Looking for a way to add a little Spring to your Easter table? Why not design a Rustic Dough Bowl centerpiece with blooming plants!
Are you ready to bring a little Spring into your life? I have a great idea! Let me show you how to design a rustic dough bowl centerpiece with a few blooming plants and a couple of empty flower pots!
If you have been following me for a bit, you already know that I have a passion for dough bowls, blooming plants & anything rustic and rusty! Anytime I can combine those elements, I am, well, in my element! To get a jump start on Easter, I decided to design a bright yellow & purple centerpiece with cold tolerant annuals.
But before we get into discussing the plants I have chosen, let’s talk about the container I plan to use.
Dough Bowls come in Many Shapes & Sizes
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.
They come in different shapes and sizes. In my personal collection, I have a round one, an oval one, a square one, a rectangle one, a couple of heart shaped ones and even one shaped like a Christmas tree. Late last fall, I purchased an extra-large one that is over 3 feet long!
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This is going to be the rustic dough bowl for our project today. It works really well on our dining table in the lanai. It would look amazing on a farm table! I do miss my dining table from the farmhouse! Learn what else I miss by checking out this post: Kim Style; What I Wish I had Kept
There is also an introduction to the concept of “Kim Style” which is what I call my unique blend of several decorating styles.
Anyway, back to today’s topic of designing a rustic dough bowl centerpiece!
As I stated earlier, I have a fondness (ok maybe it is an obsession) with European Dish Gardens and dough bowls! Since this particular “project” is a very loose interpretation of a European Dish Garden, let’s briefly review the concept of a European Dish Garden.
How to Design a European Dish Garden
The beauty of a European Dish Garden, besides being so easy to make, is that you can combine plants that have different watering requirements together in one container since you are keeping them in their own pots. I generally use the concepts of the European Dish Garden when I am preparing a centerpiece for a specific event or when I need a unique hostess gift or present for a friend or family member.
The first step when designing a European Dish Garden is to choose your container. You can use any type of container you want. Please take into consideration where your finished European Dish Garden will be sitting. If the container is not watertight, you will want to add a liner or something that will catch the water, so it doesn’t leak on to your furniture.
For today’s project, each of the plants will be in a pot with a saucer at the bottom. If you are concerned about dampness between the saucer and the dough bowl, a circle of cork can be placed between the saucer and the dough bowl.
The next step in designing a European Dish Garden is choosing your plants. Since it is Early Spring, I wanted to use plants that were cold tolerant. For this project, I picked a pot of bright yellow violas, a pot of white violas and a purple and yellow nemesia. More information about cold tolerant annuals and how to use them in a patio pot can be found here: Let’s Design A Patio Pot with Cold Tolerant Annuals
The Plants
Putting the Arrangement together
This couldn’t have been much easier! After wiping out the dough bowl, I simply lined up the potted plants! I didn’t repot the plants into the white pots, I simply placed the 6 in potted plant into the 7 1/2 inch white pot. So easy!
I added the chalk painted candle holders to help lengthen the centerpiece. One of the candle holders is topped with a ball made out of pussy willows, the other is actually artificial mistletoe! So simple!
More information about how I refreshed the chalk painted candleholders, please see this post:A Quick Candleholder Refresh with Chalked Spray Paint
A second option for creating the rustic dough bowl centerpiece is to add a few empty terra cotta pots and a few gingerbread spindles. The addition of the rustic wire bunny adds a touch of whimsy to the arrangement, don’t you think?
I love to use pieces of architectural salvage in my decorating whenever I can! These small spindles are the perfect size to feather into an arrangement!
How to Display Vintage Pottery
Farmhouse Refresh with Architectural Salvage
Pictured above is another way to use the pussy willow orb in your decor. I have it displayed here with a piece of architectural salvage.
A Last Look
Save This Pin For Later!
Other Posts You Might Enjoy:
A Simple Summer Dough Bowl Arrangement
A Simple Summer Dough Bowl Arrangement
This combination of red & white flowers can be used almost year-round.
Almost everyone was curious about the terra cotta pot with the wrought iron candle holder. I purchased this years ago at a specialty store. Since I couldn’t fit anything like it on the market today, I came up with a dupe.
I used a 10-inch terra cotta bulb pan and a gazing globe stand. The candle holders are Amish made. I included the links at the bottom of the post.
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What a beautiful centerpiece Kim! I enjoyed this post so much and I wanted you to know that this post will be featured on Tuesday Turn About Link Party this week! Thanks for sharing your spring centerpiece and I hope to see you at the party! 😊
Thank you so much, Cindy! I love the Turn around Tuesday link party! I appreciate the feature!
This is beautiful!! I LOVE dough bowls…there’s just something about them that is just so lovely. The flowers you chose complement the wood beautifully and the little spring touches are so cute. Beautiful job!
Thank you so much! I am so happy you like what I did with the dough bowl! Have a wonderful Spring!
These look great, I need to start getting things ready for spring 🙂
Thank you so much! Happy Easter!