How to pick a bouquet of roses

Yesterday, I was at a breakfast meeting along with an antique-store-vendor friend when I told her, “Yes, I agree that our thrift stores around here are crappy.” And I kid you not, one hour later, I was killing time at Goodwill, the only store I found open while I was waiting on Barnes & Noble to open, and ended up buying four gorgeous vintage plates with roses on them, grand total $5.98!

This single pink-trimmed plate first caught my eye and was just $2.99.

This stack o’ plates was also $2.99. I absolutely hate when they tape these together and wish they’d stop it. A) The result is a mystery stack, and I had no idea whether I was getting a gilded plate that said “Happy 50th Anniversary” or a commemorative plate from who knows where. B) The tape can lift the gold from the plate. (Goodwill, are you listening?) But I figured the plate on top was worth the $2.99, so anything else was gravy.

And when I got home, I discovered I liked the gravy!

Aren’t these roses pretty?

And these?

The two plates on the bottom of the stack had old, old sticky spots on them—probably from price stickers of yesteryear—but rubbing a little baking soda on the spots quickly wiped that away, so that’s a neat tip to use with a teacup or plate or anything that has sticky residue on it. (And baking soda is much less abrasive than scouring powder.) And that’s how I picked a bouquet of roses yesterday! I’m planning to copy that “plate wall” trend very soon—my only question is which room—and these are perfect additions.

Country Living Vintage Home Issue 07

One day last week, I was on my way to visit a friend in the hospital when I decided to stop by Barnes & Noble to find her something new to read. She is a book and magazine addict like I am, and whenever we get together, we almost always end up talking about something we've read. I flipped through magazine after magazine, not really finding any great inspiration, then I came upon the latest issue of Country Living Vintage Home from the UK. I had bought the first issue of this bookazine years ago but had rarely seen it since. Do y'all know the term bookazine? It’s too big to be a regular magazine but not bound quite like a book, so … bookazine.

This one is about as thick as the old Sears Christmas catalog, and even though it was $29.95, I thought it was one of the loveliest publications I've come across in ages, so I got copies for both me and my friend, and I was glad I did because she has thoroughly enjoyed it. First, I loved how they "framed" old doilies in embroidery hoops. Wouldn’t that be fun (and thrifty) décor for a tea?

Photographs of stacks of dishes and teacups always intrigue me, and the colors here are so cheerful. I like to imagine the collector who found all of these pretty things.

In this spread, I first noticed the distinctive Emma Bridgewater teapot at left, then I noticed the artwork at top right. Wouldn't it be fun to collect colorful tea-themed artwork? Hmm… 

Finally, I absolutely love coming across a photo of a hodgepodge of collectibles. A teacup, bowls, dolls, glassware … What catches your eye?

A birthday tea with Beth

My dear friend Beth, featured on this blog quite a few times over the years, recently turned sixty. To celebrate, we went to tea at the Emerald Chandelier in Griffin on Saturday!

This time, we both ordered their Lunch Tea Experience, and for that, you get to choose which type of half sandwich you prefer. 

I ordered the chicken salad, shown here with their quiche and creamy wild rice soup (that soup quickly became a favorite on my first of three visits there last year!).

Beth ordered the apricot and pimento cheese sandwich, which she said was delicious. I don't believe I've ever had a pimento cheese in a sweet flavor, so I may have to look for a recipe and give this a try.

Our sweets included a house scone, served with cream and lemon curd, and a slice of Lemon Loaf Cake. The birthday girl got a special birthday cupcake, a thoughtful touch on the part of the tearoom!

As always, I enjoyed seeing the pretty place settings—those vintage green thumbprint goblets were particularly lovely—as well as the decor of the tearoom itself. The tea we chose this time was Emperor's Fog, a tea blend with pineapple, papaya, and guava. 

Beth reminded me that we first met in 1997, in the lobby of the newspaper office where I worked at the time (her brother was a coworker), and we were talking about the Titanic movie that had just come out. Beth is one of my "girly" girlfriends who is always up for a tearoom trip, and I hope you'll join me in wishing her a Happy Birthday!

Is it too soon?

Is it too soon for … pumpkin spice?

A friend of mine shared on Facebook that she'd purchased her first pumpkin spice creamer of the season, but it is still summer, people! (It's never too early for "everything nice," however.)

And it's never too early to pick up a little 5 x 6-inch cup-shaped shelf plaque from Ollie's when it's just $3.99! But I won't decorate with it until October. (Or maybe late September if it's starting to feel like fall!)

Picking up some T-Pick Teas

I was in our local Ollie's discount store the other day and ran across some tea bags I'd not seen before, these Black Tea Peach and Green Tea Strawberry Kiwi blends. They were only $1.99 a box, so I decided these two were worth a try, and I'm happy to report that they were great! I opened the peach tea first, and the peachy smell that greeted me was delightful. I was so pleased, because sometimes, things end up at the discount store for a reason, but other times, it's simply a matter of overstock of something that's perfectly good.

Then I tried this strawberry kiwi tea, and I liked it even better!

We have had much cooler temps here in Georgia this week (69 one day was a record low for a high), so I've been alternating between hot tea and iced tea throughout the day. I had this tea hot to begin with, then added the tea bag to a glass of water and placed it in the fridge. Voila, flavored iced tea! If I run across any other blends of T-Pick Tea, I'll sure be giving them a try.

Adventures in teakettle shopping

On Friday, I was making a cup of tea when I poured boiling water into my teacup and noticed a speck of something black. Maybe the teacup had gotten dusty inside the cabinet and I just hadn't noticed? I tossed the water, rinsed out my teacup and electric teakettle, and tried again. And again I got a black speck, which appeared to be a worn spot on the interior base of the five-year-old teakettle. So I settled on nuking my water in the microwave (carefully; I've heard the horror stories about exploding cups of water) and quickly headed to Amazon to order a new teakettle. (This qualified as an emergency, I think you'll agree.) I had some errands to run on Saturday, and when I got home, the new kettle was waiting for me. Whew!

I would have bought the same pretty white-with-a-pale-green-handle teakettle I had before, but it was no longer available. As with so many things these day, the choices were overwhelming. What size? What color? What features? Honestly, I didn't care that much. I just wanted something to quickly boil water. The pink ones I found were too "bubblegum pink," so I finally decided to go with white again and looked for the Amazon's Choice model, which usually works out well for me. But was I seeing things? The Ovente teakettle was just $10.98, is BPA free, and has auto shut-off and boil-dry protection features. Yippee and add to cart! 

When I opened the box, I thought the "STOP" warning was kind of hard to overlook. "We strongly recommend boiling your kettle a few times." Really?

Well, okay! (Not really, but ChatGPT was happy to illustrate the instructions as I read them.) I did, however, boil water in the interior of the new kettle a few times before I made my first cup of tea with it, and I'm happy to report that no black specks appeared this time! Ah. Life is good again.

Recommended Reading: "Flea Market Home & Garden Style"

This week, I came across the latest issue of Flea Market Home & Garden Style magazine, and I always love the vintage items they feature as well as new ideas for decorating with them.

This photo was taken at the famous Round Top flea market in Texas, and I'm itching to go there. I think the "Silver Sisters" from my cozy mystery series need to take a road trip, so in a year or so, I may need to do a research trip so I can (believably) write that book.

I've had plants in teacups before, but as much as I love artwork and decor of stacks of teacups, it just never dawned on me to plant something in more than one cup. A fun idea!

I thought it was interesting that they titled this article "Live with what you love." Over the years, I must have read the advice to "buy what you love" a hundred times. I've always wondered, "Are there folks out there who are buying what they hate?" Because I sure don't. And that's why my kitchen cabinets and dining room shelves look like the ones at right, where a "botanical" motif is featured on pretty tea wares.

And if you don't like "botanical," then perhaps the "traditional" motif will do it for you. There's plenty to love in this issue, and now I'm ready for the fall and Christmas magazines to start hitting the newsstand!

Bubble tea from the shelf

Do you remember the unofficial motto of this blog? It's this: "We review the low-rent teas so you don't have to!" And so it was that even though I knew "bubble tea" from the Ollie's discount store shelf probably wasn't going to be a high-quality drink, curiosity won out, so I plopped down my ninety-nine cents and went home with this single-sipper drink. Strawberry Lemonade Green Tea sounded appealing, so why not?

The instructions said to use the pointy end of the straw to pierce the lid, so I did.

And while I've had worse drinks, I suppose, this one somehow managed to be both sugary and weak, and the "bubbles" were clear bits of gummy something-or-other larger than a pea but smaller than a tapioca pearl. After swallowing a few of the bubbles, I was all bubbled out and didn't care to finish the drink. I like real bubble tea every now and then, but this was a pale imitation that I doubt will make anyone happy. So there you go! Check it out if you must, but don't say I didn't warn you. 

A teatime crafting weekend

This weekend, I once again attended the "Crafter's Fellowship" at a nearby Lutheran church, Word of God Lutheran in Sharpsburg. I love these ladies and am very fortunate to have found a local group to craft with just ten minutes from my house. This time, I was all about the card making, as I was eager to use the new Scrappy Boy teakettle dies I picked up at the Expo last week. I love the color possibilities with these dies!

Once I made one card, which took a while because of all the little pieces, I tried it in different colors of DSP (that's "designer series paper" in the Stampin' Up world, so I tend to call all of these pretty papers DSPs).

I also made a few more cards using the Teatime Florals set from Honeybee Stamps. I usually get bored with a stamp set after I've made lots of cards with it, but I don't think I'll ever get tired of this one.

Fellow crafters tend to learn each other's tastes pretty quickly, and my friend Diann said she suspected I would like these Rose Parfum papers she got from Stamperia a while back. Absolutely, I do! I was happy to find that a similar set is available on Amazon.

On Saturday, a church member I'd not met before, Adrian, arrived bearing a box of these huge scones from the Senoia street market that morning. I've not been to that particular market before, but I sure want to go now. Aren't these blueberry and peach scones yummy looking?

And I can attest that the peach one I sampled was very tasty and very fresh. It was a fun weekend getaway, and I'm already looking forward to the next one!

A new way to enjoy slaw

Have you ever had slaw at teatime? Me neither. However, I recently came across a vintage recipe for Fruit Slaw, and it was so delicious that I've been pairing it with a tomato sandwich for lunch! So if your "tea" is more of a "ladies lunch" featuring a salad plate, this is a recipe you may wish to try as well. (It's also featured in this month's column that I wrote for The Coweta Shopper, and I suspect many of you would enjoy it too!)

Fruit Slaw

2 cups cabbage, finely grated (press between paper towels to remove liquid)
1 cup seedless green grapes
1 cup canned pineapple, drained and diced
1 cup fresh peaches, diced

Dressing

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cream

Using a medium-sized mixing bowl, add first four ingredients and toss well. In a separate bowl, combine dressing ingredients, whisk, then toss lightly over the cabbage and fruits. Store in refrigerator until time to serve.

An estate sale find from a friend

My friend Patti told me she had something for me that she'd found at an estate sale, and she left it at the welcome center of our church for me to pick up. I figured it was probably a teacup or teapot, but when I spotted the package with my name on it, this was inside!

I've never had a tea brick before and was delighted to receive this one!

The close-up detail was incredible, and I can hardly believe this is actually pressed tea leaves. I'm kind of glad it came from an estate sale, because if it were brand-new, I'd be tempted to break off a piece and brew it.

And Patti also included this cute container of teapot cookie cutters. I have lots of these cookie cutters, but I didn't have this set, so yippee! Question: Do any of you know if it's okay to display a tea brick on a stand? The internet says you can, and it's awfully sturdy, but I sure don't want it to fall apart!

Fun finds at the Stamp and Scrapbook Expo

On Friday morning, my friend Gina and I headed up to Duluth, just north of Atlanta, to attend the Stamp and Scrapbook Expo at Gas South Arena. As always, I was looking for tea-themed goodies, and the show did not disappoint! One of the first things I spotted was this teakettle card from Scrappy Boy Stamps, and I had to have this die set once I saw all of the great samples on display. This piece had an Alice in Wonderland theme, and I especially liked …

The cute teapot charm that was attached. (This would be for a ring-style album and not a flat card, apparently.)

A pink floral version, however, made it look like a completely different design.

And although I'd (hopefully!) never need to send a shaker card like this ("shaker cards" have beads and sequins inside), I still thought it was quite humorous.

Gina knew I was looking for tea-themed pieces and spotted this line of products, Creek Bank Creations. I bought the die set at right, and when Gina pointed out the pretty tea-themed papers at left, I got those too. Those colors will be great for fall cards.

There were so many lovely things at this show, like these gorgeous floral cards made with layering stencils.

And if you had the time to make something more elaborate, this pop-up Christmas card would be just the thing!

These three-dimensional flower cards were beautiful too. If you're into card making and/or scrapbooking, I definitely recommend that you go to one of these shows when it arrives near you!