The Unicorn Castle

Like many 8 year old girls today, my granddaughter, Ellie,  has a passion for unicorns.  So, when her birthday rolled around, I thought that she might like a unicorn castle – a doll-house sized structure where her unicorns could eat and sleep and – well, do whatever it is that her unicorns do.

I was extremely lucky to find a wooden castle at Michael’s, complete with a front door that dropped down like a ramp (perfect for unicorns to trot up.) . I then covered the entire outside with bark and moss, using hot glue and a lot of patience.   The idea is that from the outside, this will look like every other castle in the woods but when you open it up – Bling.!! Super Bling

I painted the inside different shades of purple and blue, glued on hearts and stars, found a rainbow (actually sidewalk chalk shaped like a rainbow) to put over one of the turrets.  Then I raided my costume jewelry box and finally found a use for a single earring and various and sundry other “jewels.”  I went back to Michael’s to get strings of glass beads and other sparkles, some fake fur for beds, and then found a couple of unicorns and a fairy.

Ellie seems to love it, but being Ellie, she didn’t want to just “play house (or castle!)”, she wanted to do something.  Plastic clay (like Sculpey) provided hours of fun as she and her friends made bowls and tables and trinkets for their unicorns.

This week, Ellie decided her unicorns needed an art studio, so I got a large wooden birdhouse with doors that open and let her loose with a pile of sparkly fabric and paint.  The results were stunning and she loved doing it.

If you want to make a unicorn house for or with someone, I strongly suggest starting with some kind of wooden or cardboard structure, which you can cover and decorate.  You can cover it with anything – bark, dried flowers, fabric, paint……whatever strikes your fancy.  But if you can open up your unicorn house (or castle) and decorate the inside, that’s where the real fun lies.  Sequins! Sparkles! Glitter!  It’s glorious to play like an eight year old again.  Just do it.  Just believe.