Season Shelf :: Late Summer

Kelli Ann Wilson season shelf, summer , , , , 0 Comments

As the harvest comes on and the reaping begins
The farmer the fruit of the earth gathers in.
In mirth let us talk till the season be gone . . .

—From the traditional harvest song, “All of a Row”

It’s hard to believe that summer is on the wane already. The August shelf displays symbols of the year’s first harvests (Lammas / First Fruits / Feast of the Transfiguration) and some of my favorite August blooms. 

I also felt like the shelf needed to feel a little more centered on the wall, so I created a watercolor bunting for each month of the year, based on Steiner’s ideas about the colors of the month and Goethe’s color wheel.

The flower fairies are Lotte Sievers-Hahn dollhouse dolls that I purchased from Heirloom Art Co and transformed into my own creations with felt and hot glue.

The art cards are (left to right, from the top): “Sommer” by Eva-Maria Ott-Heidmann, “Oktober” by Ruth Elsässer, “Zomer-muis (Summer Mouse)” by Marjan van Zeyl, “Christ in the Wheatfield” by Johannes Raphael Wehle, and “St Anne” by Piotr Stachiewicz (the last two I printed out myself from images I found online).

August Season Shelf August Season Shelf - 2 August Season Shelf - 3 August Season Shelf - 4 August Season Shelf - 5 August Season Shelf - 6

Season Shelf :: Midsummer & St John’s Tide

Kelli Ann Wilson season shelf, summer 0 Comments

I’m a little late updating this shelf, but we’ve passed the solstice and it’s officially summer!

We just got back from a lovely week spent in Lubec, Maine. We visit Lubec several times a year, so I had to include the town’s famous West Quoddy lighthouse. For this replica, I gave a 5.5″ unfinished wood lighthouse (from Casey’s Wood Products) its signature red and white stripes with acrylic paint.

Midsummer / St John’s always makes me think of bonfires, so I made a bonfire candle holder for my little dolls to enjoy. I hot glued sticks to an empty glass jar and added flames with tissue paper and Mod Podge.

Art cards, from top, are “Juli” by Ruth Elsässer; “Sommer” by Eva-Maria Ott-Heidmann; midsummer deer card by Hearthstone Fables; and “St John the Baptist” by David Newbatt.

St John's Tide season shelf - 1 St John's Tide season shelf - 2 St John's Tide season shelf - 3 St John's Tide season shelf - 4 St John's Tide season shelf - 5 St John's Tide season shelf - 6

Season Shelf :: Early Spring

Kelli Ann Wilson season shelf, season table, spring , , 0 Comments
Season Shelf :: Early Spring

I have two naughty (but adorable) cats, and they like to be overly involved with my season table. So I’m trying something new: A season shelf.

This beautiful shelf is from Camden Rose. I’ve designed the first two shelves to be more nature-focused, while the bottom shelf is dedicated to the liturgical year. But it all feels very cohesive, in part because the liturgical calendar is a reflection of Creation.

One thing I have learned on my seasonal- and liturgical-living journey is that it’s okay for things to change. Living seasonally isn’t static, by definition. My kids are in high school and college, so I no longer have little ones who want to interact with the season table directly. This new iteration of an old practice offers a more passive experience, but it will still ground my family in the seasons of nature and the Church year, just as it always has.

Art cards (from top shelf down): “Farmer Plowing” by Ruth Elsasser, “The White Lamb” by Dorothea Schmidt, “I Am with You Until the End of Days” by Ninetta Sombart, “Golgotha” by Leo Klein.

Spring nature shelf 1 Spring nature shelf 2 Spring nature shelf 4 Spring nature shelf 3

Advent 2024 :: Week Two :: The Light of Plants

Kelli Ann Wilson season table , 0 Comments
Light of Plants 2024 - 1 Light of Plants 2024 - 2

This week we’re meditating on the Plant Kingdom, with which we share the qualities of living and growing. Usually I add some moss to our nature table this week, but my cats have been a little too involved with the display this year, so we’re just going with some well-secured evergreen sprigs and some wooden trees.

I also added my St Nicholas figure this week. Technically, he doesn’t belong in the scene yet (since we haven’t gotten to the Light of Humankind), but this year I thought maybe it would be neat to add the Advent Saints to the table as their feast days arrive. I’m going with St Nicholas & St Lucia, but other options could be St Barbara and Our Lady of Guadalupe. I like the idea of them accompanying Mary on her journey.

Around the Year on the Constant Wonder Podcast

Kelli Ann Wilson Uncategorized 0 Comments

Today I’m the guest on the Constant Wonder podcast. I’m sharing my thoughts on the Lights of Advent, as they relate to the Four Kingdoms (Mineral, Plant, Animal, and Human), and how I use the kingdoms of nature to create our Advent season table each year. If you love nature, you’ll want to check out the entire Constant Wonder Advent series.

Click on the image to listen to the episode.