How to Make Williamsburg Style Table Decorations
Colonial Williamsburg was known for its warm hospitality. People loaded their holiday tables with numerous sumptuous dishes, all symmetrically presented with a centerpiece of fruit or desserts as a table decoration and the focal point of the presentation. Well-to-do residents of Colonial Williamsburg vied to see who could assemble the most lavish table. It was not unheard of to have more than 20 dishes laid out for guests to enjoy. The pineapple, a symbol of hospitality, was often placed at the pinnacle of fruit or dessert pyramid table decorations. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Large Styrofoam cone
- Bread knife
- Large, sturdy plate
- Small pineapple
- Long toothpicks, kabob skewers or florists picks
- Apples
- Oranges or tangerines
- Other assorted fruits
- Ivy or magnolia leaves and sprigs
- Assorted nuts
- Assorted candies
Instructions
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Cut the top off a Styrofoam cone so that it's flat on top. The point at which you cut the Styrofoam should roughly be the same diameter as the bottom of a small pineapple. Place the Styrofoam cone on a large, sturdy plate.
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Place a small pineapple on top of the Styrofoam and secure it to the Styrofoam with long toothpicks, kabob skewers or florist's picks.
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3
Spear apples into the base of the Styrofoam cone around the whole circumference. Use small apples so that the spears will pierce the apple completely and penetrate the underlying Styrofoam to secure them.
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Spear a ring of small oranges or tangerines around the circumference of the Styrofoam cone directly on top of the ring of apples. Continue adding rings of fruit, one above the other, until the pineapple at the top is reached.
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Fill in open spaces and gaps between the fruits with real or silk magnolia or ivy leaves, nuts or festively wrapped candies. Decorate the base of the fruit pyramid with real or silk leaves and place additional fruits, nuts and candies on the leaves for guests to eat.
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Tips & Warnings
Your fruit pyramid will stay fresher longer if you store it in a cool location between uses. The fruit on the pyramid can be replaced as it spoils so your fruit pyramid will last longer.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit colonial kitchen image by george mai from Fotolia.com
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Comments
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Sounds pretty but like a waste of food. The fruit should be consumed. Nice thought though.
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Oh Tom thank you...... can't wait to see you
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Hey Corky, I have a beautiful book on the Williamsburg decorations. I'll give it to you when you come. I'm not answering since I only started face book to see baby pictures. XxxxxoooooMe
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Your ideas are great but to have a real clear vision it would be nice to have a picture of the finished product.
