This post is sponsored by Stonyfield.
Hello from Northern Michigan! We made it to my dad’s cabin after a 5-day road trip here and are now safely tucked into the woods with our family, stashing away summer memories in our favorite place. We brought books and crafts and twinkle lights–the Holy Trinity for summers up north.
A few years ago, we started a tradition making fairy houses, an idea born from a little box I found by the lake several years ago. “Fairies” was written in fat black marker, and the box had been left next to the dock steps by an unknown kindred spirit who believes in the kind of summer magic I love. In previous years, I’ve ordered milk cartons to make our fairy houses, but this year we were resourceful and reused the packaging from our favorite Stonyfield yogurt pouches, a treat we’ve been enjoying for years. I always have them in the refrigerator for lunches (especially when I was packing lunches), but they’ve been such a great on-the-go treat for summer as well (the pontoon cooler is full of them :).
My favorite is the Pear Spinach Mango pouches. They’re perfect for making fairy houses because A: Recycle, Reuse!, and B: they’re waterproof, so you can leave the outside. We went ahead and used the Stonyfield box the pouches came in for an added building in our fairy village, but the box won’t last as long as the pouches.
My kids LOVE this tradition, especially because our fairy house creation day always ends with a special surprise. Once we set up the houses in the garden, the kids sprinkle glitter around the fairy houses to lure the fairies in (they fly so fast, you need something sparkly to catch their eyes!). When we aren’t looking, they swoop in to the houses and leave candy treats.
Here’s how we made our fairy village:
After we enjoyed our yogurt, I rinsed out all the pouches (you’ll want to get all the yogurt residue out if you’re going to leave them outside so they don’t bring in critters), dried them and then spread them out (along with the box they came in) on a tarp. We spray painted them with a base color. I wasn’t sure if I was going to keep the caps on or not, so I left them at first but ended up cutting them off when they dried. To keep the pouches sturdy and weight them down so they stand up well on the ground, you can funnel a little sand or dirt in them after the paint dries.
Then the fun part begins. We used craft paint, some silk flowers, Sharpie markers, a package of moss I picked up at a craft store, a few little butterflies and dragonflies, and this amazing kit of fairy decorations that has plenty of enough supplies for a large group of kids to make their fairy houses (we had lots left over).
And then the kids went to town with the glue gun.
They turned out so cute!
The best part…glitter magic.
The fairies came later in the evening, leaving lollipops and chocolates.
The fairies now have their own little village in the garden, and we have lots more Stonyfield yogurt to carry us through our summer adventures. The pouches are great for road trips too because no mess! We’re also big fans of their smoothie pouches. And, as always, all Stonyfield products are made without the use of toxic persistent pesticides, artificial hormones, antibiotics or GMOs. You can find Stonyfield products at most supermarkets and natural food stories.
You could look out the windows right into Forsyth Park, and every corner of the home held character. The kids found stacks of books and games, and Nella claimed her special spot as she often does in new homes–the back deck.
We walked a lot during the day and never got bored or tired. I took the kids one morning to the Collins Quarter for breakfast and would absolutely go back. We tried the spiced lavender mocha, coconut chia pudding (oh my God!), and the Upstream Supreme (everything bagel with salmon, chive cream cheese and capers–so delish!).
We’ve since checked in on the shop on social media, rooting for a hearty comeback when this is all over.
The kids made up a love story about two quarreling birds (Jodi broke up with poor Berchram after Tony flew in and seduced her, and Berchram flew back to lay hell).
The island was such a fun and easy getaway from downtown, definitely a Savannah must-do.
When we visited one last time on the way home, I appreciated it all even more, aware our world was about to change and thankful to have one last night in that magical city before we drove straight through the next day to get home safely. Things felt different, and I knew–as Kathleen Kelly would say, “the shop would be closing.” What a special place to soak up one last day of our world as it was.
