The Queen's Handmaiden These beauties now have a home at H&H Mercantile. If you didn't already know, The Wee Folk's Queen depends on these helpers, choosing them for their beauty, so they may assist in brushing her hair, carrying her silken spider web train of her gown, or sitting with her and playing music to while away the afternoons.  Made from birch bark and blue hydrangea growing on my property, this is a gorgeous, colorful reminder that fall produces the best hues in Maine. As most of my Queen's Handmaidens are a toasty, fawn color, this rare blue beauty is one of a kind. I won't make another until next summer. The Cranberry Fairy  This pretty one is made from paper birch and Highbush cranberry. She is an attractor of wildlife and pollinators, her dress serving as host plants to numerous butterflies and moths. Her role in the rath is to dance and sing when Spring comes alive.  In folklore, a Changeling is a when the Wee Folk steal a baby out of its crib or carriage and replace it with one of their old discarded fairies as a way to strengthen the fairy stock. In this glass terrarium, one imagines coming across a mossy forest, and finding a hidden staircase of stone that lead up to a fairy rath, where a baby has been left unattended in its carriage. When the hapless parent comes back to check, in its place is the wizened old face of a tiny fairy instead.  This terrarium tells the story of a stolen baby. This is not a sweet little scene; it’s actually quite sinister, once you know the back story. You wonder what happened to the baby…  To get to the top, you must cross over the fairy moss and up the tiny stone steps.  This terrarium uses craft moss so it doesn't need to be watered.  What happens when you get to the baby carriage? What will be inside, do you think? To learn more about The Changeling folklore visit: Irish Post. This is a one-of-a-kind fairy piece. $35.00
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Tonic of the Woods
the inspiration behind the creations Photos, stories and concept ©Kay Stephens
Look up the story behind a fairy dress by clicking on the name below
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