I love my baking cabinet! My favorite parts are the old-fashioned elements–the chicken wire and the ice box latch on the cupboard doors; the bead board; and the butcher block countertop. I have always wanted to make some sort of decoration for this cabinet that would add in some homemade charm and bring in a little splash of pink, but I just haven’t been able to come up with the right idea.

Practicality has gotten in the way of all my ideas over the years. My original plan was to make a banner across the top or a tag for the ice box latch using old, handwritten recipe cards. I still love the concept of this idea but I had to abandon it, because either option would make accessing the cupboard doors difficult.

My next idea was to make tags for my flour and sugar jars, as, at a quick glance, it’s easy to pull down the wrong jar. Again, great idea, but I had to let it go because the tags would be impossible to keep clean. Yes, I could laminate the tags, but that’s not the look I’m going for.

The answer to my dilemma came in a very round about way. My daughter and I got together several weeks ago for an afternoon of crafting. She wanted to make some faux scoops of ice cream for a tiered tray decoration, and she sent me this picture to give me an idea of what she had in mind:

I know I was to be focusing on the scoops of ice cream, but all I could see is this absolutely adorable wooden scoop. Just look at it–doesn’t it just bring a smile to your face and melt your heart! All it took was one look at this picture and I knew I had FINALLY found the perfect decoration for my baking cabinet. And I knew exactly where it was going:

on my cookie jar. I could hardly wait to get started!

In looking at the picture more closely, the supplies that I am going to need are the wooden scoop, 3 wooden beads, craft paint, ribbon, a fish-tailed tag, twine, and some sort of decorative element for the bowl of the scoop.

The miracIe of all miracles is that I have a package of wooden scoops left over from another project. I ordered these from Factory Direct Crafts several years ago, and they are 4 1/4″ long. I just checked to see if they are still available and they are, in case you’re interested.

The first thing that I did was paint my 3 wooden beads, and I used the same three colors that my daughter and I chose for the faux scoops of ice cream.

Once the beads were dry, I combined them with all of the other supplies I had chosen. This picture just makes me happy–I love the color combination and the scalloped-edged pink polka dot ribbon. You will also notice that I added another tag that will shadow the white one, as I thought I wanted a little more color on the neck of the scoop.

While I was working on the tag, I had my husband drill a small hole near the top of the scoop. The tag took the longest out of any of the different parts of this project. Since this scoop will be going on my cookie jar, I chose the word “cookies” for the tag. With some assistance, I downloaded some Rae Dunn fonts and then experimented with different font sizes until I got the spacing just right.

Once I was pleased with the tag, I cut both pieces down to size and punched a hole in them. I threaded the tag onto the scoop with twine and then attached my three wooden beads to the top of the scoop. This sweet little scoop is really beginning to come together!

I could hardly wait to attach the bow, and I think my heart skipped a beat when I took a look at what I have created. I couldn’t be happier and it’s not finished yet! I still need to add the decorations to the bowl of the scoop.

Knowing that I was going to make this scoop, I made some faux chocolate chip cookies when my daughter and I were done making the scoops of ice cream. They are made with a mixture of light sparkling paste, flour, and craft paint. Once you have them formed, you add in small pieces of black air-dry modeling clay for the chocolate chips. For a first timer, I think these cookies look pretty realistic. I hot glued two cookies to the bowl of the scoop, and here is my finished project:

Even though this scoop isn’t what I had in mind at all, I think this is the perfect decoration for my baking cabinet. The wooden scoop ties in with the other old-fashioned elements, and I love the pops of pink!

I love how the scoop looks on the cookie jar–I couldn’t have asked for anything better!! And practicality did not need to get in the way of this idea–the cookie jar can be accessed without disturbing the scoop at all! My husband took one for the team and tested it out for me!

One more thing before I go, I thought I would show you the faux scoops of ice cream my daughter and I made:

We made big scoops, small scoops, scoops with sprinkles and scoops with chocolate chips. We had a wonderful time and are pretty proud of ourselves!

I don’t have a tiered tray, but here are two little ice cream displays I made to put around this summer. Again, for first-timers, I think our scoops looks pretty realistic! And for those of you that are interested in seeing a picture of a decorated tiered tray, here is a picture of the strawberry themed tray my daughter recently put together:

These decorated tiered trays have become all the rage, and there are lots of Etsy shops that specialize in making small decorations to fit on the different tiers. I think she did an awesome job putting this theme together–she definitely has a good eye and a creative streak! Hmmm–wonder who she got that from?!

Thank you for stopping by today–I hope you are all well and looking forward to a visit from the Easter Bunny. Take care, and, as always, remember:

“May the waves kiss your feet, / the sand be your seat, / and your friends out-number the stars.”

-C-