Summer Cross Stitch Display: Strawberry Tiered Tray

Since summer is coming up fast and we're still getting caught up on past cross stitch displays, I wanted to share a cheery summer corner I had up my office last year. It was super simple, full of strawberries, and gave me all the warm weather happy vibes every time I was in there working.

Here it is:

Since this was an Instagram story initially, the clip is vertical. The red background turns black when the video plays.

Breakdown of the display:

The top tray has a taller design, and then on lower levels I alternated which side the shorter cross stitch designs were placed. I added fabric strawberries that I found on Etsy in some super inexpensive metal buckets from the craft store, and I backfilled the whole thing with faux greenery. (You can't really see it in the video, but since I'm obsessed with ravens, I also have a fake one sitting at the top of the tray on top of a mini riser.)

Patterns used on the tray:

The top tier has Strawberry Tea Party Sampler

The middle tier has Berries in the Round

and the bottom tier has

Strawberry Friends.

How I did it:

• I added the cross stitch finishes in first, then the accents, and saved the greenery for last to fill in the holes.
  

• I buy trays that have lips around the edges to hold everything in so I can skip the floral foam most of the time. There is no floral foam on this tray; the leaves on the greenery keep everything from moving around too much. You can definitely put chunks of floral foam in there to help hold the loose plant filler if you prefer.
  

• Although I do have little easels for my finished pieces, these strawberry finishes are big enough that I didn't feel like easels were needed. The tray edge and the center post propped the designs the same way an easel would.
  

• Be ruthless with the greenery! When you use greenery and fake flowers, don't be afraid to chop them up so they fit where they need to fit. I like to cut the stems at different lengths to give me options on where and how they can be used. Trim long to start; you can always take off more of the stem later. I trend a little heavier on the greenery because the overstuffed look reminds me of a cottage garden and makes me happy. You do you, however ;).
  

• Don't buy everything and the kitchen sink. I reuse the same few types of plants on almost everything. I found some greenery that matches the green thread shades I like to use in my patterns and just stick with those. It saves space to not have a bajillion different things to store and is also is more economical if you're getting set up for the first time.

Are you a summer strawberry stitcher? Cherry Hill Stitchery carries several other strawberry cross stitch patterns, and you can see them all by clicking here.