Interview with Erin Colley - Mastermind behind Topeka Zoo's Santa's Magical Forest

We've been blessed to be able to attend Zoo Lights most nights this year and photograph so many beautiful people from Topeka and the surrounding areas! I wanted to highlight Erin Colley because she is responsible for putting this segment of Zoo Lights together - Santa's Magical Forest. She has outdone herself. Absolutely perfect. Zoo Lights runs through the end of the year! Make sure to come out!!

 

T.H. Peterson: When you first started planning Santa’s Magical Forest, what was the vision in your head? What did you hope families would feel when they walked through it?

Erin: When I first started planning Santa’s Magical Forest, my vision was to transform Big Gage into something completely unexpected—almost like stepping inside a snow globe or a Hallmark Christmas movie. The Topeka Zoo Lights staff had decided to move Santa indoors from his previous space in Holiday Village, and they graciously invited me to design his new space. I didn’t want people to feel like they were in a hundred-year-old shelter house–I wanted them to walk into a room filled with twinkling lights, soft colors, and that kind of Christmas magic you only get when you’re fully immersed in it. For our first year, I had the idea to fill the space as a wintry forest. That summer, a group of volunteers helped us papier-mache and paint all of the birch trees that now fill the space. It was a huge amount of work, but once the idea was in my head, I couldn’t let it go. When I get a vision like that, I feel it in my chest—I need to make it real.  More than anything, I hoped families would walk in and immediately feel that spark of wonder… that little pause where you forget the world outside and just feel the magic of Christmas. Erin Colley, the person responsible for this jaw dropping attraction! Erin and her family!

T.H. P.: This place is absolutely stunning — every corner feels intentional. Can you walk me through your creative process? How does an idea like the gingerbread house or the forest area go from a thought to something people can physically stand inside?

Erin: This is our third year decorating this space, and over time, I’ve finally found a rhythm in how the ideas come together. I’m an artist at heart. I have an art degree, but I also have an English degree, and I teach English for my actual job—so this has become my creative outlet, my therapy. When I get an idea, I can see it fully formed in my head. It’s like a mix of artistic instinct and my love for creating experiences that feel magical and immersive. I always tell my husband, “This is exactly how it looks in my head!” once a scene is truly complete. So, I think now he trusts me more when I have an idea, but he knows we will be able to pull it off.  My process usually starts with that mental picture. Then I go to the internet to gather visuals so other people can see what I’m imagining. I print those out, along with photos from previous years, and build a vision board so our volunteers have a clear picture of the overall look and layout. From there, it becomes a family project. My husband and father-in-law are incredible — if I can sketch it, they can build it. Santa’s house, the gingerbread house, the gingerbread people… all of that starts as a drawing at my kitchen table and turns into something you can experience in real life. Every year I say I’m not going to change anything, but then I get an idea I just have to bring to life. For instance, I found the sleigh on Facebook Marketplace the summer of 2024 and immediately knew it would need to become its own vignette. The week after Christmas last year, my sister and I walked through Christmas clearance aisles and saw the pastel candy decor, and that was it. The whole candyland-style gingerbread village came from that one moment. Within a week, I had a plan, a Pinterest board, and a sketch of the house I wanted to have built. At the heart of it, I want this space to feel like a place of wonder — somewhere people of all ages can walk into and just stop for a moment as their eyes light up and it takes their breath away.

T.H. P.: Which part of Santa’s Magical Forest was the most challenging to create, and what made it tricky?

Erin: Honestly, the hardest part is that while I plan all year, we only get a few days inside Big Gage to actually put everything together. Nothing can be tested ahead of time, so we walk in hoping the pieces and measurements work the way I imagined. That gingerbread house sat in our garage for months in several pieces–so I worked on it, but we had no idea how it would actually look when it was put together.  But at the same time, none of it feels too hard, because I love the challenge of figuring things out. Every idea comes with a “Okay… how do we actually make this happen?” moment. Oftentimes, it’s trial and error–the gingerbread house cookie texture ended up being joint compound rolled on with a paint roller. The roof icing? We tried expanding caulk, hated it, and finally decided to cut the pieces out of wood. Even painting candy stripes on giant carpet rolls was more difficult than expected. It’s all a challenge, but it’s the kind of challenge we actually enjoy — problem-solving until the vision truly comes to life.

T.H. P.: Do you have a favorite scene or area you designed this year? What makes that one special to you?

Erin: It’s hard to pick a favorite because I pour my heart into every scene, but I think Santa’s Vintage Toy Shoppe means the most to me this year. I’ve had that idea in my head for a few years, and finally making it happen felt really special. I have always loved anything vintage—it’s so nostalgic and reminds me of days gone by, my grandparents, my parents, and even my own childhood. I absolutely love the vintage toys; they remind me of the old “I Spy Christmas” book I loved as a kid, which is actually what inspired the scavenger hunt. I’m also really proud of the gingerbread area. The pastel, sparkly candy colors and the giant gingerbread people turned out fantastic, and they bring me so much joy. I still have lots of ideas I want to add in future years, but it already feels magical. And then there’s the Christmas Tree Stand. It’s also new this year. Before this, the space was a hot cocoa stand, but I’d had the tree farm vision in my head for a long time. I love how it turned out, and seeing all the photos of kids there donning Santa hats and reindeer antlers has been one of my favorite parts of the whole experience.

T.H. P.: “A lot of families will make memories here — especially with Santa being here all month. What does it mean to you personally to create a space that becomes part of their holiday traditions?”

Erin: It honestly means the world to me that families make memories here. I love seeing photos on social media, and even just walking into the space and watching kids and families smiling, having fun, and enjoying each of the scenes. It fills my heart. I think about how they’ll look back on those photos years from now, and it means so much to know that something I created is becoming a part of their memories and traditions. As an artist, it’s incredibly special to build something that isn’t just pretty to look at, but actually becomes woven into people’s lives. The idea that a space I imagined and brought to life becomes the backdrop for their holiday joy—that’s the greatest compliment I could ever receive.

T.H. P.: There’s so much detail in every vignette… How long does something like this take you, from concept to the final touches?

Erin: Honestly, the planning never really stops. Any time I’m in the space, I’m already thinking about how I could improve or change things for the next year. After-Christmas shopping sparks a lot of ideas, too. The entire gingerbread area started because of what I found in the clearance aisle last year. My brain really never stops, so I’m always pinning ideas and saving little things that spark a vision. All year long, I’m building the pieces in my head and figuring out what we need to construct. My father-in-law, Mike, is an incredible builder, and he’s created almost all of the big structures for me: the tree silhouettes, Santa’s house and shelves, the gingerbread house, and gingerbread people. We actually had the gingerbread house in our garage most of the summer while I painted it and added details. I even completely refurbished and repainted the carousel horse this summer and spent months hunting through antique stores for the vintage toys and “tchotchkes” for the Toy Shoppe. That’s really how my vignettes come together—layers and tiny details. The longer you look, the more you see, and that’s another inspiration for the scavenger hunt. I wanted people to slow down and really notice the details. But the crazy part is that after a year of planning, we have less than a week to actually install everything. And I still teach full time, so I spend the entire weekend before opening night in Big Gage, and then every weeknight until 10 p.m. or later. We absolutely couldn’t pull it off without our helpers–amazing friends and family who come to hang snowflakes, fluff snow, make bows, string lights, and just jump in wherever they’re needed. From concept to final touches… it truly takes a full year of imagining, months of building and gathering, and one very intense week of bringing the whole world to life.

T.H. P.: If someone walked through the whole thing and only remembered one feeling, one moment, or one message you wanted to share — what would you hope that is?

Erin: I hope people remember the magic — that spark of wonder you only feel at Christmas. I want them to have that quiet, heart-swelling moment where everything slows down, and you can just breathe it in. If they leave with even a small sense of joy, nostalgia, or childlike awe, then the whole thing was worth creating.