Wednesday, January 2, 2013

A new year and new decor

Every year it seems my winter decorating gets determined by some of my Christmas gifts, and such is the case this year as well! My best tea-related Christmas gift, though, would have to be the longed-for vintage tea cart my parents gave me.

Several months before Christmas, my mom asked me to go down in the basement to see something she and Daddy had picked up (probably for $5, knowing them) and thought I might want as part of my Christmas gift. Yes-yes-yes, I quickly said, and when they delivered it at Thanksgiving, with a bow tied on, I was thrilled, but I decided I wouldn't officially decorate it until after Christmas.

Now this year, I am humbled to confess I receive so many tea-related Christmas gifts I've got to share them by theme or I'd be here all day uploading photos (and you'd get weary and leave!). Today's theme is "Winter Whites," because I just love the silvery, snowy, blue-white palette that represents wintertime. First, a new teapot and two tea mugs from my friend Beth. Now that the Christmas teacups are packed away for another year, I'm enjoying sipping out of pretty new mugs!

From my husband (with a little nudge from my eBay wish list) came this ruffled Tea Room Depression glass vase. I know I will greatly enjoy using this for all kinds of things.

From Patsy, who reads my blog and lives nearby, I received a surprise drop-off at the office one day of this lovely little electric teapot she had decided to part with and thought of me. Isn't it charming!

Did you notice the silver teapot at back of the cart? This was a gift from my friend Sandra, who clearly has picked up on my newfound fascination for hotel and department store silver over the past year. Look how well the "Hotel Sutter" teapot, at right, matches the Halle Department Store Tea Room teapot, at left, I already had. Sweet!

Sandra also gave me some iced tea spoons (which I love to collect) from the Manger Hotels. Manger! At Christmas! I won't ever forget when I received these, will I?

More gifts from my mom included a nice new stack of Battenburg lace napkins and ...

... a new three-tiered server, which I hope will see action in the year ahead.

And last but by no means least, my friend Tina added to my tea-themed ornament collection with teacup and teapot ornaments from Cracker Barrel, and my friend Linda gave me a much-coveted Jim Shore Christmas Santa bearing tea. Although I didn't pull out my nearly-200 Santa mugs this Christmas, I hope to do so in 2013 and I know this Santa will be right at home in the midst of them! So that's enough for today, but soon I'll be sharing some tea-themed gifts for the garden, and some special tea treats, and some unique tea and toast sets ... thanks to generous friends and family, I'll be playing with my tea loot all winter long!

8 comments:

  1. Wow! What a wealth of tea themed gifts... and you say there's more!? You must have been very very good this year! Love the tea cart... love the Jim Shore Santa...love the tiered tray... well, love it all!

    ReplyDelete
  2. What fabulous tea-themed Christmas presents, Angela! Looking forward to future posts displaying more gifts! ~ Phyllis

    ReplyDelete
  3. The same kind of tea cart I was looking for when our daughter phoned and told me about the stagecoach style that I ended up buying. I really like traditional but sometimes step out of the box - looks like yours is in good condition Angela.
    You did get a lot of fabulous tea things for Christmas, the 3 tiered sever has a pretty Victorian look to it.
    Well, enjoy and I look forward to posts with your new things.
    Judith

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wonderful gifts! My grandmother had a wheeled tea cart just like that one, seeing yours brings back fond memories. Love the iced tea spoons and battenberg liniens, too. I plan to do a tea themed small tree next Christmas and bought myself those same ornaments for it - and bought one of those Santa's too, after seeing it on a couple of blogs. Happy winter decorating! Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Love your three tiered server. Lacey looking.
    Your parents are sweet, giving you that tea cart.
    Happy New Year again!
    Ruthie

    ReplyDelete
  6. What lovely gifts. The cart is a wonderful find, your Mom finds the best stuff. Do you know if Tea Room Depression glass comes in red?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hello Angela, what beautiful treasures! The tea cart is so neat, can't wait to see how you use it. The lacey 3-tiered server is pretty too. Thanks for sharing. Hope you have a great New Year! Joanie

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow! I am impressed with your tea loot. The cart is so special! Love, love, love the vase. The silver is beautiful, everything wonderful. I will look forward to posts throughout the year as you use each thing.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for taking time to leave a comment! It makes my day to hear from readers!