Official Guidelines: Christmas Elf Doors & Woodland Fairy Doors

Christmas Activity by International Elf Service - make your own Woodland Elf Door and see who moves in!

I love the rustic Christmas Elf Doors or Fairy Doors we all find in our woods and forests. I know some Fairies build their own houses, but as you know … many fairies move into houses where a door has been put up by one of us. It’s a very special kind of magic that can make a home appear behind a seemingly simple wooden door.

If you’re planning to put a Christmas Elf Door or a Fairy Door in the woods, it’s very important that your door isn’t damaging to either the woods, or the animals that will be living alongside the new fairy residents.

The Official International Fairy Service Planning Guidelines state:

Please don’t use any artificial materials such as plastic, silver foil, tinsel, glitter. Fairies much prefer natural materials. Any wood should be untreated, and only water based paints should be used. Fairies love natural materials such as bare wood, twigs, leaves, jute twine, moss, hessian and feathers … mainly because their woodland friends tend to nibble on them. They also look better when mushrooms and toadstools grow on them.
Please don’t attach your Christmas Elf door to a tree using nails, screws or cement. It hurts the trees, which in turn makes Elves and Fairies very unhappy.
Christmas Elves and Fairies love their gardens to be decorated with natural items … such as empty snail shells, conkers, acorns and other tree seeds. Please don’t pick or pull anything up out of the ground to decorate their garden.
Please don’t damage, stamp or trample on any lovely flowers (keep to the paths). If Elves or Fairies see any squashed flowers, they’re likely to move away.

Bluebells, Buttercups, Cow Parsley, Moss and Dog Rose are all vital equipment for Fairies. They bathe in Buttercups, ring the Bluebells to call other Fairies and use Dog Rose in many of their perfumes and potions. The comforting umbrellas of Cow Parsley provide Elves and Fairies with welcome shelter from bad weather … and on hot summer nights, they sleep on beds of moss.

Photo Credit: ‘Lucy’ by Catherine Anne Puxley
Elves and Fairies love eating nuts and fruit, so please feel free to leave some treats out for them. It would also make them very happy if you were to leave some bird seed out for their friends.
Visit them regularly and see what’s changed since the last time you were there!

If you have an Elf Door or a Fairy Door (and definitely if you don’t) – you can conjure up some magic in your home and have a browse through our magical Fairy Letters and Tooth Fairy Letters

I’m passionate about this small window of make-believe time, which young children are able to believe in. I’m also passionate about supporting children’s well-being, which is why I developed a collection of Fairy & Tooth Fairy letters, specifically designed to support children’s emotional health and development

They cover common topics we all find ourselves guiding our children through … like Worries, Bad Dreams, Trying New Things, Secrets & Trust, Kindness … there are loads.✉️🍄🍀

If you would like to subscribe to my Elf Club, and receive my newsletters, special offers, free Guides and discount codes, I’d love to see you there!