Take a box made of wood (no plastic or metal) and decorate it using natural materials like stones, shells, twigs, and moss. You can also carve fairy emblems into the box (adults only), such as Celtic symbols.

Fill the box with gifts for the Fairies, such as coins, sweets, crystals, flowers, or other mementos. When finished, place your Fairy Box beneath a tree by the next full moon. Say a small blessing over your offering, showing appreciation to the natural kingdom.

Via Project Reason: The Fairy Scientist was one of 9 finalists in the annual Project Reason Video contest. Voting is now closed and our little scientist did not win any of the three grand prizes. Oh well, the Nobel is still up for grabs.

Children are natural scientists – filled with wonder and curiosity, they yearn to know about the world around them. Join Fairy Scientist Lydia as she sets out to discover the secret world of Fairies.

Lydia comes from a family of accomplished scientists; her grandfather is a PhD Oceanographer with NOAA and her great-grandfather is professor emeritus of Horticulture at Oregon State University. Lydia’s father is an Electrical Engineer with Hewlett-Packard with numerous patents to his credit.

Scientist, Lydia, is the granddaughter of “Andrus” producer/director, Robert Neary. Though she took a little direction from her director grandfather, her comments and observations are completely unscripted and entirely her own. Lydia’s academic studies has her currently in the First Grade, but her inquisitiveness and curiosity show great promise in her achieving a notable scientific career.

Project Reason is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit foundation devoted to spreading scientific knowledge and secular values in society. The foundation draws on the talents of prominent and creative thinkers in a wide range of disciplines to encourage critical thinking and erode the influence of dogmatism, superstition, and bigotry in the world.

The United Kingdom's Lake district may seem like a traditional holiday destination, but one landlady is providing breaks that are truly out of the ordinary – by running courses on how to contact fairies and angels!

The courses range from beginners to experienced level and are made up of 10 sessions to focus on contacting and messaging with the magical creatures.

In the beginner sessions you can design and paint your own teapot, coffee or tea cup and saucer, before learning the art of tea leaf and coffee grain reading.

There's no need to feel guilty about your carbon footprint, either. Guests stay in organic accommodation and get a full organic breakfast too.

Course organiser Dianne Derrick says: "The fairies run the course so we can never say exactly what each session will entail. It's out of our control. But people who've done the courses say they've found them amazing and inspiring."

The courses are listed on tourism and accommodation website www.iknow-lakedistrict.co.uk, offering UK holidaymakers a wide choice of accommodation options across this popular tourist region.

Marcus Simmons, managing director at www.iknow-lakedistrict.co.uk, says the Fairy and Angel courses are one of the site's most unusual listings. He said: "The Lakes is a magical destination anyway, but this course is like nothing else. With busy work schedules, most people want to escape real life on their holiday, and what better way to do it than on a Fairy and Angel course?"

Fairy Line Naturals utilized green practices long before it became trendy, starting with the founding of our business ten year years ago. This year, we confirmed our continuing commitment by attending the 2010 EcoFest. So, in honor of Earth Day this past April 22, our very own Nature Fairy, Esmeralda, offered these three easy fairy-inspired ways of protecting the planet.

1. Participate in Meatless Monday.
The meat industry generates more pollution than all transportation — up to 1/5 of all greenhouse gases. Meat production also consumes disproportionate amounts of water and fossil fuels. "Going meatless once a week may reduce your risk of chronic preventable conditions like cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity," non-profit org Meatless Monday reports.

2. Drink tap water instead of bottled drinks.
Invest in a water purifier, which start at very reasonable prices, and stop using bottled or canned drinks. Drink containers, like plastic water bottles and soda cans, generate huge amounts of waste. Plus, quitting soda means you'll have more money in your pocket. If you were spending just $1 a day on soda, you can save over $350 a year — put that cash towards an energy efficient appliance!

3. Use natural products (like ours!).
The EPA reports that air inside the average home contains 2-5 times more pollution than the air outdoors, just because of household cleaners and pesticides. Sixty-six percent of American streams sampled in a federal study contained detergents and disinfectants. These numbers are outrageous — especially when natural, homemade cleaners work just as good as the chemical cocktails sold in stores! Soap, water, baking soda, vinegar, lemon juice, borax, and a coarse scrubbing sponge can take care of most household cleaning needs. Get great cleaning recipes at World Watch.

May first (May Day) is a special time for the Fairies. They say that the veil between our world and the dimension of fairy thins on this special night. If the weather permits, have a bonfire outside, toast marshmallows, tell fairy tales — and be open to magical experiences!

"The great chemist Sir Humphry Davy thought that Saturn was inhabited by super-smart creatures with wings made of 'extremely thin membranes [of] azure and rose-colour,'" reports Times Higher Education. "If a leading 19th-century scientist could believe in fairies, what about Shakespeare, a man with an unparalleled imagination, several hundred years earlier?"

Fairies often appear in Shakespeare's plays, taking a star role in A Midsummer Night's Dream, which focuses on an argument between fairy king Oberon and fairy queen Titania over whether or not to keep her deceased mortal friend's baby. A Midsummer Night's Dream takes place in the woodland, in the realm of Fairyland, under the light of the moon. The fairies' dispute causes a disturbance of nature and weather, underlying the plot and informing the actions of the characters.

Shakespeare's repeated references to fairies led esteemed Shakespearean scholar-professor Michael Hattaway to try to "recover the ways in which popular magic was regarded in the age of Shakespeare".

Sheffield shared his results at the 100th Annual British Academy Shakespeare Lecture, which took place on April 22 (the playwright's birthday). Sheffield's presentation, 'Enter Caelia, the Fairy Queen in her night attire': Shakespeare and the Fairies, explored the long-term influence of Shakespeare's fairies, including real-life stories – such as protesters known as servants of the queen of the fairies, who painted themselves as fairies to poach the Duke of Buckingham's deer.

Nobody can say for certain if Shakespeare actually believed in fairies or not, but Professor Hattaway said that he definitely used them as "a way of portraying inwardness and dreams".

A Fairy's Song by Shakespeare
Over hill, over dale,
Thorough bush, thorough brier,
Over park, over pale,
Thorough flood, thorough fire!
I do wander everywhere,
Swifter than the moon's sphere;
And I serve the Fairy Queen,
To dew her orbs upon the green;
The cowslips tall her pensioners be;
In their gold coats spots you see;
Those be rubies, fairy favours;
In those freckles live their savours;
I must go seek some dewdrops here,
And hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear.

Titania from A Midsummer Night's Dream
I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,
Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine:
There sleeps Titania sometime of the night,
Lull'd in these flowers with dances and delight;
And there the snake throws her enamell'd skin,
Weed wide enough to wrap a fairy in

Celebrate May Day at the Fairy Festival in Illinois' Pilcher Park Nature Center, and start the day off by enjoying Breakfast with Fairies.

The Festival opens at 9 and ends at 2. If you want to catch breakfast, make sure you arrive before 11. Breakfast plus admission costs $10, but if you plan to skip breakfast, you will only need $5 for entry.

"It's important to blend in with the trees," said Siobhan Peacy, park naturalist and festival director, of proper Fairy Festival attire. "I'm an acorn fairy, so, of course, I protect the oak tree."

Human visitors to the festival will make fairy crafts, learn about fairies, and go on fairy flower walks around the lovely park.

"They [also get to] make wings when they get here, so they are instant fairies," Peacey noted. "If you want to be a woodland fairy, [go with] browns and greens. Flower fairies are flower-colored."

"Fairy fest is really about believing and loving nature," Peacey concluded. "That's what it's really about."

Via The Herald-News.

Our Fairies will be at the EcoFest in Lutz's Learning Gate on Saturday! Dr. LindaJoy "The Raw Food Fairy" Rose will also present a workshop on the benefits of a raw food diet there, too. Come visit!

EcoFest 2010 is a community event organized by Learning Gate Community School to celebrate the many businesses, organizations, and individuals in the Tampa Bay area dedicated to the principles of sustainability: Ecology, Equity and Economy.

EcoFest 2010 will be held on April 24, 2010 on the school grounds in Lutz, Florida. The event will be open to the public from 9:00 A.M. until 3:00 P.M. Admission to the event is free.

There will be live music, workshops, demonstrations, informational booths, green living products and services. Some local artists, green businesses, environmental organizations, alternative health practitioners, renewable energy specialists, organic farms and gardens with produce.

The 2010 Spring Fairy Festival transforms Tacoma's Freighthouse Square into a magical fairy forest. There will be free children’s crafts, stories and activities, belly and stilt dancing, workshops, live music, costumed Parade of Fairies, and more starting at eleven. Featured guests include renowned fairy arist Amy Brown, Don your wings and join in the fun. Learn more at www.springfairyfestival.com. Via The News Tribune.

"The fairies, or so it seems, have a long association with horses. Fairies were often accused of stealing horses, which they rode hard all night before returning to the barns," writes The Telegram's Dale Jarvis. "In England, the malicious sprites known as goblins were regarded as pranksters, and were known specifically to tangle horses' manes." Jarvis goes on to recount a tale he heard whilst traveling St. Vincent's in England.

Image from Sleezy Barb Horsewear Tailtubes

An equine-lover purchased a beloved new horse, which he made most comfortable with food, water, lodging, and grooming. However, on its very first night in the barn, the horse began kicking and screaming from dusk til dawn. The next morning, unable to sleep on account of the noise, the owner's neighbor complained.

The concerned owner quickly investigated the commotion at the barn. Much to his surprise, he discovered the horse's tail in neat braids, even though the owner knew he had securely locked the barn door at night.

Each morning thereafter, the confused young man would awaken to find the horse's tail neatly braided. Suspecting a prankster at hand, he made entry into the barn impossible. He sealed all entrances, he kept the barn tightly locked, and he carried the only key on his body at all times.

However, his precautions had no effect, for the next five mornings, the owner would find the poor horse's tail braided. Dumbfounded at his ill luck, the young man worried about the involvement of spiritual forces. Therefore, he consulted with a sincere church-goer, who poured a vial of holy water across the barn door.

"According to Katharine Brigg's excellent Encyclopedia of Fairies, the sprinkling of holy water is one of the chief protections against fairy thefts, spells and ill-wishing," Jarvis notes, "On the night of Samhain, holy water was sprinkled on animals to protect them against evil forces."

The woman's cure apparently succeeded, for immediately thereafter, the horse stopped making a commotion by night, and the young man no stopped finding its tail braided by morning.