Seasonal Displays

I feel so lucky to have, what I consider, a perfect space for our seasonal centers. A large bay window, low enough for Tyler to climb and sit in, even when he was just a little bitty crawler, has been a lovely location. We have moved from a lifetime in Upstate NY (a place with definite seasons!) to a much more southern state this year, and I'm not sure how well what is seen outside will match some of the displays (snow?), but we'll certainly find out!

Our fall display consisted of many gourds that Tyler enjoyed looking at (and throwing!), a jack o' lantern full of pine cones found on a neighborhood walk, pumpkin and Halloween books, a small pumpkin, perfect for carrying around the house, an enlarged photograph of a fall scene that I took a few years ago, and fall leaves we collected and placed between wax paper (then ironed). Early in the fall, we cut open a small pumpkin to allow Tyler to discover what the insides are like. Tyler became quite obsessed with pumpkins and though we've recently taken down the autumn display, several items have found new homes around the house.

    The winter display replaced the autumn center on Thanksgiving, and has more of a Christmas feel to it for now. I'm sure that I'll be changing and adding to it within the next couple weeks, as I found I did with the autumn scene. For now, it includes a Christmas tree with toddler friendly ornaments for Tyler to practice removing, replacing, and arranging as he'd like. He is especially fond of the jingle bells, which he shakes furiously! I've placed Christmas and winter books in a basket. I found a small stocking which I'll be placing an item or two in soon for him to practice removing and replacing. Two Christmas-style boxes with lids to practice with also each hold a ceramic figure; Santa's workshop holds a Santa figure and the gold present box holds an angel. A miscellaneous box holds pine cones, several jingle bell ornaments (that were too small to hang by themselves for fear of choking) which I strung to serve as a sort of instrument, as well as a few long pieces of garland to play with. So far he's enjoying it very much, especially the tree!

Wouldn't you know the next morning, after a nearly 70 degree Thanksgiving Day, we woke to snow on the ground?! It was a lovely backdrop to the display before it melted soon after. Our cat Tomas sure seems to think so too!