Greetings of the season! Jennifer here, with an on-trend Christmas decoration perfect for a foodie-themed tree or three.
Last year, the first Christmas in our new home, I had the idea to put a tree, at least a small one, in each room of the house. Now, I didn't quite make it, but I did start collecting the bits and pieces I'd need for each room, including these mini wooden spoons and rolling pins for a food-themed tree for the dining room table. We have gold curtains in the room, and future plans involve lots of warm metals, so I thought a little gold leaf would be perfect for our table-top tree.
If you'd like to make this, you'll need:
- Mini wooden rolling pins and spoons, 8 of each (I got mine from Factory Direct Crafts)
- Small hand drill or power drill with a small bit (not pictured)
- 2 Paint brushes
- Helmar Super-Tac Glue
- Gold leaf sheets
- Gold-tone wire
A few other tools that are useful but not mandatory are tweezers, small needle-nose pliers, and wire cutters (though if your wire is thin enough, strong scissors will do the trick).
Start by drilling a small hole in the handle and bowl of each wooden spoon. A punch, awl, or nail is not advised for this as the thin wood is far more likely to split with those sorts of brute-force methods.
Next, with the smaller paint brush, brush on a layer of Helmar Super-Tac Glue on the area of the first spoon you want to gild. You want an even layer, not too thick or too thin, and you want it to get tacky before applying the leaf. How long that takes depends on a lot of things, but in general if it's warm or humid it'll take longer than if it's cold or dry, not to mention how porous your surface is. It was only a matter of seconds before it was ready on unfinished wood in fairly cool conditions.
Carefully lay a section of the gold leaf over the semi-dry Helmar Super-Tac Glue. Tweezers are useful for this, as the leaf can stick to you as much as the glue.
Gently press the leaf into the adhesive with the dry paintbrush. Once you're sure the glue has dried (again, we're talking a few seconds in most cases), run the dry paintbrush over the surface of the gold leaf, burnishing it and removing any loose leaf.
One of the cool things about the gold leaf in this application is it's uneven, instantly distressed look. If you have sizable gaps, though, you can repeat the glue and leaf steps, above, to fill in as much or as little as you want.
Continue to gild each spoon and rolling pin as you want. I changed up the patterns for each just to keep things interesting, but you could do all bowls, all handles, etc. Whatever looks good to you!
Don't get rid of the little bits of leaf you brush off! Periodically use your dry brush to scoot them into a pile and roll or press your prepared surface in the bits. It was especially useful for the striped rolling pins!
Once you've got all your pieces decorated–you could add paint or other embellishments as well, I opted to stick with just the gold leaf–it's time to start putting the garland together.
Thread one end of a spoon onto your wire and make a little coil, either by hand or with pliers, at the end of the wire. This is both decorative and acts as a stop. Then wrap the wire around the end of the spoon a couple of times.
Loop the wire over the handle of a rolling pin a few times, twist it to secure, and then trim the wire leaving about an inch or so to coil up at this end.
Repeat, alternating spoons and rolling pins, until your garland is complete!
The wire helps position the garland just where I want it on my little tree, and I love the way the gilding picks up the mini LED lights I added. To see how the rest of my tree came together, make sure to check out my blog for the details and other supplies.
Wishing you creative days!
