Luck O’ The Irish Dough Bowl

Dough bowls get their name from their original purpose: making bread dough! An antique dough bowl was a great place for the bread dough to rise as the wood helped retain the heat which in turn helped the dough rise. Every kitchen had a least one dough bowl and they were often times handed down through the generations. Antique dough bowls are also sometimes referred to as trenchers. Now, instead of being used to actually make dough, they have become a decorating staple especially for Farmhouse decor.

After you have decided which dough bowl to use for your St Patrick’s Day display, the next step is to gather all the elements that you think you might want to use in your bowl. You might have more things in your “pile” than you end up using but that is ok!

In order to put this dough bowl display together, I am going to start with the beaded ribbon that is in the oblong mini dough bowl in the left hand corner. Below is a close up of the ribbon. The ribbon is going to line the bottom edge of the bowl.

The ribbon is such a pretty color and adds a bit of shimmer to the display. I used in this Christmas display pictured below. I made a toboggan out of it for the snowman to ride!

I am also going to use the “gold” Leprechaun coins. What is St Patrick’s Day without a pot of gold? The coins are scattered along the bottom of the bowl. The upside down lid with the scalloped edge is going to become the topper for the pedestal the leprechaun is standing on. It will make more sense in a minute when you see it!

To make a pedestal for the leprechaun to stand on, I took the left over wooden insert from a spool of Oasis muslin ribbon and placed it in the center of the bowl. Then I topped it off with that cute polka dotted scalloped edge lid, which I also kept from a candle. Keeping things like that are one of the reasons my husband thinks I am a hoarder. I am not a hoarder, I am a creator and I like to have a lot of options!

If you don't have a cute scalloped edge lid, you could make something similar out of heavy construction paper and cut the edges with a pair of scalloped scissors or pinking shears.

I placed the wooden spool in a cream and green berry ring that I have had for ages. To finish off the display, I used a little leprechaun hat pin I found when going through my Mom’s things. Actually, the leprechaun is actually an Irish Santa that was part of my Mom’s Santa collection. I kept it since it was so cute!

The finished dough bowl!

Another view of the St Patrick’s Day Dough Bowl

I just love decorating dough bowls for the various seasons! For more inspiration, please check out this post: How To Decorate An Antique Dough Bowl

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I purchased this bowl from Antique Farmhouse. They have so many beautiful things!

Round wooden bowl