Holiday Treats (RETIRED)

[Tiffany]

Released in 2008, retired in 2009 with archival.

Kirsten loves to bake traditional Swedish holiday treats for her family, and this set has everything she needs. Kirsten can share a little Christmas cheer with everything here: 5 pretend candles that sit in a pretty wooden candle holder. A bunch of pretend apples that fit inside a decorated ceramic bowl. Pretend cookies and buns on a curved wooden tray. A woven cloth table runner. A speckled metal tea kettle. 2 ceramic cups with bird designs


Kirsten's baking set arrived today and I snaped a few quick pictures. I've also written a short review.

1. I loved the kettle (it's VERY heavy and reminds me of cast iron maybe it is?!, MUCH heavier than I expected and MUCH heavier than anything AG has ever been!) The lid swivles but does not move over the handle. I love the blue speckled look (see below for upclose photo and comparison photos to other blue speckled AG pieces)
2. Cloth is woven and very nice. I love the colors and weighty-ness of the cloth.
3. Wooden plate is a bit distressed looking with a random bumps/dings. Nice piece.
4. Wooden candle holder with plastic/rubbery candles. The wooden candle holder is nice and will be pretty on Kirsten's table this holiday season. The candles are removeable and plastic/rubbery.
5. Ceramic Bowl is nice with heart (not handpainted looking, but still cute)
6. Ceramic Mugs (NOTHING like PC version), heavy duty, don't seem like they'd break easy, child friendly I guess
7. Plastic molded together apples and cookies - exactly what they sound like!

Overall, the set is very nice, but has a heafty price tag. I am not keeping all the pieces so be sure and check out the sale thread for the cookies, apples, and mugs along with the hair ribbons and shoes from her baking outfit. I've also added to Kit's stove set to include her cookies, candle, and candle holder!

The whole set:
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[nelliegirl]

The Holiday treats are just wonderful and so different from the stuff comming out lately. It contains a real porcelain bowl, a real wood candle holder although painted with that heavy lacquer that kind cheeps it, a real wood tray nice wood too, cookies permanently fused together but look yummy nevertheless, a real and surprisingly heavy metal tea kettle I think you could boil real tea in it but I wouldn't recommend it, two cups the same as the ones from her old pottery set but the porcelain is a little less grainy and the picture is a little different, a table runner not much different then the old one except dark blue a green striped and no fringe, five candles look like the same ones that were in her candle holder from her night time necessities although they might be smaller. Also apples also fused together. On a whole the set is vary nice the food is cute aside from them being together it what it is it at least it is set in the bowl and tray to scale I really can be a downer on this since all the food now is like this and from a collectors standpoint I guess it is not really important at least they still can be removed from the serving tray and bowl. The other stuff is wonderful it reminds me of the older stuff with it made out of real porcelain and wood instead of plastic I would have preferred the apples to be loose though. All in all I am not disapponted in the least the stuff is real it has great merit and I am proud to serve my dollies it. A+

[MaryCarly]

Everything is very large and so very well made. It almost looks like things that I could use on my own table. The painted candleholder is like a work of folk art and the wood tray is just beautiful too. The cookies and apples are stuck together, but I don't mind as they are super detailed and look lovely with the set. The candles look real, the pottery bowl is adorable, and the tea kettle is heavy like a real one would be. This set makes me want to head to a cabin in the woods and have a real old fashioned Christmas.

I was thrilled when I first saw its debut, but the price made me gasp. Still, it was always in the back of my head and when the $10 off code arrived, I quickly added this set to my Christmas list. I am so glad that I did!

[EofA]

Kirsten loves to bake traditional Swedish holiday treats for her family, and this set has everything she needs.
Kirsten can share a little Christmas cheer with everything here:
5 pretend candles that sit in a pretty wooden candle holder
A bunch of pretend apples that fit inside a decorated ceramic bowl
Pretend cookies and buns on a curved wooden tray
A woven cloth table runner
A speckled metal tea kettle
2 ceramic cups with bird designs

I was thrilled to see my girl Kirsten get some more stuff. This isn't meant to be a replacement for her retired birthday treats set with its sweet country-style pottery, but is instead a complimentary holiday set that I think looks great with Kirsten as St. Lucia (even better if I could find her sash):

The woven cloth runner and speckled kettle are high quality. Be careful dropping the kettle on your toes because it is really heavy (trust me on this). I'd like it even better if the tea kettle was instead a period Swedish coffee pot, since coffee was mentioned prominently in Kirsten's mystery. But I've nearly given up on AG making things that are story-related. The bowl and mugs are pretty and I don't mind the clump of apples since this is meant to be a child's toy. As a parent, I don't want to be hunting resin apples all around the house, and these apples are very well done compared to Kit's peaches from her cooking set. So no complaints here about clumpy food, although I know that is a pet peeve for many adult collectors. The cookies and St. Lucia buns are a little too glossy-looking for my taste, but I'm not eating them and it's good that they are included to make this set specific to Kirsten's St. Lucia Day story. The candelabra is so warm and inviting; it is wood, but it's got lots of layers of paint on it. I love the design, though. The wooden platter is very plain and simple and can be used for lots of things, so it has versatility in its favor.

Do the mugs match Kirsten's birthday pottery? Pretty much, depending on whether you have an older or newer set. The glaze on mine matches fine, and the birds are just slightly different but not enough to be troublesome. I can't imagine they'd match well with the old Rowe pottery, though.

Birthday pottery on left, Holiday pottery on right


Holiday mug on left, Birthday mug on right


Birthday pottery with Holiday bowl


Mixing the sets

I think this set is horribly overpriced at $68 but then, I think most of the AG dish sets are overpriced, so that's my bias. Nonetheless, I was very pleased to receive this set as a gift and I really do love it. Grade A- from me (misses a higher grade for the inclusion of a tea pot instead of a coffee kettle, and the shiny pastries). It is a very worthwhile set to get if you have the money and are collecting for Kirsten.

[glasshalffull]

I bought this while on sale for $51, plus a $10 off code. It came yesterday, and I am so very happy with it.

It is beautiful! The colors are so bright and pretty and the quality is superb on all pieces.

I truly adore this set. It is a feast for the eyes.

[LinneaAnne]

The price of this set was just too steep for me, so I just ordered the candle holder, candles, and kettle as replacement parts. I really love all three pieces. The candleholder is large and beautiful. The kettle is very heavy! I wish I could have afforded the whole set, but I feel very happy with what I was able to get.

[Laurel]

Compared to the original Kirsten pottery it looks machine made and not as authentic. It is a different color and has a glossier and smoother glaze, whereas the pottery is more textured and less glossy, looks more irregular like handmade pottery might. It is ceramic, just manufactured with a mold or press. I had also thought the newer ones were bigger, but once I got them side by side, I realized they are about the same.


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[Michele]

The cookies are not glued to the wooden board, however the cookies themselves are one giant piece. HTH!

[lovedolls]

This set is really nice. The only draw back it the plastic lump of cookies or cake thing. Also the candlebrea seems so huge compared to the menorah sets. The one thing that irks me about AG is the lack of uniform sizing of stuff.

[samlizziesmom]

Ok here's a post archival review of the set;
The tea kettle is VERY heavy and as a member said can easily knock someone out! LOL
The lid swivels and is attached so there's no risk of losing the lid. (A+ there)
The bowl AND mugs are ceramic, I repeat ARE ceramic!! I know this was a point of question for some...
The apples and cookies are clumped, but I think with careful exacto you can detattach the top from the bottom cookies.
The apples are clumped in two sections, so again, if one were careful, they could make to clumps. (but I'm not willing LOL )

The candles fit firmly in the holder which is wood.
The runner is pretty and nicely woven.

Yeah, it does appear to be high priced at the original $68 price. And while my hubby paid slightly higher post-archival it wasn't by much, and I am VERY happy.

This is a nice well rounded set, and is worth finding at the right price!

Overall: A+

UPDATE; 5/14/2020
My links died, but I DID make a video review of this set on my Youtube HERE about the time I acquired the set. So I hope that works for you.

[QNPoohBear]

Kirsten's Holiday Treats come with a lot of pieces. The candle holder is made from wood and looks like a real Swedish candle holder. It seems a little big in comparison to Kirsten. The candles are thin, hard but not as hard as Kirsten's nighttime necessities candle. I had a hard time putting them in the candle holder. I think the candles got a little beat up trying to shove them in the candle holder. The kettle is made from metal and it's HEAVY! Again, it seems too big and for cultural accuracy, it should be a coffee pot. Kirsten has to be really strong (and have tightly strung arms) to hold the kettle. The woven cloth is really woven and the colors are pretty. It looks like real Swedish woven cloth. The platter is slightly curved and it is also made of wood. It is huge in comparison to the size Kirsten's cookies should be. The actual treats are hideous! The Lucia buns look burned and are stuck together and the spitz cookies are stuck on top of those, making them pointless for playing with. The pottery is OK. It's ceramic, not hand-painted and glazed and shiny. It's mass produced and looks it in comparison to the hand-made Rowe pottery, which is infinitely superior. Even a 10 year old can tell the Rowe pottery is hand-made and the holiday treats version is not. The large bowl matches the pottery with a heart design instead of birds. The apples look so realistic but feel soft and rubbery and are stuck together, again rendering them useless.

There are too many negatives to give this set an A but I'll be nice and give it a B. I have serious issues with the size and the stuck together food.

[QNPoohBear]

Rowe Pottery mug (left), AG Holiday Treats mug (right)

[QNPoohBear]

Bowl with loose polystyrene apples from Michael's


clumped apples comapred to polystyrene apples



AG apples upside down