Yesterday, I bought my first Christmas gifts of the season, so now I'm thinking perhaps this will be one of those rare years when I'm finished by Thanksgiving. (I always hated "those people" until I became one of them.) In that spirit, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite catalogs that offer goodies for tea lovers. First, always, on my favorite catalog list is the Victorian Trading Co. catalog (victoriantradingco.com). I've ordered their gorgeous papers and calling cards for years, but now they also offer tea sets, sugar tongs, aprons (I have the one with teacups on it), tea cozies and more. My latest wish-list? Their etched cake dome and fancy tea strainer shown here.
A close second in the favorite catalogs department would have to be Tender Heart Treasures (tenderheart.com). They were pleasant to deal with and accurately shipped all the frilly white tiered serving trays I ordered last year. (These trays fold up, which is a great space-saving feature.) Today, I occasionally see some of their items in T.J. Maxx stores after they've been in the catalog a while. The prices are so reasonable to start with, even T.J. Maxx doesn't offer them much cheaper, but there is that matter of shipping! Happily, Tender Heart's current catalog gives free shipping with a mere $50 order, which you can easily meet. The must-have item for this season? Their new Christmas-tree-shaped dessert server. Gotta have it!
Finally, I want to mention the only catalog on this list I haven't actually ordered from yet. Old Durham Road English Country Living (olddurhamroad.com) is a new catalog for me, but wow, do I ever want lots of these British goodies! My "dream" item is expensive - that silver-plated bun warmer ($125) - but I couldn't enjoy it unless I found it on sale somewhere. On a more realistic note, there are English teas and jams, some unusual tea sets (one featuring blue and white designs of old tea clipper ships), cookbooks and more, all quite reasonably priced. I imagine I'll have a report on them before too long. And if you have a favorite catalog to recommend, by all means, chime in!
Yesterday, I bought my first Christmas gifts of the season, so now I'm thinking perhaps this will be one of those rare years when I'm finished by Thanksgiving. (I always hated "those people" until I became one of them.) In that spirit, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite catalogs that offer goodies for tea lovers. First, always, on my favorite catalog list is the Victorian Trading Co. catalog (victoriantradingco.com). I've ordered their gorgeous papers and calling cards for years, but now they also offer tea sets, sugar tongs, aprons (I have the one with teacups on it), tea cozies and more. My latest wish-list? Their etched cake dome and fancy tea strainer shown here.
A close second in the favorite catalogs department would have to be Tender Heart Treasures (tenderheart.com). They were pleasant to deal with and accurately shipped all the frilly white tiered serving trays I ordered last year. (These trays fold up, which is a great space-saving feature.) Today, I occasionally see some of their items in T.J. Maxx stores after they've been in the catalog a while. The prices are so reasonable to start with, even T.J. Maxx doesn't offer them much cheaper, but there is that matter of shipping! Happily, Tender Heart's current catalog gives free shipping with a mere $50 order, which you can easily meet. The must-have item for this season? Their new Christmas-tree-shaped dessert server. Gotta have it!
Finally, I want to mention the only catalog on this list I haven't actually ordered from yet. Old Durham Road English Country Living (olddurhamroad.com) is a new catalog for me, but wow, do I ever want lots of these British goodies! My "dream" item is expensive - that silver-plated bun warmer ($125) - but I couldn't enjoy it unless I found it on sale somewhere. On a more realistic note, there are English teas and jams, some unusual tea sets (one featuring blue and white designs of old tea clipper ships), cookbooks and more, all quite reasonably priced. I imagine I'll have a report on them before too long. And if you have a favorite catalog to recommend, by all means, chime in!
Mount Dora, Florida. We at Saint Edward's Episcopal Church have had a Mitford Tea every Fall for the past 5 years. The Tea is more like a Luncheon as we serve tea sandwiches and pastries and of course the famous Orange Marmalade Cake. This will be our 6th one this year. They are so much fun. We serve goodies from the Mitford Cook Book and have readings from the different books in the series.
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