From Ann Arbor to Austin: Scouting for Fairies

My young daughters love fairies --- from woodland fairies to the Sugar Plum Fairy.  We even have fairies in our own backyard:

So wherever we go, we look for clues of other "real life" fairies.  Such quests force us to slow down a bit, appreciate our surroundings, and look for magic in the everyday.

Last summer, on a vigilant walk through downtown Ann Arbor, Michigan, we spied tiny fairy doors on the facades of homes, restaurants, retail stores, and office buildings.  The fairies apparently moved into town in 1993, thanks to the efforts of Jonathan Wright (whom you can follow on Pinterest here), and today, their presence delights even the most skeptical of visitors.  My girls were thrilled to spot these charming fairy doors, at the steps of which visitors leave tokens and gifts:  

The "Fairy Woods" at the University of Michigan's Nichols Arboretum was another must-see for our family.  Our children were enchanted with the earnestly designed fairy houses, all constructed from natural materials and found objects.  We spent hours under the tall, whispering pines, building and decorating our own fairy homes.

Back home in Austin, we have discovered fairy houses in our local botanical gardens:

And our favorite:

Any fairy sightings in your neck of the woods? :-)



This post was featured by:  

In the Land of Sweets: 2012 Mother-Daughter Holiday Tea Party

In December, we hosted our annual Mother-Daughter Holiday Tea Party.  As my daughters grow and become more involved in school and extra-curriculars, their social circles expand as well.  Our confirmed guest list thus included more than 90 friends who joined us for tea, sweets, and merriment. After the fun we had at our 2010 and 2011 tea parties, my three girls were so excited to help me plan our 2012 edition.

Animated by my daughters’ love of The Nutcracker Ballet, I chose a Sugar Plum Fairy theme in colors of purple and pink for the day.  This allowed both a fantastical exploration of The Land of Sweets, and an economical re-use of purple decor from previous parties like this one.

Of course, I was inspired by the beautiful party stylings of Kate Landers, Loralee Lewis, and Icing Designs, but I had to maintain a reality check: I was executing a party for dozens of real girls and their mothers and not styling a photo shoot for eight guests.  :)  Thus, compromises had to be made.  But ultimately, my months of planning, pinning, and preparation produced a memorable party that was aesthetically pleasing in-person, but more importantly, fabulously fun for my girls and their sweet friends.

Icing Designs created these gorgeous, hand-glittered invitations, which set the tone for the festivities:

Here's a close-up of the glittery Sugar Plum Fairy detail:

The day of the party, my older daughters were full of anticipation (their little sister napped):

(Yes, Middle Daughter wore two different dresses.  Why not? :)

Meanwhile, I created three tablescapes: Our large kitchen island hosted a savory vegetarian buffet: tea sandwiches, scones, souffles, quiche, cheese, vegetables, and fruit.  The dining room table, draped in purple velvet, became The Land of the Sweets, with cupcakes, cookies, truffles, petit fours, pastries, macarons, and cake balls.  And a third table, in glittery, snowy white fleece, showcased the purple and pink candy buffet, which is one of our tea party's annual traditions.  We also served four kinds of tea, hot cocoa, and wine for the mamas (which was increasingly consumed as the kiddos' sugar highs kicked in and the noise volume rose ;)

On the sweets table, there was no shortage of glitter, sugar, or fake snow:

Some of my favorite details included the beautiful chocolate-dipped oreos with lavender-colored white chocolate ballet shoes from Sweeties by Kim.  I order her oreos for every one of my children's parties; they've become "a must have" for us. Each cookie rested in a "candy cone" we made, thanks to some inspiration and a template.  

Kim also made the oreos with glittery pink snowflakes:

I also loved the yummy hazelnut truffle mice from Moonstruck Chocolate.  They were gorgeous, perched on sugary snow, and the children gobbled them up:

The fondant ballet tutu cupcake toppers from Sweet DejaVu were really lovely, too:

I never host a party without Austin Cake Balls.  These mouth-watering red velvet and vanilla bean cake balls featured four silver snowflake designs.

The candy buffet was a huge hit; I ordered almost everything from Candy Warehouse; Icing Designs made the hand-glittered glassine treat bags which read "Sugar Plum Sweets":

The girls also colored Nutcracker puppets, with the help of free online printables.

Eventually, the girls stopped eating and escaped outdoors to run around the backyard in their party dresses.  They played kickball, swung on the tree swing, and looked for any fairies still lingering from my daughters' woodland fairy birthday party last summer.  :)

At the end of the party, each girl left with a festively wrapped package, tied with a satin ribbon and adorned with a hand-glittered card from Icing Designs.  

Inside the packages were Nutcracker dolls and wooden ballerina ornaments for the littlest girls, and, for the six-and-up crowd, these Sugar Plum Fairy stocking stuffers from Philosophy:

Happy guests, happy daughters, happy mama, happy day.  And despite the remnants of fake snow I'm still finding four months later, it was a perfect way to celebrate the holiday season.  

(Sharing with Celebrations at Home, Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch, Taterots and Jello, I Heart Naptime, Serenity Now, Your Home Based Mom, Ladybird Lane, Savvy Southern Style, Seven Thirty Three, Fidlers Under One Roof, and Strut Your Stuff Saturdays at Six Sisters' Stuff)