How to live like a forest fairy this spring whimsical activities, books, style & more.

Some of my happiest childhood memories are involving fairies. When I was little I loved reading fairy books and making fairy food with my sister and playing outside, living in these make-believe worlds. And I think for people who love fantasy like so many of us do, our interests as adults are just a continuation of the same things we loved when we were younger but maybe adapted in a slightly different way to fit our lives now. So in that spirit I wanted to create a guide on how to live like a forest fairy and how to incorporate more whimsy and magic into your life even as an adult. And as always I'll link everything I mentioned in this video in the description below. Let's get into it! When it comes to forest fairy activities, I think it's all about incorporating nature into your everyday life. Bringing nature indoors with house plants and indoor gardens. I really love my mini greenhouse that I keep on my windowsill. Even pressing flowers and leaves in nature and using them in my home decor or for scrapbooking and foraging pine cones and sticks and whatever I can find in nature to decorate my home. In terms of crafts, I made this spring fairy wreath last year and I loved it so much. This is one of my favorite spring decor items. I also love these pressed flower lanterns. This is such an easy craft to make but it looks so pretty. It's always fun to make flower crowns. Such a great activity for the summer. And making fairy gardens and terrariums as living decor. I think anything you can do to spend as much time in nature as you can is so good for you. It's good for the soul, good for your mental health. I love going for nature walks in the woods but even when I've lived in cities just going to the park is such a great way to spend time outside. I also try to nature through all the different seasons and weather and still spend time outside even if I have to bundle up or bring an umbrella. I've also been trying to do more grounding lately which is basically just taking off your shoes and letting your feet touch the earth and it's just a nice meditative practice that helps me feel more connected to nature. Make a nature scrapbook or a nature journal. So something I like to do is bring a journal with me when I go out into the woods and kind of use it for field notes. I'll sketch different plants I see and try to ID them and keep a record of the things I see when I go on my walks. Of course picnics are one of my favorite outdoor activities. I even did a forest picnic with different fairy foods and recipes. That one was so much fun and any picnic in general you can do to get outside is always fun. Make your own clothing or accessories. There's something really fairy to me about making your clothing. I always loved reading stories when I was little about fairies spinning spider silk into different garments. So I think anything like knitting, crocheting, or sewing your own clothing is a really fun activity that I would personally consider a fairy hobby. And I'll also share some style tips that I like to use later in this video. So I grew up playing the piano but lately I've really been into the kalimba. I love the way it sounds. It's very calming and soothing and it's very easy to play. It's a pretty simple instrument to learn so I just feel like this kind of has a fairy vibe to it. Cook with flowers, herbs, and fresh produce. I'll have a whole section later on in this video where I share some specific recipes but anything you can do to incorporate herbs, berries, and flowers into your food is a fairy recipe in my book. I love any sort of natural herbal tea. It kind of reminds me of when I used to make drinks for the fairies when I was little. Even making floral ice cubes with edible flowers makes any drink look so cute and whimsical. As I was going through my library I found that I have a lot of fairy themed books, way more than I realized, ranging all the way from children's literature into adult fiction. I also have some art and illustrated type books that relate to fairies so I wanted to share a few of my favorites with you. The first is How to Be a Wildflower by Katie Daisy. This is a really beautiful illustrated book and it has a lot of quotes and activities and just tips in general for how to connect more with nature. I also love this book because I really feel like it's good for all ages. It would be fantastic for kids but also it's something that I always turn to as an adult. She also wrote How to Be a Moonflower which is another field guide and this one is more about connecting to night time and all the nature and creatures of the night. Another one of my favorite illustrated books is A Natural History of Fairies by Emily Hawkins and Jessica Rue. This one has gorgeous illustrations as well. It's more of an encyclopedia style book that is about the folklore around fairies and their different habitats and behaviors. Fairyopolis was one of my favorite books growing up and it's all about discovering this hidden world of flower fairies. It leaves all different kinds of illustrations, folklore and stories, and even little interactive elements to create a really fun book. In the cozy fantasy genre, I love Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Fairies. I read this series last year and I really enjoyed it. The fairies in this book are more of a darker folklore vibe. They're a little bit scary at times and it centers around Emily who is a quirky professor who's a little bit grumpy and there's also a little bit of romance in the book so it all makes for a really fun and interesting read. Next up in cozy fantasy, I have The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst. I read The Spell Shop by the same author last year and I loved it so I'm really excited to read this one this spring. This book is about a lonely woman who inherits a magical greenhouse with plants that have powers and she learns how to care for the plants and develops a relationship with them and I felt like this fit really well into the fairy theme even though it's not necessarily a book about fairies because it's all about connecting with magic and nature. So many of our modern stories today around fairies are rooted in Irish folklore and I love this book, A Treasury of Irish Fairy and Folk Tales. This is a big compendium of folk stories and it's really deeply intertwined with Irish culture and the landscape of the area which I think is really captivating. It's a really big book so I've only read a few of the stories but it's really cool to see how much the literature and folklore of Ireland has affected our modern fairy tales today. I feel like a big theme around the folklore of fairies is all about this relationship with nature, developing a greater understanding of the natural world and a greater respect for it and for that reason I think Reading Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer also fits under this fairy umbrella very well. This book definitely deepened my appreciation for nature. It's all about connecting indigenous wisdom and scientific knowledge with how humans interact with the world. This book is called A Year in Flowers and it's by the creator of Florette Farm on Instagram who makes beautiful floral arrangements and has this gorgeous flower farm and this book is all about floral design and how to arrange different flowers and for me working with flowers is such a big part of how I like to craft with nature and bring the outdoors into my home so I think this kind of fits under the fairy umbrella as well. And finally I highly recommend this book. It's called Wonder of the Woodlands The Art of Seeing and Creating with Nature and this book is all about using foraged materials from the woods to make different arrangements and decor for your home. Very fairycore and really really cool and inspiring. One of my favorite ways to relive that magic and love of fairies from my childhood is watching movies especially kind of comfort nostalgic films and one of my favorite fairy movies is A Midsummer Night's Dream the 1999 version. It's absolutely gorgeous from the set design to the costumes even the hair and makeup is perfection and such great inspiration for me. And it's a beautiful adaptation of the William Shakespeare play. I think they captured the humor and the essence of the play really well and it's a very timeless film. On the completely opposite end of fairy world interpretations we have Pan's Labyrinth by Guillermo del Toro. This is about a young girl who escapes into a dark mythical fairy world. It's definitely creepy and a bit unsettling so be warned but I love the movie and it's a really beautiful film. Next we have The Spiderwick Chronicles. This was one of my favorite movies when I was a kid. I loved it so much. I also really loved the books that it's based on and it follows siblings who discover a hidden field guide that reveals a dangerous world of fairies that live alongside humans. I remember being pretty scared of some of the creatures in the movie when I was a kid but today I find them pretty cute but it might just be because this guy looks like Obi. I just mentioned this one in a recent video but I have to talk about Fairy Tale A True Story, the quintessential fairy movie in my book. I loved this film growing up. It's beautiful and it really reminds me of my childhood. I grew up making fairy houses and fairy food with my little sister so this one is a real comfort watch for me that really reminds me of being a kid. And it's about two little girls who capture photos of fairies that create quite a stir in 20th century England. And finally Ever After starring Drew Barrymore. This was one of my favorites also when I was growing up and it's such a beautiful visually stunning adaptation of Cinderella. The story isn't about fairies but I would definitely group it under that umbrella. It's a gorgeous fairy tale and there's even a scene where Drew Barrymore's character is dressed as a fairy. Also I forgot to mention some of my favorite musicians who make kind of fairy themed music include Hosier, Aurora, Adrian Lenker, and the Paper Kites. I actually made a whole fairycore playlist that I'll link below. Next up I want to talk about some beauty favorites. So I've really been into this kind of glowy ethereal makeup look recently and I think it's great for this time of year and it has that spring fairy aesthetic. So I wanted to show you some products I've been loving lately. The first one is from the brand Luna Roots Botanicals. This is an indie makeup brand and I love all their products. I have a few different things from them. This is called the Moon Chariot Lunar Illuminator and it's a highlight that also can double as an eyeshadow. Sometimes I'll even put it on my lips and it has this beautiful purpley blue highlight. I'm actually wearing it today. I have some on my eyelids and then a little bit up here as a highlight and I don't think they make this specific color anymore but they have some that are similar and I'll make sure I link a few of those. I've also been loving this L'Oreal Lumi Highlighter Stick. This is in the color Glassy Pink Ballet and I have some here on my cheeks. You can kind of see the shine. This is like their glass skin collection so it's very like high shine, very dewy, and I've really been enjoying it lately. And I know I talk about this all the time but I love Clinique Almost Lipstick in Black Honey. This is like the cult classic color because Arwen from Lord of the Rings wore it for her makeup look in the movie and it's just this really beautiful berry shade. Another thing I love this time of year is Rose Facial Mist. So you can either buy rose water or infuse your own and I like to keep mine in the fridge because it's really refreshing and then I'll spray some on as I'm doing my skincare. You can also mist it on your face and body throughout the day if it's getting hot outside or you just need a little pick-me-up. For fragrance, this is my absolute favorite perfume. It's Jo Malone Wild Bluebell Cologne and this scent is just so beautiful and so ethereal. It has a bluebell note so it's kind of a light floral. It's a little bit green. On the website it's described as a vibrant light floral fragrance designed to evoke shaded sunny woodlands with sapphire blue flowers. So it's kind of the ultimate forest fairy scent and I love it so much. I actually wore this for my wedding. I've also been loving sheer kind of nude nail polish that has a little bit of shimmer. For me they're really nice for day-to-day wear because they're not super noticeable. They don't really clash with my clothes but then in the sun they'll have a little bit of that like vibrant flash and I really love that. So the two I have in my collection are both from Essie. This one is pretty old. It's called Going Steady. I've had it for a couple years. It's very sheer but it has a green flash that's really pretty. This one is called Gilded Galaxy. I'm wearing it today. It's kind of a pinky nude color and it has hot pink and green shimmer. I got this Sol de Janeiro Glow Oil actually last year for my wedding and this product is a little bit on the expensive side. In fact I think they have some good kind of comparable dupes that you can get instead and I'll link some. One thing that's really nice about this product is it doesn't transfer so if you're wearing white or any lighter color you can put this on let it dry and it's not going to transfer onto your outfit. This is for your body but it creates this really subtle ethereal glow on the skin and in general I really enjoy using glowy body oils this time of year. Lately I've really been into fantasy fashion and I've been trying to figure out how to incorporate more fantasy elements into my day-to-day wardrobe so I wanted to share some tips with you on ways to do that more easily. I also thrift a lot of my clothing online so I wanted to share some brands you can search for if you're looking on sites like Poshmark or Depop that have kind of that fantasy vibe. So when I think of fairy clothing I picture flowy fabrics, lightweight materials, and a lot of earth tones as well because we want it to look kind of organic and romantic and natural. And in terms of fabric I will go for a lot of linen, lace, kind of silky flowy fabrics, and I've really been enjoying crocheting a lot of my wardrobe as well. You can find really great patterns and tutorials online for whimsical fairy fantasy inspired pieces and I'll share some links to favorites that I've made. And in terms of brands to thrift I have a list of my favorite ones here so I've had really good success searching for Fang, Monsoon, Hail Bob, Adriana Papel, Kim Chi Blue, and Lace Maid. What I try to do also is I'll have my regular basics things like jeans or linen pants and then I'll try to thrift statement pieces from those brands that make the outfits feel a little bit more fantasy. For example the outfit I'm wearing today, this green dress is something I wear all the time. It's basic enough that there are a lot of different ways to style it and it's one of my wardrobe staples. And then this is a corset that I thrifted and I feel like this makes the outfit look a lot more fantasy but the dress on its own can kind of lean into a bunch of different aesthetics. It's a little bit more basic. I also feel like a lot of what we see as fantasy style today is a version of bohemian style or even whimsical. Like when I think of Stevie Nicks it's all about these really flowy beautiful fabrics, a lot of 70s influence, and I feel like that can be easily adapted for spring by wearing lighter colors maybe some more florals or like flower motifs and more ethereal elements like really lightweight fabrics and shimmer. When I think of fairy food I think of herbs, fruits, and flowers and recipes that are pretty simple and feel like they came from the nothing too fancy or fussy just really good simple food that highlights the ingredients. So if you've been with me for a while you know how much I love my tea parties and picnics and I've done a few that are fairy adjacent or fairy themed. I did a forest fairy tea party, a forest picnic, and I also did a Midsummer Night's Dream dinner party and all of those had fairy recipes. I'll link them below but I wanted to share some of my favorite fairy food recipes with you now. For drinks I have to start out with this forest fairy tea blend. This is made with rose, calendula, hibiscus, and butterfly pea flowers for color. I also love this lavender lemonade. It's so good for summer and the lavender has a little bit of an herbal earthy flavor that works really well with lemon. Another lavender drink I love in the spring is this lavender matcha latte. You have earthiness of the matcha mixed with this really light floral flavor of the lavender and they taste so good together. For snacks I love these rainbow lettuce cups. These are really easy to make. You just do a little bit of hummus and top it with veggies and I added some edible flowers just to make them a little more whimsical. I love this asparagus tart that I made for my Midsummer Night's Dream dinner party. I feel like asparagus is a really pretty vegetable. It kind of has a fairy feel to it and I loved the way it looked on this tart. It also tastes so good with the herbed cheese and flaky crust. And finally I love this herbed goat cheese log. It looks fancy but it's really easy to make. You just chop up some herbs. I also pressed a few edible flowers and I rolled a goat cheese log in the mixture until it stuck to the outside. And this is so good with crackers and vegetables. It's a really nice appetizer. And for desserts I love anything miniature. I made these mini woodland fruit tarts with some crushed pistachios that kind of look like moss and strawberry cream cheese mini galettes with edible flowers. I also love these mini flower cakes that I made for my forest fairy tea party. This forest moss cake which is a matcha cake and I took the crumbs and created a crumb layer on the outside to kind of look like moss. And this beautiful blackberry lavender cake that has this natural purple color from adding blackberry jam to a cream cheese frosting. And blackberries and lavender for me are one of my absolute favorite flavor combinations. Okay everyone I hope you enjoyed this video. I had so much fun making this one and I hope it gave you a little bit of inspiration and some tips on how to make life feel more whimsical. Again I will link everything in the description below in case you want to check anything out or make anything. Thank you so much for watching and I'll see you next time.