly $500,000.
On Tour
In 1935 Colleen Moore’s child-like fascination with her Fairy Castle was transformed by the Great Depression into a passion for helping children. She organized a national tour of the Fairy Castle to raise money for children’s charities. The tour stopped in most major cities of the United States and was often exhibited in the toy departments of prominent department stores. A brochure from The Fair in Chicago promotes it: “A museum in itself—it awaits you—starting November 15th in our Eighth Floor Toyland. You will want to see it again and again.” The tour was a huge success and raised more than $650,000 between 1935 and 1939.
Coming “Home” to the Museum
In 1949 Major Lenox Lohr, director of the Museum of Science and Industry, convinced Colleen Moore to have the Fairy Castle make one final journey. She described their encounter as follows: “When I was seated next to Major Lohr at a dinner recently in the directors’ coach at the Chicago Railroad fair, he mentioned the doll house while we were having soup, and by the time dessert was served, he had the doll house!”
Millions of guests have enjoyed their visit to the castle since it first arrived at the Museum, and it remains a timeless reminder of the imagination, ingenuity and craftsmanship of cultures and artisans all over the world.
—
“a dream Is a wish your heart makes”
– song written and composed by Mack David, Al Hoffman and Jerry Livingston
for the Walt Disney film Cinderella (1950).
Aug3
surprises.
I spent some time this morning
creating the beginnings of a fairy village
in the front garden
of a friend’s little girl
who liked to come and visit my garden
when she got home
she discovered the surprise
saw the fairies had moved in
right in her very own front yard
and gave it her full endorsement
—
“the whole point of life was you couldn’t ever be sure what would happen next.
sometimes what happened was good, sometimes not,
but there were always surprises.”
― veronica henry, author
Feb19
wintering.
fairies wintering
—
“Frost grows on the window glass,
forming whorl patterns of lovely translucent geometry.
Breathe on the glass, and you give frost more ammunition.
Now it can build castles and cities and whole ice continents with your breath’s vapor.
In a few blinks you can almost see the winter fairies moving in . . .
But first, you hear the crackle of their wings.”
― vera nazarian, the perpetual calendar of inspiration
Oct30
wherever there are children.
how lucky that a local fairy
stopped by our classroom
to visit our fairy house
she must have heard….
—
“it is frightfully difficult to know much about the fairies,
and almost the only thing for certain
is that there are fairies wherever there are children.”
-j.m. barrie – peter pan in kensington gardens
Jul10
dance ’round.
Jan7
dance.
long after new years eve has passed
with their village nearly covered
in a frozen white blanket
the fairies leave behind signs
of a magnificent celebration.
—
“the fairies break their dances and leave the printed lawn.”
~a.e. housman
Nov30
on the wind.
rows and rows of flowering kale and cabbages
all come together
to create a beautiful, tiny fairy forest.
—
“a forest is not a wilderness,
but a community of souls who speak to one another on the wind.”
― anthony t. hincks
—
oakland county farmer’s market, pontiac, michigan, usa
Aug8
a point of light.
’twas fairy day at the artisan’s market
and soon they came around
lots of them of ev’ry kind
and treasures to be found.
“the fairy poet takes a sheet o f moonbeam, silver white;
his ink is dew from daisies sweet,
his pen a point of light.
~joyce kilmer
Jan5
gather here.
when grandie v and i
have finished building our indoor winter fairy village
with jewels and feathers and sparkles, a flower vine swing, love tape, and puff ball beds
it is very important to write about it and invite them to move in tonight.
—
“when I sound the fairy call, gather here in silent meeting,
chin to knee on the orchard wall, cooled with dew and cherries eating.
merry, merry, take a cherry, mine are sounder, mine are rounder,
mine are sweeter for the eater, when the dews fall, and you’ll be fairies all.”
-emily dickinson
I didn't have my glasses on.... 