Along the Fairy Trail

Fairy fun for everyone can be found in central Indiana at a magical springtime event called Welcome to Fairyville.  Nickel Plate Arts in Noblesville, Indiana puts on the four-day event with lots of activities for families such as fairy tea parties, crafts, storytelling, entertainment, face painting and – my favorite part – a Fairy Trail of miniature homes on Friday and Saturday you can explore for free.  My mom and I went to the Fairy Trail last year for the first time and were really impressed with the creativity and number of fairy homes and gardens.  Kids, adults and local businesses create the fairy houses and then festivalgoers vote for their favorite home along the trail, with the winners announced at the end of Friday night.   Last year the Fairy Trail wound around the courthouse square in Noblesville.  This year it went down Maple Avenue and along White River, which made for a very scenic springtime walk outdoors.  We even spotted a few fairies in their natural habitat.  Several businesses on the courthouse square also had miniature fairy doors next to their people sized doors – a new feature this year, so we checked those out too after the fairy home tour.  This year was the sixth annual Welcome to Fairyville, taking place April 18-21, 2018, with the main festival days being Fairy Friday and Sprite Saturday.

My mom and I explored the trail on Friday.  It was a gorgeous spring day, warmer and sunnier than last year’s chilly event.  We picked up a map of Fairyville at Nickel Plate Arts and headed west on Maple Ave., where ten of the homes could be viewed along the sidewalk, then we headed north on the River Walk to see the remaining twelve homes. I was really inspired to start designing and planting my own outdoor fairy gardens after seeing all the unique, tiny handcrafted masterpieces. After touring the cute and creative fairy homes and gardens, we followed the map west and walked around the courthouse square in search of tiny fairy doors in front of participating fairy friendly businesses.  Altogether there were 22 fairy abodes designed by local fairy architects and 16 merchants with fairy doors.

We returned to Nickel Plate Arts to cast our ballots for favorite fairy home.  Mom and I both voted for Fairy Art Studio designed by Erin Goodman and Deanna Leonard of Caravan Classes.  Their entry was inspired by their own Caravan Classes studio on the Noblesville square.  It was the cutest, most creative home for sure, and truly fit the contest rules, which specify the house should be made predominantly from natural materials, and should be whimsical, creative and beautiful.  The tree stump the art studio was built inside was just the perfect spot for artsy fairies to call home.  Several other natural elements were incorporated too for decorations, such as wood, clay, burlap, moss, and straw.  Recycled materials made up much of the rest of the décor, such as old paintbrushes, bottle caps, glass, and mosaic tiles.  I love all the tiny details that were included such as the tubes of paints, miniature paintings on the wall, and even an art supply closet.

My other favorite fairy homes we saw were Vintage Treasure Garden, Melody’s Place, Selling Fairyville, and Shine’s Fairy Yoga Playground.

Shine’s Fairy Yoga Playground by Tara Bushong was created with the help of Shine Yoga Studio’s students. I love the little yellow yoga mats!

The winners of the 2018 Fairyville Contest based on public votes were:

1st Place:  Beach Life by Girl Scout Troop 1959

2nd Place:  Fairy Art Studio by Caravan Classes

3rd Place:  Rapunzel Fairy Tower by The Read Family

Honorable Mentions:

Fairy Wonderland by Girl Scout Troop 1937

Camp Fairy Hollow by The Thompson Family

Vintage Treasure Garden by Stephanie Dietz

Selling Fairyville by Meredith Ziegenhagel

Melody’s Place by Erika Organ

Before leaving Nickel Plate Arts, I chose one of the crafts to make. I decorated a wooden fairy to hang in my kitchen window above my windowsill plants and mini fairy gardens.  I painted the fairy a rose gold color and added glitter to the paint, then fashioned a hanger from wire and strung it with beads, adding a feather and tulle to finish it off.  She’s been a pretty reminder to look at in my kitchen each day of all the fun I had at this event!  I can’t wait for next year!