During the holidays, much of my time as a mom of three little ones is spent in the kitchen. I would love to say that I’m in the kitchen making gourmet meals or baking made-from-scratch Christmas cookies. In reality, most of my time is spent just cleaning up from our messes.
Maybe its the amount of time I (and our entire family) spend in the kitchen area that makes our kitchen-themed Christmas tree one of my favorites. Over the years, this tree has changed and evolved to fit our space in new and old homes, and has continued to bring me so much happiness.
The inspiration for this tree came from the overwhelming number of ornaments I used to have on our family tree that were food-related. From fruit and vegetables to beer and cupcakes, it seemed that we were creating quite the collection of foodie ornaments already, and we weren’t really trying!
Inspired by these ornaments and frankly, the accessibility of really cute and inexpensive other food-related ornaments at area retailers, it was an easy decision to create this tree.
From my experience, a kitchen-themed tree might be the least expensive tree to add to your home for the holidays.
Be creative, have fun and follow some of these ideas of how to decorate it.
SOURCE FOOD ORNAMENTS
Yes, I had quite a few foodie ornaments. Most of those ornaments were Olde World Christmas ornaments which retail from $7-$20. Many of these collectible ornaments were given to me as gifts over the years, although several I purchased at antique stores, Christmas stores and even eBay. Amazon has the complete selection available for purchase.
Once you begin a kitchen tree, though, you will realize just how many food ornaments are available…and for very little investment.
Hobby Lobby and Michael’s Stores both have great selections this year of food ornaments, and with their holiday décor discounts, you can score several ornaments for just a few bucks!
Since we started this tree several years ago, the entire family has enjoyed collecting new ornaments that are reminiscent of a family foodie memory….a pitcher of lemonade reminds us of the lemonade stand my girls started this past summer, a sparkly blackberry ornament was a great memory of us eating blackberries on a hike, and a taco ornament is in honor of our weekly Taco Tuesday dinners.
THINK BEYOND TRADITIONAL ORNAMENTS
Here is the trick to making a kitchen tree so fun and unique. Yes, cover it with foodie ornaments and traditional bulbs. But then, go digging in your pantry for cookie cutters and unused kitchen tools.
Maybe you caught my comment earlier in this blog about my lack of baking. Its almost comical how many cookie cutters this non-baker momma owns, though. Why not put them to use!?
Easy to hang and easy to acquire if you want to pick up a bag of these cutters at a local thrift store. Sure, you could buy new, but keep in mind they will not be used for baking. I mean, are you really going to scour the tree branches to find that cookie cutter when its Christmas cookie time? Reserve these for the tree!
Don’t stop just with the cookie cutters! I had several unused wooden spoons and even a sifter that make great ornaments. Kudos to my mother for scoring an entire bag of these kitchen gadgets at a local flea market last summer for only $1! Like I said – this could be the least expensive tree to create!
Here is a quick video of the finished product. Finishing touches to this tree include a few spools of buffalo check plaid ribbon, red felt pom-poms and an antique wood star!
Big or small, kitchen trees might be some of the easiest and least expensive trees to add to your Christmas décor. Other ideas for your kitchen trees: seed packets, silverware, popcorn garland or antique spice tins.
Check out Christmas Gals Pinterest board for some more kitchen and foodie-inspired holiday décor!
