This weekend was a little murky with all the rain and, although
there were a few garage sales, it was a messy day to try to get out and do
anything. The rain was so refreshing this weekend, not just because it had been
hot, because it had been a wonderful break from chasing good finds and more of a day to work on creating something new from them. That brings me to my most
favorite of all creations on this rainy weekend.
One of my girls came up with the great idea to do a Tuscan
basket and incorporate the rich colors and green into the basket. I thought it
was a wonderful idea, and my imagination immediately began to run away. I saw
dark oranges, reds and browns, rich purples and lots of lush green. I could
just imagine how I wanted the basket to look, but I couldn’t quite figure out
what I’d put inside, how I’d incorporate my bakery items into a Tuscan themed
basket. Then I came up with this.
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Tuscan Faux Bread and Cheese Basket |
I created loaves of faux bread and made a kraft paper bag
for them to give them a real bakery feel. Then I made a black currant jam
candle to place in the basket, but when my daughter, Courtney, looked at and said, “What about cheese?” I thought that was such a great idea! I looked around at different Italian
cheeses to get a little inspiration and it was the best thing I could have done!
There were so many cheeses that inspired me. In fact, I ended up making a
Tuscan Treasures board on Pinterest that included some of the cheeses I came
across as well as some of the beautiful resemblances of Tuscany. I mean, you’re
talking about gorgeous! So if you take a look at my Pinterest board, you’ll see
some of the lovely things that inspired this basket, including the different
bread styles I used in comparison to my other more primitive style breads and
the lovely Chèvre cheese that I recreated with a little Everything
Dawn twist.
Once the basket was filled, there seemed to still be
something missing so we added one of the cutting boards I picked up at a yard
sale to give it more a cheese board “thing.” I cleaned, dried, and stained the wood
cutting board, distressed it and then transferred a picture of a cluster of
dark purple grapes onto the cutting board to give it rustic, vineyard charm.
The basket’s beautiful wrought iron, handle and base were both rusted for even more of a rustic touch. It was then that I put
all of the elements together. I absolutely love this basket! It's definitely a unique decorative accent for the Italian table. You can see more pictures of this basket in my Etsy shop.
Posted in bread, gift basket, Italian, Tuscan, vineyard