A teatime sticker book giveaway!

On Friday, my friend Gina and I headed to Duluth for the annual Stamp and Scrapbook Expo. It's always fun to visit all the vendors and see what's new in the way of stamping and scrapbooking, stamp sets, and other designs. I did find a new teacup die set, which I'll share after I make a few cards with it, and I was most intrigued by a vendor selling all these books of stickers, including one that had teacups and teapots on nearly every page. It's titled "Everything is fleeting," and some lady next to me agreed that this is just about the ugliest font they could have chosen for the title, but of course all those roses caught my eye anyway. (That's the back cover of the book at left.)

Inside? Page after page of vintage-looking stickers with Victorian ladies at tea, some tea sets, and typewriters … my kind of stuff!

At first, I wasn't sure these were, in fact, stickers, but again, the nice lady next to me showed me how to find the edge and proved that these are indeed stickers. This should be enough stickers for me to decorate packages and envelopes for many years to come! If you would like this extra sticker book I bought, just leave an "Enter me" to this post between now and 7 a.m. on Friday, July 24, making sure I have a way to contact you if you're the winner, and you'll be entered to win. US only, please. Good luck!

A new teatime playmate!

So I've saved the best news for last this week—I am a great-aunt! Many of you have read about my nieces over the years and watched the girls grow up with tea parties, family gatherings, baby shower teas, and bridal teas. My youngest niece, Amelia, who married her beloved Korbin in 2024, just had a baby, and it's the first granddaughter for my sister and the first great-niece for me: Ruby Jane!

She is named after my paternal grandmother (aka "Grandmama Ruby") and, of course, Aunt Jane! We are so thrilled with our big girl (8 pounds 11 ounces!), and I am delighted that her nursery has a tea theme and is painted a shade of pink called Tea Room. So look for many, many more "Ruby" posts in the weeks and months to come!

The Fall 2026 Issue of Flea Market Décor

I spotted my first new fall décor in stores on the Fourth of July, so I hope I can be forgiven for springing a fall magazine on you in mid July. And hey, if we don't start planning now, we won't be ready when fall gets here, and this new issue of Flea Market Décor warmed my heart with promises of cooler temperatures ahead!

Although I've never collected Jadeite (yet), I am always charmed by photos of it. This collection caught my eye because it was styled with ducks and antlers, unlike the more traditional pieces I usually see it paired with.

Since I collect vintage turkey vases, this vignette captured my attention as well. It's not my year to host Thanksgiving, but I'm always up for collecting for it anywhere, anytime.

But my favorite sighting in this magazine wasn't actually décor but a rack in the background! Do you see what those teacups are hanging on? It's one of those old expandable wooden racks that I'll bet many of us have had over the years (it's hanging beneath the pom-pom fringe in this photo). I had my first such rack when I was a teen, hanging scarves and necklaces on it. I've got an unused one stashed away right now, and if I can make sure it's mounted securely, I would not at all object to hanging teacups on it. You just never know what decorating tips may inspire a new project!

Why it takes tea to mango

You might not know what kind of tea I was sipping this weekend, but I'll bet you can guess who made these cookies!

If you guessed Pepperidge Farms and their famous Milano line of cookies, you would be right! I decided to treat myself to a package of their new Mango White Chocolate cookies, and they were as delicious as I knew they would be. That airy, crunchy texture would be awfully hard to duplicate. And because it's been hotter than the devil's underbritches lately, I knew that any new tea I got would have to be served iced. I looked in the Publix deli section and decided to try their mango herbal tea. It does indeed have a refreshing mango taste, and I was happy with my double-mango treat.

I'm still enjoying using the iced tea spoons that I suspect one of you sent me a few years ago. No one's ever fessed up, but no matter—the spoons are delightful! (And the dark spots are just a reflection from my phone's camera. Couldn't figure out how to avoid that.)

And how do you serve two Milano cookies? They're too small for a saucer or dessert plate, so I decided to use a butter pat, and they're a perfect fit. Have you tried any new treats lately? Got any recommendations?

Tea-themed PJ's and an interesting T-shirt

I really should look at the photos on my phone more often. I'm forever taking photos that I mean to post or perhaps share with a particular friend. I was scrolling through them this week and thought, "What's that pink thing?" And lo and behold, there are the PJ's I'd been meaning to tell you about!

When I was at Cracker Barrel recently with a friend, I spotted these cute PJ's, and upon closer inspection, that's definitely a teacup and a tea bag I'm seeing. Do you need some tea-themed PJ's? I already have three sets and can't really justify another, but maybe you can? Just an FYI.

Also, your gray-haired friend here has gotten bolder about approaching folks with my nosy questions (everyone mistakenly thinks we're harmless), so while I was going into the restaurant, I noted this young man's T-shirt ("Pain is weakness leaving the body") and asked him if he minded if I got a photo. I think he and his wife were both amused, but I was inspired by this saying!

A centennial observance we missed

Bicentennial. Semiquincentennial. I’m now old enough to have lived through both, and I’ve enjoyed learning about the ongoing observances across the country in celebration of America’s 250th birthday. I was going down a teatime rabbit trail on the internet this week when I learned about another such observance, one held in 1873, the centennial of the Boston Tea Party.

Historicnewengland.org has some fascinating info on this celebration on their website, which tells about their new exhibit, “An Invitation to Tea.”

That centennial party sounds like it was a lot of fun, with admission tickets showing a teapot with a scene of tea being dumped off a ship, and attendees got a souvenir of a small tea chest filled with Bohea tea! Interested in learning more, including a connection to the suffragist movement? Click here.

Honey straws from Honey Acres

While in Pigeon Forge the other week, I discovered these honey straws at one of the local markets near our cabin. I thought they would be fun for my little neighbors to try the next time we have tea, but first, I needed time to try them out myself.

These are made by a company called Honey Acres, and I believe they were just 25 or 30 cents apiece, inexpensive enough that I could grab a handful.

When the plastic wrapper is removed, the honey straw looks like this, just a thin tube of honey. 

After snipping off the end of the straw, I tried the raspberry one first in a cup of English Breakfast tea, and while it didn't provide a strong taste of raspberry, I did enjoy the sweetness from the honey. After I drank that cup of tea, I noticed a bit of honey left in that straw, and when I sipped the remainder of it out of the straw, I very much tasted the raspberry flavor. In fact, I decided that raspberry honey would sure be tasty on a scone! My next flavor was the chocolate mint honey, and I didn't brew the tea as long. This time, the honey's flavor was much more pronounced, and again, I enjoyed the addition of the honey straw. These would be fun additions to a tea table, and I was happy to see they're available on Amazon, so you don't have to go to the mountains like I did in order to enjoy them!

A new tea that's all shook up

Earlier this week, I met my friend Joanna for a catch-up chat at my favorite local coffee shop, Foxtail Coffee. I love this time of year when new iced teas are offered at such shops, and naturally, I opted for a tea on that hot, muggy morning!

I gather that "shaker" teas are shaken in a cocktail shaker, and I was happy to try the Orange-Rose Lemonade, a mix of chamomile rose tea, lemonade, and orange bitters.

And the foam makes me think that this was indeed shaken, not stirred, as James Bond used to say. I enjoyed this refreshing blend and am grateful for a coffee shop that caters to tea customers!

A most unusual tea ingredient

Now hear me out, because I fear some of you are going to have a come-apart when you hear the name of this tea. It looks like many a black tea I've featured on this blog over the years, except for one notable addition. I'm betting you've spotted it already …

And if you guessed "coffee beans," you would be correct!

I found this unusual Roasted Coffee Puerh Tea blend at the Spice & Tea Exchange in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, over the weekend, and while I just knew it would be dreadful, I had to get a bag of it to convince myself it was as awful as it sounded. I didn't brew it there at the cabin, but I was nosy enough to open it there and take a sniff. "Mm!" I held it up to my friend Gina. "What does this smell like to you?" She took a sniff and said just what I was thinking: "Chocolate!" Once I got back to Georgia and settled in at home, I made a cup of this tea, and I was shocked by how tasty it was. I do not detect the coffee flavor at all. It doesn't have the earthy taste I usually find in puerh (and I like puerh), but instead, it tasted like a rich black dessert coffee, with a natural sweetness and no sugar added. I am just stunned that coffee could be added to tea and taste this good!