I am so excited to share my Winter Wonderland tray with you today! I styled a silver tiered tray for the season with some shiny baubles and organic feels. Come see all the details along with trays from 23 other bloggers. So much to see and so little time!
I would like to start by thanking Katherine from Katherine’s Corner for once again organizing this fantastic seasonal blog tour. We have 24 fabulous Winter Wonderland trays to share today, which is sure to inspire. Grab a cup or glass of your beverage of choice, sit back and enjoy all the seasonal inspiration.
If you are coming over from Life as a LEO Wife, welcome! Niki has so much inspiration for you, and you do not want to miss all her seasonal trays. She went over and above! Plus don’t forget to visit all the other talented blogger participants listed at the end of this post with more amazing Winter Wonderland trays.
winter wonderland tray styling details
A tray is always a great vessel and foundation to create a seasonal vignette by just using a few simple components. I chose a tiered silver plate tray for the Winter Wonderland theme. A tiered tray is your decor friend, allowing for more vertical space to style.
I found this tray at a thrift store many moons ago. I bought it for resale purposes but it never made it to my booth. You know how that goes. ? I have a love affair with silver plate, which you can read all the crazy details here {metals I- silver plate}.
I started by giving the tray a good polish to get it prepped for the job. Once it was all shiny and pretty, I loaded the tiered tray with some mercury glass ornaments, chartreuse bowl fillers, pine cones and evergreen branches. I love the juxtaposition of the shiny baubles versus the organic elements.
I topped off the tiered tray with a chartreuse velvet ribbon. The ribbon adds great texture plus the color compliments the bowl filler baubles in the tray.
tray styling vignette
I styled the Winter Wonderland tray on the sideboard in the dining room. The chippy shutters are a great backdrop with depth and texture. I hung the pine cone wreath I created for Christmas in July {pine cone wreath DIY} on the vintage shutters. I added a plaid ribbon which you will be seeing in some other projects this Christmas season. Stay tuned.
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I styled the other side of the sideboard with some winter greenery and more mercury glass baubles to balance out the silver tiered tray. A farmhouse pitcher sits loaded with winter faux greenery and surrounded with mercury glass ornaments and a small mercury glass compote piled high with mini pine cones.
Seasonal tip: Buy faux florals at the end of the season when they are highly reduced for the following year.
I added more of the chartreuse velvet ribbon to the farmhouse pitcher handle and the mercury glass compote, coordinating with the ribbon on the tiered tray handle. Notice the mercury glass, pine cones and chartreuse color are repeated throughout, bringing all the elements together.
tray styling formula
If you’re a regular reader around here you will notice many decor styling parallels with my winter wonderland tray and autumn on a tray design. You do not have to recreate the wheel every time you decorate, but yet yield varied results depending on the theme or season.
Both tray stylings included mercury glass elements; mercury glass ornaments & compote for the winter wonderland tiered tray and mercury glass pumpkins & hurricane for the autumnal basket tray. Also both tray stylings included organic elements; pine cones and fresh greenery in the winter wonderland design and eucalyptus and boo pumpkins in the autumnal design. Here’s the Autumnal tray for reference:
Plus both variations include a velvet ribbon; chartreuse ribbon in the winter wonderland styling and burnt orange in the autumnal tray. Plus I love to inject rustic elements in my designs. The winter wonderland design is set against chippy, distressed shutters, while the autumnal vignette is set in weathered willow basket with rope handles.
Within the winter wonderland tray vignette itself, I also followed some design rules. Odd numbers are always more pleasing. For example, I repeated the pine cones three times; 1} in the tray, 2} in the wreath and 3} frosted in the pitcher arrangement. I also included the ribbon in three different places.
Although I repeated the ribbon three times, I chose to use them in different ways. There’s a long loop bow on the top of the tiered tray, while there’s simply a long knot on the pitcher handle and a traditional bow on the stem of the compote. This adds interest yet consistency.
And of course I love to have some form of flickering light since it adds ambience and drama to any setting. I have my driftwood tray candle on the sideboard right now. Not only does it smell heavenly, but is casts a wonderful shimmer against the silver and mercury glass.
more tray sylings
This is the fifth decorated tray tour I have participated in. Here are all the tray tours for your convenience:
- autumn on a tray blog tour
- by the sea on a tray blog tour
- easter on a tray blog tour
- valentine’s day on a tray blog tour
Please continue on our winter wonderland on a tray inspirational tour. Beverley is next on the tour from the Eclectic Red Barn blog. Bev has created a DIY sled that is sure not to miss. Hop on over and give her a visit. Plus visit all the other bloggers as well. There’s so much seasonal goodness to be shared.
“Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is time for home.”
Edith Sitwell