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| The old kitchen |
One of my favorite things to do at Christmas time, is to decorate the old kitchen of our 18th century house. I love princess pine roping and when I can find it, I buy it . Next a few homemade ornaments mixed with a few antique ones, feather trees, dried spiced orange balls, and a basket full of dried pomegranates.
Did I also mention the cranberry roping? Still have to do that .
The spice balls are something I actually made a couple years ago and by some miracle they have managed to last through a humid summer.
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| Orange spice ball and peeler |
It is a really fun thing to do and with the right tool, can be easily done. The tool I use is called a citrus peeler. You score the skin of the orange into a design and then press whole cloves into the white flesh . Sometimes I just go all around the orange ( you can use lemons too) in a kind of swirl design or other times I just go on a diagonal or striped design. When the cloves are pressed into the white flesh, it looks amazing.
I let the oranges dry and they look so pretty arranged on the mantle with greenery or in a bowl or basket on the table. I used to make dozens of these and give them as gifts with baked goods.
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| Mantle decoration |
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| Table decoration |
In my next post I will show the fabulous creche I found a few years ago on ebay!
Keep tuned in....
Hi Peggy, I am enjoying your new blog. Love the pictures and the old kitchen. Wonderful. I read Paula's post on her visit and Edyth's visit to your house. So enjoyable. Love the fruit and spice balls too. I will just have to try them.
ReplyDeleteLove your kitchen decor,and can't wait to see your Creche...blessings until then :)
ReplyDeleteLong, logn ago I made some of these. You may have inspired me to try again. :-) I usually make cinnamon ornaments each year just for the smell!
ReplyDeletePeggy,
ReplyDeleteThe princess pine roping looks amazing! I never see it for sale anymore. We have a little bit of it that grows up on the hill behind our house, next to the artesian well and not far from where the cranberry bog used to be in the 18th and 19th century.
Paula
Dear Peggy,
ReplyDeleteWe love your old kitchen decorated for Christmas! It reminds us of Tasha's!
The Princess Pine looks wonderful above your fireplace!
We like to make spice balls, too! They look so festive and smell delightful!
Your friends,
Diane and daughter Sarah, and the Izannah girls