This quote from the movie, “Christopher Robin,” spoke to me… Sources: Disney Letters are from the Etsy Shop WordsWithMeans, the letter boards are from FeltNook, available at Amazon.
I’ve always loved Winnie The Pooh. As a child, the cartoons that were narrated by Sebastian Cabot always enchanted me. I felt like I entered the pages of the book and was right there with them in the 100 Acre Wood, didn’t you? I loved their little homes that each had their unique personality. The long table where they would have their parties together. The vegetable garden of Rabbit, that had the rows neatly labeled. The bridge where they would play Pooh sticks. Even the beehive seemed more friendly with Pooh’s face inside it and his paw scooping up his precious hunny.
We entered a world that didn’t change, with characters we counted as our friends. I connected with each character in some way from boisterous Tigger to timid Piglet. I loved how they related to each other and cared about each other. They accepted each other even in their differences. They were and are wonderful role models of how to treat another being.
They didn’t stop there though. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I learned many priorities of life in Pooh Corner. The movie, Christopher Robin, reminded me of those things. Things like: take time to play, don’t lose yourself, remember what is important, look after each other, go on adventures, have parties and celebrate life. How often do we put these things on the bottom of our list? What would happen if we put them at the top and made sure to live them all the time?
My blog is about doing what matters most. Putting those things at the top of your list. For me, that includes the things that make life sing like creating, writing, celebrating, making a home, adventuring to Disneyland, expressing what people mean to me and living all out. We each have our own list. Those things that mean so much to us and bring us joy. Often they get crowded out and lost. They matter too much to let that happen because they are what make life have meaning. The movie, Christopher Robin, does a wonderful job not only reuniting us with our old friends, but reminding us of those things that matter.
A little centerpiece I created of Winnie and his friends
I’ve collected Winnie the Pooh items for a long time. When I heard the movie was coming out, I wanted to do a little theme for it. I always have fun doing these. I started out setting the table with my Classic Winnie The Pooh dishes. I bought these many years ago from The Disney Store. There are many things I love about these dishes. My favorite color is blue, so there is that. The salads dishes and mugs have 4 different designs of the homes of Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, and Eeyore. The illustrations are just beautiful.The dinner dishes and bowls have a toile pattern. I have many sets of dishes and this truly is one of my favorites for all its detail.
We have a Winnie The Pooh waffle iron, so my husband and I made some waffles to kick off this little theme. We had sausage and raspberries with the waffles. Themes don’t have to be elaborate. This one was simple. I set the table, made a little centerpiece (see above ….wood slices came from Hobby Lobby,) then we had waffles. I like to make the table festive and savor the meal with my “hunny”and pardon the very bad pun, but I couldn’t resist.
Close up of Winnie Waffles… the tile place cards are from a shop called Details 2 Enjoy … I added bee stickers from JoAnn’s Fabrics
Aerial view of table…
Closeup of place setting… Source: Table runner and napkins from Pottery Barn.
The next day, a friend came over with goodies to celebrate my birthday, she brought Starbucks lattes and some treats, I used the same themed table with just the dessert plates and different silverware. The silverware is also Winnie themed (purchased many years ago.) This gave me the chance to use my table setting twice!
Winnie The Pooh cake and treats…Source: cake pops and blueberry muffin from Starbucks …time for a little something
I made a Winnie The Pooh cake to have, too. It was a peanut butter cake with frosting. I got the recipe and design for the cake from a book called The Disney Party Handbook by Alison Boteler ( copyrighted 1992). I have used this book so many times for themes and when I taught elementary school. The face of the cake was a round pan. The ears were individual cupcakes. The snout was a ramekin I had. The features were gumdrops except the licorice eyebrows.
This is the party book.
Tiered tray with the theme of friendship
I also styled my tiered tray in Winnie and Friendship. Bottom tier has a bowl of Bit of Honey with a little paper bee hive nestled in it. It’s sitting on a small tiered stand from Target ( the Joanna Gaine’s Collection.) White carnations with little bee stickers are in a blue vase. The middle tier has a a sign that says Friends and a scene of miniatures of Winnie and the gang ( the little wood slices they are perched on are from Hobby Lobby.) The top tier has a Winnie Friendship Book and another bowl of Bit of Honey with an Eeyore nestled in it, The galvanized metal tiered stand is from Pottery Barn. My friend and I enjoyed our lattes and goodies as we chatted.
Winnie The Pooh Pizzas with mouth and without before baked
The next day, my husband and I went to see Christopher Robin on opening day. My husband and I both loved it. We both loved the messages of the movie and seeing our old friends again. Winnie is still reminding me what matters and what doesn’t. I don’t want to give spoilers away, so I won’t share more, but do stay for the credits. There is another scene that comes shortly after they begin. In the scene is a Disney legend, too!
When we came home we made Winnie the Pooh pizzas. We used ready made pizza dough we got from Trader Joe’s. It was their garlic herb one. It’s a wonderful crust and really reasonably priced. My husband shaped the pizzas for me. For this Winnie themed one it really was just adding two dough ears to a normal round pizza dough. I made a sauce ( tomato sauce, tomato paste, garlic powder, and Italian seasonings. ) We topped with Quattro Formaggio Shredded Cheese from Trader Joe’s ( a tasty blend of Parmesean, Asiago, Provolone, and Fontina.) I did olive eyes ( half an olive) and nose ( triangle shaped slice.). I got this idea for the Winnie The Pooh Pizza from Disney Family. I used their design with modifications noted above in ingredients.
Winnie all baked up…time to have a smackerel of pizza
If you haven’t seen Christopher Robin and you love Winnie, go see it. It was good to visit my old friends again and be reminded of all they modeled and taught me when young. He may be a silly old bear with very little brain, but he has his priorities straight. What he lacks in brain he makes up for in silliness, heart and soul. It definitely pulled at our heartstrings in all the best ways. Winnie is still teaching me things today… play, adventure, care and celebrate ….I’m so glad some things in life don’t change and that we can visit the 100 acre wood anytime and there we will find a boy and his bear.
