The East Orlando Sun

There’s a new community of residents slowly taking over downtown Avalon Park.

The group opened its own yoga studio, nearly an exact replica of Yoga East in downtown Avalon, on Nov. 18 and has its sights set on recreating the law offices of Englert, Leite & Martin next. They’ve got big plans for doing the same for six other shops in the coming new year, but their workers are so stealth that you’ll never know when your shop could be next.

It’s almost magic.

Before you tell them to stop stealing all of Avalon’s business, however, local artist Carly Sullens would warn you to pick on somebody your own size.

Each recreated business that’s crafted in the coming months will be no larger than a shoebox, Sullens said. In fact, the yoga mats in the mini Yoga East studio are about the size of a book of matches.

It’s fairies, she said, that are responsible for the revamped and miniaturized version of Avalon commerce. As the ‘spokeswoman’, Sullens said their goal is not to scam businesses, but unite the human-sized community with their mirrored fairy habitats.

“I call it ‘fairy commerce,’ ” Sullens said.

With the support of the Avalon Park Merchants Association, the fairies, with Sullens’ assistance, will be setting up their own fairy versions of local shops in stores around downtown. The idea of the “fairy doors” is to cross promote businesses in a whimsical way and add a fun family attraction to the area.

“This is about using art to interact with the community,” Sullens said. “That’s my goal.”

Fairy inspiration

Sullens, an art therapist from Avalon Park, was first introduced to fairy doors living in Michigan, where the medium was created. A man in Ann Arbor began installing these fairy habitats around town, eventually garnering national attention. The town now has an entire fairy community, with fairy tours and maps that take people around the town to find all the fairies.

“I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if we had some fairy doors down here?’ ” Sullens said. So she presented the idea to the Avalon Park merchants — wary of what they would think — and received a response she never could have imagined.

“They were all fighting to see who would be the first to get one,” she said. “I was shocked at how excited everyone was about it.”

Sullens makes the habitats by hand. She asks for a small donation from businesses for the supplies to build the mini versions of the stores and works to collect items from hobby shops and anywhere else she can find them.

Seven businesses have signed up for their very own fairy doors, and she hopes to install one per month.

“But you know,” she said, “the fairies don’t work on a deadline.”

Fairies at work

Michelle Owens, owner of Yoga East, home of the first fairy habitat, said the reaction thus far to the fairy-sized studio has been amazing.

“I’ve had people come in just to look at the fairy door,” she said. “I have grown people on their knees peering inside. Everyone is totally enchanted by it.”

The fairy studio is made to mirror Yoga East. It has the same working front door and address, mini-yoga mats and water bottles, even the same paintings hang on the walls.

“It’s elements of reality made magical,” Owens said.

She hopes the doors will bring the local business community together for a positive cause, and also bring in out-of-towners to Avalon just to get a peek at the fairies.

Next in line for a fairy door is the Englert, Leite & Martin law office, which Sullens said she hopes will be installed sometime in December.

Partner Jennifer Englert said she is beyond excited to have the fairies move in.

“Anything that brings positive attention to the Avalon Park community is a great idea to me,” she said. “I think the whole thing is a win-win for both businesses and the community."