Vintage Kitchen Decorations: Easy Christmas Arrangement Ideas

Over the last year, I’ve been seeing beautiful vintage Christmas decorations arranged in all sorts of old-fashioned kitchen containers. Between thrifting and a few Dollar Tree finds, I’m planning to make several of these charming little arrangements for my Christmas kitchen decor this year, starting with an old flour sifter. I also think they would make lovely DIY Christmas gifts for anyone who enjoys vintage, farmhouse, or cottage-style Christmas decorating.

How to Make a Vintage Christmas Flour Sifter Arrangement

Supplies

Step 1: Prepare the Vintage Flour Sifter

My vintage flour sifter is old but still usable. The finish is quite worn, and there weren’t any delicate graphics or lettering to preserve, so to clean it, I simply ran it through the dishwasher.

If your flour sifter has painted designs, original lettering, or a finish you want to preserve, gently wash it by hand instead.

Old kitchen utensils often have little cracks, crevices, and metal parts where moisture can collect and cause rust. Whichever way you wash your flour sifter, make sure it’s thoroughly dry before decorating it.

My vintage flour sifter has two yellow stripes that don’t really suit my Christmas decor. I considered painting them white, but because the sifter is vintage, I decided to leave the original finish intact and cover the stripes with ticking ribbon instead.

I simply wrapped a length of ticking ribbon over each yellow stripe, then secured the ribbon ends to each other at the back with a little hot glue. This hides the yellow stripes without permanently changing the vintage flour sifter.

Next, I filled the flour sifter as full as possible with inexpensive floral foam from Dollar Tree. I tucked smaller pieces of foam around the edges until everything fit snugly and stayed in place without glue.

The floral foam serves two purposes. First, it provides a sturdy base for inserting the Christmas picks and holding the decorations in place. Second, it fills most of the empty space inside the flour sifter, so we won’t need cups of faux snow to finish the arrangement.

Step 2: Create the Vintage Christmas Arrangement

Once we have the flour sifter prepared, start by placing the tallest Christmas picks at the back to create some height. Use your Santa Claus as a guide when deciding on the height of the picks; this will help you keep everything balanced and proportional.

I used vintage white plastic picks on the left and a sparkly green Dollar Tree pick on the right. I had originally planned to use all white picks, but decided a little silver sparkle and green would be pretty. The sparkly finish complements the metal of the vintage flour sifter, so it ties into the rest of the arrangement.

Once you have the height established and the back of the arrangement filled in, add the white bottle brush Christmas tree. You can use the stem of the tree itself by holding it with needle-nose pliers and carefully twisting off the base.

Push the exposed stem into the floral foam, using your Santa Claus as a guide to adjust the height. This will help keep the tree and Santa in proportion to each other.

My little Santa Claus didn’t have a pick or stem to hold him in place, so I made my own using floral wire.

I twisted the floral wire together to create a sturdy stem, then attached it to the bottom of Santa using a combination of hot glue and E6000 adhesive. Once the adhesive had fully cured, I pushed the wire stem into the floral foam to position Santa in the arrangement.

To fill in the space underneath the Christmas tree, I added a miniature vintage Christmas train decoration. I simply nestled the little train into the floral foam without gluing it in place.

If you don’t have a vintage train, shiny wrapped presents or miniature Christmas gift picks would work just as well. Choose something small enough to complement the tree and Santa without overwhelming the arrangement.

Step 3: Add the Ribbon and Vintage Embellishments

To finish the front of the arrangement, I tied a simple bow around the flour sifter handle using the same ticking ribbon I used to cover the yellow stripes.

Then, I hot-glued a vintage poinsettia pick to the front of the arrangement to add some colour and old-fashioned charm. If you don’t have a vintage poinsettia pick, try using a Christmas cookie cutter instead. It’s another simple, easy way to add nostalgia to your kitchen this Christmas.

Step 4: Add the Finishing Touches

I placed the flour sifter on a plate and arranged a few Christmas baubles around the base. I also hot-glued some tiny green bells onto the white bottle brush tree to add a little extra colour.

Next, sprinkle faux snow a little at a time into all the small spaces around the Christmas decorations, making sure to cover the floral foam completely.

I used my fingers to gently brush away the excess snow from the little vintage Christmas train so its details would still show. Keep adding small amounts of snow until all the gaps are filled and everything has a pretty, snowy finish.

You could easily tuck a string of battery-operated fairy lights into the arrangement for a little extra Christmas sparkle, but I decided to leave mine without lights.

As I get older, I find myself becoming more nostalgic, and I love how these simple vintage kitchen decorations bring a little of that nostalgia into my home. Old flour sifters, cookie cutters, ironstone mixing bowls, and metal molds can all become beautiful Christmas arrangements with a little creativity and a small budget.

I look forward to sharing a few more vintage Christmas kitchen decorating ideas. These little arrangements are small enough to tuck onto a shelf or into a corner, adding a little extra joy to the kitchen during the holiday season.

More Vintage Christmas Kitchen Decorating Ideas

If you love decorating with vintage finds, here are a few more inexpensive Christmas projects you might enjoy.