Need Help with Bread Loaf Centerpieces

RE: Need Help with Bread Loaf Centerpieces Post By guest (Guest Post) (01/13/2008) I need bread every year for a live nativity and so I've decided to buy or make a few loaves every year, dry & varnish them so eventually I'll have tons. I have been letting the ones I bought for the 2007 nativity dry for a few weeks now. Getting ready to buy varnish and try it out. Did anyone have a non-shiny varnish to reccomend that would work well? RE: Need Help with Bread Loaf Centerpieces Post By denise (Guest Post) (11/11/2007) Did you find out how to preserve bread if so please share! Thanks RE: Need Help with Preserving Bread By Varnishing It Post By Phyllis (Guest Post) (07/22/2007) I see someone else has felt the need to preserve a loaf of bread by varnishing it. I was sure I was the only one. If anyone can give some advice it would mean a lot because the bread is a keepsake. RE: Need Help with Bread Loaf Centerpieces Post By Bernice (Guest Post) (06/06/2005) Hi Char, I hope you come back to this site and see my post. I want to varnish a loaf of fresh baked bread to use as a decoration and came here and saw your post. I was wondering if you were successful in your attempt. I would like mine to last a very long time since it would be part of a decoration I plan to sell. I was getting no where till I came here and say your post. Sorta funny that someone else wanted to do varnished bread also, I'm sure that doesn't happen often. If I don't get any feedback then I guess I will just have to give it a try and see how it turns out. I read Susan's post and will follow her directions on drying out the bread real good first. Hope your reunion was a success. Kind Regards, Bernice RE: Need Help with Bread Loaf Centerpieces Post by ThriftyFun (3789) | (04/29/2004) Profile | Blog! | Contact Here is a link that does a similar thing with rolls: http://sewing.about.com/library/weekly/aa111198.htm Another idea rather than varnishing the bread would be to make it ahead and freeze the loaves until they are needed. That way each table could take home a loaf of fresh bread and it would be edible. You could buy some cheap plastic platters and arrange the bread in the middle with fresh parsley, fruits and vegetables around them. I've never done this but as far as varnishing goes, you will want to dry the bread as much as possible by leaving it in a warm (150-200 degrees F) oven until it is very hard. Then spray with varnish or paint with shellac. The dryer it is, the longer it will last. Sounds like a neat idea for your reunion. Best of Luck with this. Susan