My fancy new pierced-edge "china"

As I was putting up the last of the Christmas decorations on New Year's Eve, I came across some new plates I purchased while out doing my last-minute Christmas shopping. Isn't this pierced-edge plate pretty? I just love it.

I'd love it even more if it were real china, but actually this is from a set of 10 plastic plates I bought for $12.99 at Tuesday Morning. Because of space and storage concerns I'm much more selective about bringing new "teawares" into my home these days. Yet as soon as I saw these plates, I instantly thought of three uses for them: 1) These would have been great for packaging up Christmas treats to deliver to friends and clients! And looking ahead, Valentine's Day will be here soon … 2) These would also be great for transporting and using with a three-tiered server if I need to have a "portable" tea for some reason and don't want to worry about breaking anything. 3) Wouldn't these be lovely for a picnic tea? Coming up with so many uses for them so quickly, I looked for more packages of these plates, but all I found was the one.

I took a photo from this angle so you can tell that these really are lightweight, disposable plates, but definitely some of the loveliest ones I've ever come across. (And to be honest with you, I fully intend to wash mine off after each use and use them again unless they just fall apart on me!) The packaging lists the manufacturer's website as silverspoonss.com (yes, "spoonss"), but it appears they sell only to companies. Still, I couldn't help thinking some of you might want to be on the lookout for these plates if you shop at Tuesday Morning on occasion. I find it's never too early to think about gift-giving or opportunities to take teatime on the road!