A few days ago I stumbled upon the coolest dough bowl ever. It was not in the best shape but there was something charming about it all the same. I immediately noticed that the dough bowl had several “chew marks” and a huge stain but, despite all the imperfections, I thought to myself, ‘this has to be mine.’
With that said, you can imagine how excited I was to turn this old dough bowl over only to find a date on the back, 1933. How special is this marking! I was so excited to see that and it made the imperfect dough bowl even more special to me. There was no “going back now” – this one was coming home with me for sure!
After getting this old dough bowl home, I was excited to clean it up a bit and get it all decked out for fall. The first step was to ‘brush’ out all of the bits and pieces that had settled into the cracks and nooks over time. After carefully choosing a few of my old brushes for this, I got to work! I used old soft bristle brushes on the majority of the bowl. I also used a smaller brush with coarser bristles for a few of the ‘tight’ sections. The bristles kind of ‘pop’ the debris right out of the nooks and crannies. These brushes have proven to be the perfect solution for this type of “cleaning” in my humble opinion.
I chose to NOT address the stain at this point. I did gently wipe the stain off and I may go back and try something like a magic eraser in the future. But for now, I am leaving it alone. It will be covered up anyway!
After I brushed out the entire bowl well, I used Boos Block (you can find that here) to help restore the wood. I simply used an old rag and wiped it directly onto the bowl! What a difference!
BEFORE OIL 
HALF WAY DONE 
DONE
Don’t worry. I also did the backside as well.
HALF WAY 
ALL DONE
After allowing the oil to soak in (it only took a few hours), I then just layered in some natural fall items to give my “new” bowl a fresh fall feel. I added in some preserved leaves (you can find similar ones here), a few corn stalks (you can find similar ones here), and some dried straw (I used this).
I am just so happy with my new dough bowl. This was a fun find and with just a little effort, I was able to clean it and style it just as I had envisioned for the fall season.
Cozy Fall Corner Nook
Pasture Sale Florals: Fridays At 5:00
Fall Shelf Styling
Vintage Spring Mantel
The bowl looks great !!! I love how you explain everything , Emily
You did a super job Emily. Love the finished product.
What a lucky find. The bowl looks even more beautiful after you worked your magic!
What a gorgeous bowl! Thanks for the tips on cleaning and bringing it back to life. You’re awesome 👏
What a transformation!!! The bowl looks great with the fall items in it! I love the sweet date on the back too!!
Looking at mine on a pile of papers – empty ! I will at least fix it up with real apples and light green alabaster figs ! You work so hard…