Who doesn’t love brunch?! That’s why I was so excited when I was asked to host one! While my usual brunch parties consist of sipping mimosas on the back deck with a warm breeze in the air… this brunch was taking place in January! To make the most of this chilly event, I decided to capitalize on the cold temperatures and make this a Winter White Wonderland Brunch!
For weeks, I’ve been showing you a few of my projects and plans as I prepared for this brunch, so I am thrilled to finally be able to share the finished product. This event gave me the chance to bring together so many of the things I love… cooking, DIY’ing, and bringing thrifted finds to life!
Let’s start with the menu….
Brunch is not brunch without Quiche. I made two… the Caramelized Onion-Artichoke Quiche I developed specifically for this brunch – a cheesy vegetarian option. It gets better every time I make it! You have to try it! I also made my mom’s amazing Quiche Lorraine – a cheesy bacon option. OK, so both were cheesy options… what can I say – I LOVE cheese! I promise to post the Quiche Lorraine recipe soon!
You guessed it.. I served more cheese…. A chunk of Brie and a baguette, along with a platter of fruit & some sweet fruit dip. When I traveled in Europe, one of my favorite memories was getting up and having a chunk of bread, some cheese, a bit of preserves, and a piece of fruit for breakfast each morning. Every day I looked forward to it. So simple, but so memorable. When I planned the menu for this brunch, I absolutely had to add that touch of European flare!
The strawberries may as well have been part of the table decoration! They were as beautiful as they were tasty. To make them, I dipped the strawberries in white melting chocolate and then sprinkled them with crystal sugars… so easy!
OK, so doughnuts are certainly not European pastries… but I have the cutest little doughnut shop in town. I love giving business to local small business owners, and I knew they’d be able to assist me in my vision of white for the spread. I love their mix of white doughnuts… white glazes, white sprinkles, white powder, and white coconut all complimented the table!
Sometimes when I’m hosting a party that involves a lot of prep and cooking, I try to find ways to simplify my to-dos. For this brunch, I opted to buy biscuits from a restaurant instead of making them myself. I’m all about “homemade”, but these biscuits were perfect, and saved me some much needed time in the kitchen!! I served the biscuits with some apricot and raspberry preserves…. you guessed it… a nod to my European breakfast!!
Lastly, the bacon. I’m not sure you’re allowed to serve breakfast without serving bacon! I even overheard one of my guests say “Everything’s better with bacon”.. 🙂 I should’ve known better than to make only one package… I actually ran out! I hate when that happens. Although, I’m not sure if the bacon was such a success because the guests were such big fans of bacon, or because it just looked so cool on those sticks!! I decided to try a little something new when I made this bacon, and serve it upright on sticks to save some space on the table. It was such a hit, I’m definitely making it that way from now on!!
Now for the table set up and decorations….
If you don’t already know this about me by now, I am a HUGE fan of repurposing items! I love antiquing, and thrifting, and garage-saling to find special pieces, and give them new life… whether I simply clean them up to use as is, transform them into something new entirely, or re-imagine their purpose all together.
When it came to serving the biscuits and preserves… both were thrift store finds. I simply cleaned up the metal silver basket and lined it with a vintage napkin. I served the raspberry preserves in a candle holder. When I found this candle holder, I knew immediately it would have a new purpose. I love finding ways to add height to a buffet table, so this was a treasure. Both of these items were featured in the Thrift Shop Junkie Vol 2 post. Check it out for lots of other tips and ideas about what you can do with thrifted finds!
The fruit and cheese were both displayed on DIY trash to treasure projects you may recognize from old posts. The fruit was served on a DIY Cake Stand I made for my daughter’s first birthday party using an old candlestick, and the brie was served on a DIY Domed Cheeseboard Pedestal I also made out of thrifted finds. Check out the tutorials for both!!
The napkin holder was actually a metal planter I discovered at a thrift store. You’ll be seeing the original piece featured in my upcoming Thrift Store Junkie Vol 3. I used white chalk paint to re-finish it, and then used black re-vax to distress it. I bought white cotton napkins, and rolled and tied them with silver satin ribbon.
The silverware urn is another re-imagined find. This was a little old floral urn I picked up at a thrift store. I painted it with white chalk paint, and tied the same silver satin ribbon. I was thrilled to bring some much needed new life to this little piece, and couldn’t be happier with how it turned out! You can see it in its original state in my upcoming Thrift Store Junkie Vol 3.
The strawberries were displayed on the cutest little milkglass cake stand I found while thrifting. This piece will also be featured in my upcoming Thrift Store Junkie Vol 3.
I found the crate at a craft store, and painted it white. Again, I chose to use the crate, not only to add some height to the table, but it also gave me some extra space on the table, since I could place pieces inside and on top of it. The silver tray sitting atop the crate was a garage sale find…. it really didn’t serve much of a purpose on this table set up, other than I liked mixing the white and silver elements anywhere I could. Besides, this tray was such an amazing find I use any excuse to use it!! You may recall this tray from my Thrift Store Junkie Vol 1 post.
I made my food signs with white cardstock and a silver pen. The signs were held with place card holders I picked up at an antique store.
Off to the side I also had a drink table with champagne, orange juice, and bottled water. I used a 2-inch Paper Punch
For another added winter detail, I removed the labels from the bottles of water, and replaced them with silver printed Washi Tape. I especially loved the Snowflake print!!
To finish off the main table, I added crystal garland and a white winter leaves garland. The winter leaves I picked up during those amazing post-Christmas clearance sales… and the crystal garland was yet another thrift store find (and also featured in Thrift Shop Junkie Vol 2 ).
For another Winter floral statement, I made this centerpiece. It took a bit of time, but was an easy project. I simply collected twigs in my backyard, and painted them white. I arranged them in a glass vase, then used the same silver satin ribbon to wrap the vase, and glued a silver snowflake to the front. Easy, but it really turned out beautiful. I love the drama it added to the table!
For the backdrop, I picked up white and grey sheets at the thrift store. I tore them into long strips, and tied them to twine. I also added a few strips of white lace. Another post Christmas clearance find were some wooden snowflake cutouts. I painted them, strung them on a silver cord and hung them up as a Winter garland.
Lastly… my Winter Wonderland Sign! I adore this sign. Check out my post on the DIY Framed Chicken Wire and Interchangeable Chalkboard. I used that frame and created the Winter Wonderland chalkboard art specifically for this brunch.
A Winter Hot Cocoa Bar was also set up in another room…. be sure to check out that post too!!
PHEW!! That was a lot of information!! I put so much effort into adding so many details to any event that I throw, that it can take a while to share it all! I hope you have enjoyed my brunch, and are feeling inspired to host one yourself!!
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