Winter Vignette in the New Kitchen

Hello, friends!  Thank you so much for dropping in for a visit. 

After waffling back and forth, forth and back, I finally decided on a theme for this year's Christmas décor.  The inspiration may have come right after Thanksgiving dinner as the fam and I all gathered around and watched Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas.  Do you remember it?  I hadn't seen it since I was little, but back then, it was a favorite of ours each year.  If you haven't seen this charming little story by Jim Henson, it is a regaling story of a widowed otter and her son, who are poor but proud, kind, and very, very country.  I was surprised that my kids have inherited some of my whimsical maudlin; certainly advances have been made in the way of graphics, storytelling, effects, et cetera.  They really enjoyed it, as did I and it was a great way to end the evening.

The ending of the tale features the main characters singing in a warm and cozy mountain lodge.  My idea this year is to transform my house into a quasi-lodge.  We've never stayed in an actual lodge, but several years ago, we did take a lovely trip to Vail.  You can read about my experience by visiting the post on my travel blog here. 

Today's post features the wintery vignette I created for the kitchen.  I hope you enjoy.

Creating a Wintery Centerpiece

I wanted to make a centerpiece that looked traditional, wintery, with lots of elements that remind me of the mountains.  I began with my silver punch bowl.  To complete this medium-scale centerpiece, I used several pieces of flower-arranging foam from The Dollar Tree and wooden skewers from my local grocer.

I built a foundation in the bottom of the bowl,

using skewers to keep the parts together.

 

You can make this centerpiece as large or as small as you like, just cut the foam to size.

 

To give my fruit a wintery effect, I used egg whites and refined sugar.  Refined sugar has a sparkly quality to it perfect for replicating snow.  I recommend working in a very large tray.  You will save yourself cleaning time, trust me.  This is messy!!

 

I used a soft-bristle BBQ brush,

and applied the egg whites to the fruit.

When completely covered,

sprinkle generously with sugar, and blow off excess.

To keep the fruit portions of my centerpiece together, I also used toothpicks.

I began at the top,

slowly adding fruit....including dark grapes, plums, and apples.

The fruit was added at varying heights along with grocery-bought roses (cheap!!) which I also eggwashed and sugared.  The final step was adding pieces of three cut-up faux floral stems I nabbed from Joann's at 60% off!  ($2.66 each).  Here is the end result.

 

Closeup of the detail.

This centerpiece can be used alone, or as an element in a tablescape (please stay tuned....), and was fairly inexpensive to make.  Your guests will absolutely love it!  This centerpiece will keep for days; it will keep longer in cooler temperatures. You can also switch the roses out if they begin to wilt, or refrigerate the whole arrangement.  If you refrigerate, it likely might keep for at least a week. 

The aftermath.  I felt as though I'd be sweeping sugar for days!  :)

 


Bringing Winter Into The Kitchen

To bring the mountains into the kitchen, I simply set the premade centerpiece along with some little friends.  Easy-peasy!  What mountain range would be complete without some of God's beautiful creatures?  I love these little guys, I loved that they were bright white. These little fellows were also found on clearance at Joann's Fabrics.  I set them far apart when I'm not busy using the countertop space,

or close together when I am.  Which do you prefer?  I thought the sparkly elements of the new countertop also played up the sparkle in the centerpiece.  Maybe we will have the kitchen complete by the new year, God willing, lol....but this gives you a tiny peek of what it looks like.  I will share a full reveal when we are finished, but we are moving along at a snail's pace.  I hope you are all enjoying the Christmas Season thus far!

Reed and Barton King Francis punch bowl

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