From Farmhouse to Florida

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Coastal Themed Summer Dough Bowl Centerpiece

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It’s officially summer! Looking for a new way to decorate your table? Why not try a coastal themed summer dough bowl?

Do you need a quick & easy Summer centerpiece?  Let me show you how I quickly designed a coastal themed summer dough bowl for my lanai table!

long wooden dough bowl filled with shells and glass balls

As a special treat this week, I am joining a group of  bloggers for a Summer Home Tour!  The links to today’s participants can be found near the bottom of this post!  A big Thank you to Marty from A Stroll Thru Life for organizing this Summer Home Tour!

Let’s get started!

close up of sand dollars on a wooden stand

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Since moving to Florida, I have often incorporated sand dollars, as well as other shells, in dough bowl centerpieces. If you have been following me for awhile, I am sure this comes as no surprise.  I do have a bit of a dough bowl addiction!

Dough bowl decorated with sand dollars & ornaments

Speaking of Florida, this is probably a good thyme to introduce myself if you are new to my blog.  I am so happy to meet you!  I am a transplanted Mid-Western.  I sometimes say I am a Zone 6 girl living in a Tropical location!  If you are a gardener, you will know what I am referring to when I say Zone 6.  Another way to describe my interests is that they range from flowers (a former florist) to flour (a former pizzeria owner) and many things in between!  My name is Kimberly or Kim and I call my decorating style “Kim” Style!
 
I like to use thyme instead of time when I am writing!  My entrepreneurial journey started many years ago when I first started growing and using herbs.  My journey is detailed in Sprout, Grow, Bloom.

What Exactly is a Dough Bowl?

Dough bowls get their name from their original purpose: making bread dough!  An antique dough bowl was a great place for the bread dough to rise as the wood helped retain the heat which in turn helped the dough rise.  Every kitchen had a least one dough bowl and they were often times handed down through the generations.  Antique dough bowls are also sometimes referred to as trenchers.  Now, instead of being used to actually make dough, they have become a decorating staple especially for Farmhouse decor.
 
Dough bowls come in a variety of shapes and sizes.  The most common shapes are the oval and round.   I have  an oval 20-inch-long dough bowl as well as a few other shapes and sizes.   I love to decorate them for the seasons.  The majority of mine are reproductions.   There are still many antique ones available.

How to Decorate a Dough Bowl with A Coastal Theme

I love dough bowls so much; I have added a few more to my collection since moving to Florida!  This rectangle one is also a reproduction.  It is approximately 17 inches long and 8 1/2 inches wide.  The width made it easy to decorate.  To be completely honest, I don’t really care for the carving or the distressing but  I think it actually blends in with the holes on the sand dollars.  The carving/distressing isn’t nearly as noticeable once the sand dollars and other elements are in place.
 
wooden rectangle shaped dough bowl
 
For this centerpiece, I am actually going to be nestling the rectangle dough bowl in the center of my extra large dough bowl.
 
Extra large oval wooden dough bowl

Gather the Elements

sand dollars & ornaments in a dough bowl

To design the centerpiece, I am going to combine sand dollars, two shell encrusted spheres, glass balls and a battery candle with a sand dollar motif.

The glass balls covered with a crocheted cover resemble Japanese fishing floats.  They are actually meant to be weights to attach to a tablecloth outdoors in order to help hold it in place.  I found these adorable glass spheres at my Mom’s house when I was clearing it out.  They were tucked in with her supply of picnic items.  I almost put them in the donate pile until I actually looked at them and saw how they would fit in the coastal decor at the Florida house!

close up of coastal accents for a fall dough bowl

The shells were part of my Grandmother’s shell collection.  My grandparents used to spend the month of January in the Fort Myers Florida area in the late 50s and early 60s and my grandmother would bring back shells.  After my grandmother passed away, my Mom ended up with the shell collection.

 
It didn’t take very long to put the dough bowl centerpiece together once I had all my elements collected.
 
Battery operated mosaic candle centerpiece
 
The ends look a little lonely, so I simply added a few woven balls and two small spindles.  The spindles remind me of fishing bobbers!
 
coastal themed summer dough bowl

Save This Pin for Later!


 

What Are Sand Dollars?

Sand dollars are actually the skeletons of  keyhole urchins.  These urchins are found in various places around the world including both the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States.  They are somewhat fragile and resemble old American coins or old large Spanish coins.

sand dollar ornament

The Legend of the Sand Dollar

I think this is the perfect thyme to share the story of the Legend of the Sand Dollar.  The legend is a story of hope and peace, something we all need right now.

I found a postcard with the Legends of The Sand Dollar in with my Grandmother’s Florida maps and other mementos when I was sorting thru everything during the downsizing process.

The legend tells the story of Christ with symbolism found in the patterns and internal structures of the sand dollar.

The top of the shell has a symbol that looks like a star which signifies the Star of Bethlehem.  This is the star that led the Wise Men to the baby Jesus.  An outline of an Easter lily surrounds the star.  Easter Lilies are a symbol of Christ’s resurrection.

trio of sand dollars on an old wooden piece

There are five holes in a sand dollar – four around the ends of the star and one in the center. According to the religious legend, the four holes represent the four wounds of Christ when his hands and feet were nailed to the cross. The center hole represents the wound made from a soldier’s spear.

On the opposite side of  the sand dollar, you can see the outline of a poinsettia, the traditional Christmas flower. If a sand dollar is broken open, it is said that five dove-shaped pieces appear.  Doves are often used to represent peace and goodwill.
 
sand dollar with "poinsettia " side up, displayed with a shell ornament
 
Isn’t that a sweet legend?  The white color of the sand dollars comes from being bleached by the sun.  White is also a symbol of purity.
 
oblong dough bowl decorated with sand dollars
 

One Last Look At the Coastal Themed Summer Dough Bowl

long wooden dough bowl filled with shells and glass balls

 

More Summer Dough Bowl Ideas!

This summer dough bowl centerpiece was fun to make!  If you have a baseball lover in your family, you might enjoy making it too! All the details can be found here: How to Style A Round Dough Bowl for the Summer Holidays

Dough bowl decorated for the Summer

A Florida Themed Dough Bowl

We have a screened in entryway that I decorate seasonally.  My husband found this adorable metal camper at Aldi’s last summer.  It looks a lot like the one my grandparents had when they used to vacation in Florida.  Somewhere I have a picture of my grandpa sitting in a lawn chair in front of their camper.  Of course, I couldn’t find it to include it in the vignette!

The Summer Home Tour Continues here:

 

Thursday June 13th Lineup

Bluesky at Home – County Road 407 – Pasha is Home – Bungalow 47

Here are the links for the previous days!

Monday June 10th Lineup.

A Stroll Thu Life – My Thrift Store Addiction – Decor To Adore – Our Southern Home

Tuesday June 11th Lineup.

Calypso in the Country – From Farmhouse to Florida – Thrifty and Chic – Stone Gable

Wednesday June 12th Lineup

Whispering Pines Homestead – Worthing Court – B Vintage Style – Chalking Up Success

 

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. The opinions here are all my own. It helps me to continue to bring to you DIY and projects on my blog.

Please see my disclosure page for more information.

 

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