Olla-Podrida: three-tiered stand

Thursday, November 21, 2019

"Centering" on Thanksgiving

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There is no better example of “rolling with the punches” than this centerpiece.

I host Thanksgiving every year, and look forward to decorating when the weather turns cool. This year, however, when the weather turned cool, my son, his wife, and their two cats descended upon me and my quiet abode for a six-week stay during the completion of their new home; it was challenging for all of us.

I wanted to set glorious tables for us every night, but they and their stuff managed to present quite the obstacle between me and my stuff.

It wasn’t a question of not being able to get to my seasonal storage; I couldn’t even see it. So, I grabbed what I could, interspersed it among things that I had, strung some lighted fall leaves, and we all found it quite appealing.

The gourds (something I absolutely love year after year) and mini Indian corn are courtesy of Melissa’s Produce. After all, does anything say fall more than colorful gourds and Indian corn?

Seasonal fall décor like gourds and corn come in handy for adding texture, height, and color. The string of lighted maple leaves, bought on a whim, was tucked here and there.

Considering this was a “make do,” we all quite enjoyed it. Flipping the switch on those lights came to be a bit of a ritual, signaling dinner.

So, no excuses, any of you. Even if you have nothing by way of holiday decor, a few seasonal elements -- gourds and a simple string of lights -- can make a festive addition to your existing table or centerpiece.

Get the look:

Galvanized Three-Tier Tray

Faux Gourds

Faux Indian Corn

Maple Leaf String Light

Cow Creamer

Corn Pitcher

Turkey Tureen

Monday, January 22, 2018

A Tea Time Centerpiece

A number of you commented on my tea centerpiece when I showed you my "curious" table (that you can see here), so here's a closer look.

I have had this three-tiered stand for about 30 years. I bought it at a darling shop called Oak Tree Furniture on Historic Main Street in St. Charles. I mourned for weeks when that shop closed more than a dozen years ago. My mother and I used to visit it often, and when I spied this at the center of one of their lavishly decorated tables, I knew I had to have it. It has served me well over the years, largely holding greenery and grapes. But, lately, I've been using it as not only a centerpiece, but also a part of the meal. If you have one of those very popular galvanized metal three-tiered stands, you might consider this as well. I love it when a centerpiece does double duty.

Consider using it as an appetizer tray. You can showcase some of your favorite dishes, and fill them with fruits, nuts, cubes of cheese, small, hot baked appetizers, and use the lower level for small bottles of wine.

You can also use it as a salad tray, serving people a beautiful bed of freshly torn lettuce, and allowing them to choose their toppers from what you feature on your stand. You can use croutons, nuts, sunflower seeds, dried fruit, bacon crumbles, cubes of ham, shredded cheese, whatever you can dream up, you can put on your tray.

For holidays such as Valentine's Day, Easter, Halloween, or Christmas, where sweets are always featured, use it as a sweet tray. For Valentine’s Day, you can fill bowls with flowers, conversation hearts, chocolate candies, and heart-shaped cookies. Candy is in abundance at Easter time, so imagine how cute this would look filled with pastel colored vessels overflowing with jellybeans, chocolate eggs, malted milk eggs, or your homemade options.

The tray could be filled with spooky fun for Halloween. Use colors like black, brown, orange, and amber as your vessels, and fill them with all sorts of Halloween candy. The kids and your family will go crazy. At Christmas time, picture greenery, berries, small bowls of Christmas cookies (snowball are particularly popular), holiday candy, anything colorful and delicious. Now, if you don't have a three-tiered tray, my guess is you're going to be running out to buy one. Click below if you don't have one. They are so much fun to play around with.

Mine here is tea themed. It features sugar cubes of white and Demerara sugars, teabags in a variety of flavors, some squares of Ghirardelli chocolate (that taste so good with tea), some almond cookies, bowls to hold the goodies, cups for drinking tea, and a small bottle of spiced rum to warm up the tea as well as the insides of anyone who consumes it.

I hope you enjoyed looking at my tea tray. Let me know what you do with yours if you have one, or what you plan to do with one if it's in your future.

This post is linked to:

Cooking & Crafting with J&J

Amaze Me Monday

Busy Mondays

Make it Pretty Monday

Celebrate Your Story

Inspire Me Tuesday

Reader Tip Tuesday

Tuesdays with a Twist

The Scoop

Dream, Create, Inspire

O My Heartsie Girls Wonderful Wednesday
Homestead Wednesday