By Ellen Easton

A festive, holiday table décor does not have to be an expensive, nor overwhelming task.  A beautiful table can be a fun, creative activity or ready made by only a click away.  Using edibles, ornaments and gift-wrapping materials in a centerpiece or as an accent on a serving platter or bowl is an easy way to enhance the room.  If entertaining at home, with room permitting, remember to invite others to celebrate with you, who may otherwise be alone.

Sugared Fruit Tiers

Create a beautiful centerpiece with the sugared Fruit set on tiers, bowls or affixed to a Styrofoam cone to form a tree. Check out these beautiful Christmas Bowls available at Amazon.  

Sugared Fruit set on tiers, bowls or affixed to a Styrofoam cone to form a tree.

How to Prepare Sugared Fruit

There are two methods to prepare sugared fruit, with or without egg whites.

4 whites of extra large eggs or if avoiding raw egg use powdered egg-whites; 1 cup superfine sugar; wash and completely dry, firm fresh fruit- with the skins on apples, pears, grapes, plums or berries; Wire rack.

*Without egg whites: substitute- unflavored gelatin dissolved in cold water, beat until frothy. Then follow the same directions as below using gelatin instead of egg white.

Beat egg whites with a fork to blend together.  Brush the fruit with egg or gelatin mixture.  Roll or sprinkle the fruit in the sugar.  Shake or tap off the excess sugar.  Place on a wire rack or parchment paper to air dry, approximately 2 to 4 hours.  Store at room temperature away from humidity for 24-48 hours.  Note: juicy fruits if exposed to humidity will melt the sugar and become sticky.  Gluten Free.

Gingerbread Trees, Ornaments, and Ribbons

Gingerbread Trees make a beautiful centerpiece.  Check out the recipe.

Fill a beautiful bowl with ornaments. Check out a few of these.    

Ribbons and gift wrap also make a beautiful centerpiece.   

And beautiful Fruitcakes like this one can be found in Amazon’s gourmet food market.

Decorated Jars

Fill decorated Jars filled with Hammonds Ribbon Candy, Ornaments, Chocolate Balls or Christmas Cookies.

Wishing you a happy holiday season and a healthy New Year filled with loved ones and good friends! Ellen

2019 © Ellen Easton

Ellen Easton, author of Afternoon Tea~Tips, Terms and Traditions(RED WAGON PRESS), an afternoon tea authority, lifestyle and etiquette industry leader, keynote speaker and product spokesperson, is a hospitality, design, and retail consultant whose clients have included the Waldorf=Astoria, the Plaza and Bergdorf Goodman. Easton’s family traces their tea roots to the early 1800s, when ancestors first introduced tea plants from India and China to the Colony of Ceylon, thus building one of the largest and best cultivated teas estates on the island.