The Giant Teapot

I decided not to spend this rainy Saturday morning sitting at home, so I went shopping and it turned into a bit of a tea-themed shopping day with a particularly wonderful find: a giant teapot with a spigot! I never knew such a thing existed!

This teapot holds 12 cups of tea, and I'm showing it both on its own and with a normal-sized Johnson Brothers Rose Chintz teapot to give you some idea how large this is (13-1/2 inches from spout to handle x 8 inches tall). It would, of course, be better if the teapot were a) vintage b) decorated with pink roses c) made in England and d) possessing a white rather than black metal base -- something I intend to remedy with spray paint -- but for sheer usefulness, I can't think of much more to improve my tea serving abilities. With a 12-cup capacity, this pot can sit on the table with one of those cute little teapot warmers underneath and I won't have to refill it for quite a while. I tried it out and it worked beautifully without spilling so much as a drop.

This was on clearance at T.J. Maxx for $12, and since I had a gift certificate it was actually "free" for me, so as I told my husband, "I got it for negative $12." Add this to the embroidered napkins I got at the new antique store in town yesterday, the vintage teapot tablecloth I got on eBay a while back, and clearly, it's time to start planning my next tea!