Tea treats from my pen pal!

A Christmas gift from Sandy, my pen pal in New York, has arrived, and I have had so much fun tucking into the wonderful array of gifts. I especially wanted you to see some of the handmade and tea things she included since those are favorites for so many of us! My favorite was this embroidered piece featuring friends at tea.

It's the perfect gift for a tea-loving pen pal, isn't it?

And some stocking-shaped silverware holders. Aren't these darling? I especially love how she included "paper utensils" to illustrate how they are used!

And a beautiful fabric tote bag that I have truly *needed* to corral some of the tea-themed quilting supplies that have been floating around my office-slash-crafts room.

Sandy also included some cute teacup napkins and a new tea strainer, and also a coloring book, some tea-themed gift bags, framed artwork of a three-tiered tea tray, a china tea bag holder, some pretty flower accents she crocheted for the kitchen sink sprayer, several charming notepads and shopping lists, recipe cards, and a few more things she knew I'd love because they're "quilty" gifts. Honestly, I was pulling so many goodies out of that box, my husband sat in amazement and watched. He said it was like watching all of those circus clowns pile out of a tiny little car and wondering how they all could possibly fit inside. But as we all know, tea friends are some of the most generous of friends, aren't they!