About a year ago, Mackenzie lost her very first tooth! There’s been another 3 since then and The Tooth Fairy has come to visit every time. We completed this project right after she lost her first one, but since I’m a very busy mommy and creative director at my “real life” job, I have been a bad blogger! While I was good at taking pictures of the creation process, that’s all that was completed for the digital world about this fun little project. And that will just never do!!
This is a great family project to get mom, dad and the kids involved…and it’s one of those things that marks the start of your little ones growing up. They probably won’t want the door around forever, but Mackenzie tells everyone she talks to about her special fairy door — and no one else seems to have one which is pretty darn special!
The Tiny Fairy Door Project
Many years ago, even before Mackenzie was born, I saw a cute tiny door project where people built elf doors outside at the bases of trees. It was totally precious and somewhere along the lines, I started to think that it would be delightfully cute if the Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, Leprechans and other enchanted friends (maybe even Santa), had a special entry way into our home. And for those that might move from home to home or country to country a lot — the fairies & friends will always know just where to find your kids.
When we bought the farmhouse back in 2006, we found at least one of everything there. Including this super cute little door…
It’s about 12 inches wide and 18 inches tall, made of wood and has a little glass window…perfect for enchanted creatures to pass through!
So I’ve been carrying this door around the world now, from Frankfurt to Berlin to Naples, waiting for Mackenzie’s first tooth to fall out (aka be ripped out by her!) And then finally, the day came.
The morning after she left her tooth for The Tooth Fairy, we found this note, along with the door…
The note says:
Dear Mackenzie,
I am so excited to visit you for the first time! Congratulations on losing your first tooth!
This door will be the passage way for ALL my visits to you in the future! I can’t wait to see you again soon.
Hugs and fairy dust,
The Tooth Fairy
P.S. I hope you’ll make our new door beautiful with your family.
So off to Home Depot we went!
We picked up supplies like pink glitter spray paint and painters tape, and had a bunch of gems from another project that we could stick on. We also grabbed a bit of glitter puff paint and some newspapers from the garage, then set off on our task.
The first order of business (after covering everything with newspaper) was taping off the window and key hole.
And then we started painting…
Warning: If you’re thinking about painting anything with glitter spray paint, know that it will go EVERYWHERE!
Our dog, who really felt the need to lay under the table during this project, was a pink sparkling fur ball for about a week after the fine spray of pink glitter mist descended on her. Always a good look on a black, 140-pound Newfoundland.
We elected to only paint and decorate one side of the door, because the other side was going to be against the wall and contended with the gems was tricky. And we were sick of the glitter mayhem!
The great thing about many of the new brands of spray paint is that even if you have “noses” and runs in the paint when you put it on, it will work itself out. And while the glitter paint doesn’t look sparkly when it goes on, it becomes super glittery when it dries.
Once the painting was complete, we went to town with the gemstones and glitter puff paint. We think The Tooth Fairy is probably a huge fan of glitter, but we’re not so sure what the other enchanted friends think. We did have a Leprechaun in here a few months ago, though, so we think it should be smooth sailing.
After all the hard work was done, the logistics of hanging this door have become a bit of an issue but for now we have it settled in near Mackenzie’s closet.
This was a wonderfully fun and amusing project for all of us, so if you’ve got kids, grand kids, neighbors or friends who still believe in fairies, give it a try. You could also construct a simple door out of plywood if you don’t have access to a real door. But handles are thankfully not necessary — these creatures are magical after all and wouldn’t want to leave their magic dust everywhere!
What’s the last fun project you did with kids?
