Every home has them: the special pieces that live at the back of the cabinet all year and come out only for the holidays. The good dinnerware. The glasses that get washed by hand. The table linen that smells faintly of the drawer it sleeps in. Christmas is when a home puts on its best — because the people around the table are worth the effort.
We think the same should be true at the other end of the kitchen, where someone smaller is watching all of this with great interest. Your pet is part of every Christmas you will ever have — under the tree, in the middle of the wrapping paper, hoping the celebration involves snacks. So why shouldn't they have the same treat? Something special, kept for the season, that makes their corner of the home feel like Christmas too.
That is what Nutcracker is: our take on a classic Christmas, made for your pet's dining space.
A Christmas copper bowl, in two colorways
Nutcracker soldiers are Christmas the way most of us first met it — standing guard in shop windows, marching across mantelpieces, guarding the tree. Our Nutcracker print wraps that whole world around a bowl: soldiers in their dress uniforms, a decorated tree, a rocking horse, wrapped gifts, gold everywhere it should be. It comes in two colorways:
Deep Evergreen. Red and gold soldiers with gold crowns and trim stand on a deep green ground framed by gold arches, with a Christmas tree in red and gold, a rocking horse and gifts — and the polished copper rim and base glowing at the edges. It is the evening colorway: fireside, candlelight, the tree lit.
Winter Ivory. On ivory, the soldiers wear red, teal and gold beneath a gold garland-and-lace trim hung with ornaments, again with the tree, the rocking horse and the presents. It is the morning colorway: bright kitchens, pale winter light, Christmas Day before anyone has tidied anything.
Festive, but not loud. The kind of thing that belongs in the photographs of the day — which, if your house is anything like ours, it will be.
The timeless bowl underneath it all
Here is the part we care about most: the print is the celebration, but the bowl underneath it is not a novelty. It is our Large copper water bowl — handcrafted from 99.9% pure copper, 64 oz, never lined and never coated inside, so the water sits against pure copper exactly as it does in every bowl we make. With normal cleaning, copper helps keep bacteria from growing quickly between washings — one of the reasons copper has been trusted for drinking water for centuries.
The print lives on the exterior only; inside, it is simply copper being copper, asking for the usual routine — fresh water daily, a gentle wash, a dry — and Perfect Polish whenever you want the shine back. Treat the printed outside kindly (hand washing, nothing abrasive on the artwork) and it will stay bright.
Which means Nutcracker is not a one-time Christmas bowl. It is a bowl for every Christmas — brought out with the good dinnerware each December, used all season, then put away with the rest of the Christmas pieces until next year. Solid copper does not wear out or go out of date; it settles in, deepens, and becomes part of the house. The best Christmas things are like that: they stop being decorations and start being traditions.
A gift that becomes a tradition
If you are choosing a Christmas gift for a pet parent, this is the kind we would want to give: beautiful on the day, used every day of the season, and carrying a little ceremony with it. Every year when it comes out of the cabinet, it will say the same thing it said the Christmas it arrived — you are part of this family's celebrations. A toy is loved for a week. A tradition is loved for a lifetime.
Nutcracker at a glance
- What it is: Embers Elements' limited-edition Christmas copper pet water bowl
- Material: 99.9% pure copper, handcrafted; the Nutcracker print is on the exterior only and the interior is unlined and uncoated
- Colorways: Deep Evergreen and Winter Ivory
- Size: Large only — 64 oz, 8.25 inches in diameter
- Edition: a small seasonal run, for this Christmas
Nutcracker questions, answered
What size is the Nutcracker bowl?
Large only — 64 oz capacity, 8.25 inches in diameter, the same dimensions as our standard Large copper bowls. There is no Medium in this design.
What is it made from?
99.9% pure copper. The Nutcracker print is on the exterior only; the interior is unlined and uncoated, so water sits directly against the copper. Like all our copper bowls, it is for water only — food belongs in brass.
How do you clean a printed copper bowl?
Inside, the usual routine: fresh water daily, wash with warm water and mild soap, and dry after washing. Outside, hand wash gently and keep anything abrasive off the print. Perfect Polish brings the copper's shine back whenever you want it.
Can it be used all year round?
Technically, yes — underneath the print is a solid copper bowl that works any day of the year. But Nutcracker is a seasonal print, made for the holidays: it was designed to come out at Christmas, the way the good dinnerware does, and to be part of the season rather than an everyday bowl.
Is a copper bowl suitable for every pet?
For most dogs and cats, yes. If your dog is a breed predisposed to Copper Storage Disease — including Labradors, Bedlington Terriers, West Highland White Terriers, Doberman Pinschers and Skye Terriers — check with your vet first. The condition is exceedingly rare in cats.
Nutcracker was made in a small run for this Christmas, in Large only, and when this season's bowls are gone, they are gone. Meet Nutcracker — and let it take its place next to the good dinnerware, where we think it belongs.
