Fairy & Dragon World Tuff tray

After a very magical day out at a ‘Fairy & Dragon World’ in a garden centre (who knew those places were fun before you retired?!), I thought I’d carry on their interest with a themed tray. After finding a big bag of very out-of-date cous cous at the back of the food cupboard I thought I’d have a go at dying it, mixing it with food colouring and a couple of drops of vinegar, and it worked really well. I used this to make the rainbow, out-of-date flour (yup my cupboards need a spring clean) with some snowflakes (made with a snowflake paper punch) for the winter fairies, some happy land fairy houses and a painted Pringles lid for a little pond. 

I made a wishing well from cardboard using a prosecco top as the frame then hole punched some gold shiny paper for coins to ‘make a wish’. 

Some hama beads in some mixed colour cous cous made a fairy mine and I put some little bowls and scoops next to it for them to mine the jewels (the set of 3 scoops were about a pound from Home Bargains). 

I made a dragons nest from play doh and put  some play doh next to the nest for them to make eggs out of (a good way to use that pesky mixed-together play doh before it becomes brown & unloved). 

Dot around some toadstools made from painted prosecco corks (anyone guessed my favourite tipple yet??) plus some Happy Land fairies and Tinkerbell’s mates and you have one bonafide fairy world! The kids couldn’t believe it when they saw it and they did all the tasks first but then spent hours making up stories - it was dubbed ‘Rainbow City’ and even given it’s own theme tune by my musical son!