I sent the fairies a tea set, table and chairs and a candelabra from HBS/miniatures.com. It’s cheerful, but not really their style.
So I set to making some furniture from beach driftwood. I sanded a thin piece relatively even in thickness and silky smooth on the top. Look at the color of the sawdust! The legs are drift hardwood twigs, about a quarter-inch (7mm) in diameter, with holes drilled for the dowels. I used exterior wood glue and sanded the top smooth again, then applied a few coats of sealer.
It blends into the site much better, and looks like it might be able to walk on its own :) Pull up a champagne cork stool! Clouds are blowing in, and it’s nearly sparkling hour.
nancyland.com 
Love the color. Now they just need some acorn cups and a teapot out of a tiny gourd.
Sheila, thanks! There is nothing like a good primal red to set everything off. I love the idea of acorn teacups, but oaks are conspicuously and regrettably missing from my current coastal landscape. Years ago I grew gourds (witness the gourd guest cottage) but do not know how they would fare here. I want to, though :)
This is so much fun. I’m starting to think my yard needs to become more inviting for fairies.
I would think your yard would be super-inviting to local fairies, Morgen!
Very nice! No driftwood around here, but loads of willow and birch bark. I foresee a walk by the river and a lot of YouTube tutorial viewing this weekend.
BW, I think willow is the wood of choice for twig furniture, 1:12 or otherwise. Something about bendy and shrinkage. My urban coastal scavenger fairies are demanding artisans who have chosen their encampment well. Their most pressing concern is to get through baby racoon season first :)
I’ve yet to see a racoon this far north, but there is a gray squirrel that pelts pine cones at me on the way to work. Instead of being sensible and going to sleep, I just watched a YouTube video called “The Gnomist” about Overland Park in Kansas. I don’t think anyone could watch it and not reach for the tissues..
What?! No raccoons in Alberta? Well at least you have squirrels, though I assure you they possess far less the hooligan tendency than a gaze of raccoons. I will watch your Gnome recommendation… asap.
I love all of your fairy house photos. I’d love to do a door or a little ‘house’ where I live but since I’m in a condo complex I have a feeling it would not last long and would go ‘missing’. Maybe one day if I get time I’ll try something.
Thank you, Bennie; I’m pleased you like them. I learned that an outdoor installation offers very different concerns from something meant for indoors. In my case it’s the weather and varmints, but also perhaps never underestimate the power of a good exterior glue, and the thought that delight might triumph hooligans :)