Remembering Summer, An Assemblage

Today I wanted to share my latest seasonal shadow box.  My DIL Nell, found this basic box at a second hand store for me.  I was so thrilled, not just that she found it, but that she knew I would want it.

 This fun 'Summer'  assemblage is replacing my spring shadow box that I made from the door to an old furnace.

I tried to include things that made me think summer when I was a child as well as things that say 'summer' to me now.

 The idea of bathing beauties, like those shown to the right have always held a fascination for me.

As have small town patriotic exhibits like those we all 'experienced' in the musical The Music Man.  Now that I live in a small town, I feel connected when I see pictures like that of the unhappy royal to the right, and definitely a summer event!!

I know that circuses now occur in indoor arenas and happen all year round, but for me a circus really only feels like a circus under a tent, and that only happened in the summer in Utah.  Thus my funny circus clown to the left.

The doll head  and tin type to the left represents the ever present, summer or not, little girl and her doll.

 There is also a set of tiny toy guns that are crossed in one of the boxes, but I couldn't get a good picture of them, they of course represent the little boy.

Still another 'Patriotic Royal' with a doll roller skate as a reminder of the hours spent skating on smooth sidewalks ... I still remember the clack of the metal wheels hitting the lines in the sidewalk.

The little girl gathering blooms reminds me of the flowers that were brought in from the yard, and placed in mason jars and tall tumblers of water.  We had bridal wreath and I loved them better than any other flower ... well, maybe other than the bleeding hearts, but they were not for cutting ... as I was oft reminded.

And here stand the reigning Queen and King of game playing.  Summer always meant time for playing games.  I was really more of a checkers player, but I was always awed over the miniature characters that served as chess pieces.  (... and I never recovered from repeatedly loosing at Monopoly to some ruthless assortment of my five older brothers.)

I definitely had fun gathering my menagerie of old and odd objects for my summer shadow box.  I have decorated by season and by holiday for years, so maybe this gathering is cutting back ... I do, however love being able to bring out some of my collections of tiny, miniature, and small collectibles, that managed to worm their way into my permanent collection.

This sweet little assemblage has been so enjoyable, and I hope it has brought back some fond memories of summer for you as well.

I also wanted to send many thanks Karen at Graphics Fairy for the old photos and the little girl with flowers that I installed in the paper weight. 

P.S., the antique Victorian spice tin got included because I love it and it was the right size ... however we could think of the fun time we all had baking cookies with our Moms back in the day when most every Mom was a 'Stay at home Mom', right?