How to Make Bread Loaf Table decoration

A simple loaf of bread can be transformed in to a centerpiece display.

Decorating for a party or dinner to celebrate an event or holiday can be challenging when you are trying to come up with new ways to decorate a table. The centerpiece used conveys your style and theme for the event. Using a loaf or loaves of bread to create an edible centerpiece is one option to change the look and feel of your get together.

Things You'll Need

• Loaf or loaves of bread
• Dip or filling for bread
• Thin skewers
• Cut up fruit and vegetables
• Popsicle sticks

Instructions

1. Decide if you will be using the bread to hold items, or if the loaf will serve as the base from which other decorations emerge. For example, choose whether you want the loaf to be hollowed out to showcase a colorful dip or have the loaf hold skewers of other food items or decorations.

2. Hollow out the inside of the loaf if making a bread loaf centerpiece to serve dips and spreads. You can use multiple loaves if you want to make a centerpiece display that involves more than one loaf. Cut through the top layer of bread and remove the inside of the loaf. Using a serrated knife, continue hollow out the loaf. Place a lining of plastic wrap or foil on the bottom of the bread to prevent it from leaking. Fill the bread display with colorful dips such as muffaletta olive salad, corn and bean dip or spinach and artichoke dip.

3. Create an edible bread loaf centerpiece where the loaf itself serves as the base for the rest of the design. Ideas for an edible display include small wooden skewers of fresh vegetables sticking out from all angles of the loaf. Have pretty dishes of vegetable dip placed around the loaf display to add to the appeal.

4. Make a centerpiece using the loaf of bread as a symbol. This works best during celebrations such as Christmas and Easter, where loaves of bread are used as religious and spiritual symbols. For an Easter display, attach wooden or paper mache Easter eggs to wooden sticks and insert the sticks throughout the loaf. For Christmas, glue glittery snowflakes to Popsicle sticks to stick out from the loaf of bread. You can even hollow out a center section of the loaf and insert a votive candle, housed in a glass container, to add color to your display.

Tips & Warnings

• Sketch out your design before cutting into the loaf of bread.

• Consider baking your own bread and sculpting it into a shape that fits with the theme of your event or celebration; such as a Christmas tree for Christmas, a Menorah of Hanukkah or an Easter basket for Easter.

• Never leave a lit candle in a bread loaf unattended.

References

• Taste of Home: Create a Spring Centerpiece and Edible Dip Bowl
• The Denver Post: Bread: Manna from Heaven
• Lubbock Avalanche Journal: Bread Loaves Are Easy: Sculpt Easter Bread Into a Dove