DCWV's Garden Tea Party Stack

Several months ago when I got back into rubber stamping, I began looking in craft stores and online for some tea-themed scrapbooking papers. To my surprise, the offerings were pretty slim. One eBay seller was selling some pretty tea-themed single sheets for a few bucks each, and a little research revealed the sheets came from DCWV's new Garden Tea Party Stack of 48 papers, two each of 24 different designs. I looked online as well as at Michaels, Hobby Lobby and JoAnn and could not find this stack anywhere. In fact, I forgot about it and gave up—temporarily—on the search.

Friends, I am happy to report that it's time to pull out those 40 percent off Michaels coupons, for the Garden Tea Party Stack has now arrived at Michaels–or at least my local Michaels! Happily, I didn't even have to use my 40 percent off coupon on this because it was already on sale.

Now whether you're a stamper/scrapper or not, there is much to love about this stack. In addition to teapots, teacups, flowers and birds galore, some of the papers have tea "stains" on them, which gives them sort of an edgy/contemporary vibe.

There are also full sheets that would be perfect for scrapbooking as well as for invitations and signage for tea parties.

Another of my favorite pages in this stack is this page with lots of tea quotes.

I used one of them to make the very quick and simple card at left, and I used a teaspoon stamp my friend Lynn gave me to accent the card at right. This stacks retails for $19.99, but watch the sales or use a coupon and get it for just $12. I'm already thinking I may need to go back for another!

Teatime Giveaway #28 - Teatime dish towels

The winner of the "Tea Shirt" from last week is ParTea Lady, so congrats! I'll have it headed your way very shortly! And this week's giveaway is something surely everyone can use, a pair of tea-themed dish towels. I found these at Walmart this week and thought they were really cute. These two aren't actually a set, but the colors blended well so I got 'em both.

Especially for "everyday" use, I enjoy having dish towels with contemporary designs of teacups and teapots and tea kettles. Perhaps you do as well? If you'd like to win these for yourself, just leave a comment to this post between now and noon EST on Friday, July 20. Good luck!

A teaware rescue

If only teawares could talk! A friend's family was cleaning out some rental property and came across some dishes my friend *almost* threw away, but then she thought of me and called to see if I wanted them. Of course I said yes, out of curiosity if nothing else, and I must say I found these pieces quite charming in a rough-edged kind of way! I do believe these are handmade ceramics—do you agree?—as all these pieces are marked "HC 98" on back. I wonder who made them. Hillary Clinton? Howard Cosell? (Actually, he had died in 1995, so no.) Harry Connick Jr.? Kinda fun to imagine them firing up some ceramics, isn't it!

Here is the teacup and saucer set.

Interestingly, both the teacup and saucer are footed. Does that make this set double-footed? Is there a term for that?

The plates are nice and simple, and I can see these used at, say, Christmas, in a three-tiered rack as serving plates.

These are clearly salt and pepper shakers, but ...

... I asked my friend, "How do you get the salt and pepper in those little holes?" She just shook her head and grinned at me like, "That's YOUR problem!" But you know what? I have used old salt and pepper shakers as ornaments on my tea-themed Christmas tree before, and I do believe I'll do the same with these!

Whittard of Chelsea's Milky Oolong Tea

I have two tea personalities this summer. There's the iced-tea-loving side of me at home, and at the office, where the air conditioning makes things a little chilly at times, I'm regularly enjoying my hot tea. Happily, I still have some new Whittard of Chelsea teas to try, and this week's tasting was the Milky Oolong Black Tea.

When I opened the package, I noticed that fresh, woodsy scent I've come to associate with the very best tasting teas. But this dry leaf also has a scent that somehow reminded me of hot buttered toast!

Whittard describes this tea as having "a distinctive creamy taste and soft butter-like aroma," and I can definitely attest to getting a buttery, creamy mouth-feel from my cup of tea. I've found this almost decadent combination in precious few teas before, and I'm definitely a fan of the Milky Oolong. Are there any "Milky" blends you like? I'd love to know!

New teapot wall decor

Sometimes I come across a tea-themed piece so wonderful, I'm not sure what to do with it, I just know I have to have it. And so it was with this black metal teapot, which I found at a T.J. Maxx recently. It was just $9.99 for this rather large piece, which is about 24 inches wide by 15 inches tall.

I've moved it around several places and I'm still not sure where it'll wind up. Right now, it's hanging under a sampler I cross-stitched years ago.

It's near some teacups in the corner of the dining room, and I may or may not be adding something to the little shelf on the inside of the teapot.

Any ideas, friends?

Talking of tin teacups

Today, I'd like to share a bit of serendipity with you. First, this new teacup was a recent yard sale find from my mom. I often go home and hear her say, "I've got a teacup for you in there on the counter," but this was the first time it was a Mary Engelbreit tin teacup. Cool!

Not quite sure what I'll use this for, but I'm thinking perhaps it will contain sewing supplies when I pick up my needle again this fall.

Interestingly, a friend recently passed along some old copies of Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion magazine, now (sadly) out of print, and I was looking through this August/September issue from 2003 when I found ...

... an article about the artist Harriete Estel Berman, whose pieces include tin teapots and teacups! How much do I love her work? Let me count the ways! I love her designs, I love her color choices, and I love that she has a website where we can drool over even more of her fascinating work. Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Teabread

This weekend I decided to make a teabread flavored with peanut butter. You know, I can't recall often having had a peanut butter-flavored bread, cookie or other treat at teatime. Why not? (Other than a possible faulty memory, I mean.) Seems to me peanut butter is a great taste to accompany a nice black tea, so why don't we see it at teatime more often? Perhaps you've had it at teatime and I've simply missed out?

At any rate, I made this teabread (with a few minor changes) that I found in "The Perfect Afternoon Tea Recipe Book," which I wrote about here. I *love* how it turned out!

Of course another reason I had to bake is that I wanted to show off share with you my new Tea Room Depression glass tray! I got it for just $5 (plus shipping) online because it has a tiny nick near the center on the underside, but the parts you would ever see while the tray is in use are absolutely perfect. I think having the new tray made this already-delicious teabread taste even better! Here's the recipe as I made it.

Peanut Butter Teabread

2 cups plain flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
1/4 cup lightly salted peanuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray, line with parchment paper and set aside.

Mix flour, baking powder and baking soda in a large bowl. In another large bowl, cream butter and peanut butter using a wooden spoon. Add sugar and combine well until mixture is light and fluffy. Slowly add the beaten eggs in several additions, mixing after each one. Then add flour mixture and milk to the peanut butter mixture and combine well. Pour batter into pan, sprinkle with peanuts, and bake for 1 hour or until a tester comes out clean. Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then remove paper and let cool completely on a wire rack. Serves 10.

Teatime Giveaway #27 - A teatime tea shirt

The winner of the tea journal is Karen Lee S., so congrats! If you'll send me your snail mail address via the e-mail button at right, I'll get this headed your way. And for this week's giveaway, let's start looking ahead to cooler temps with a new three-quarter sleeve tea shirt!

This came from Cracker Barrel, and I've got one very similar. I love mine!

This shirt is a medium, the size I wear, and it's a very stretchy knit so if you're a little larger you can probably wear this just fine too. And if not, well, re-gifting season will be here before you know it! To be entered, just leave a comment to this post before noon EST on Friday, July 13. Good luck!

Tea with toddler friends!

A couple of months ago, I shared a unique bubble-blowing tea set I'd come across, one I intended to share with two of my favorite little moppets, Olivia, at left, and her sister Isabel, right. I know some of you thought I was really planning to play with this tea set myself, so today I present some evidence that it really was intended for these sweet little girls. In fact, I walked in the door of my friend Amy's house, where we were meeting our friend Angie and her two toddlers, and Olivia walked right up and gently took the pink box away from me as if to say, "Here. Let me take that off your hands!" We all cracked up at her boldness, and it just got better from there. Happy Friday!

A teapot thermometer

When I wrote about the high temps here in Georgia the other day, I forgot to mention that on a related note, I came across a vintage teapot thermometer when I was in LeClaire, Iowa last month!

It's a small piece, about 4-1/2 x 7 inches, but I thought it was cute so it came home with me. Some years ago I was into crocheting vintage style potholders, so these two looked right at home here.

Now the local weather channel website said it was 87 degrees when I took this photo around lunchtime yesterday, so it turns out my little thermometer is a little off, but considering its age I guess that's to be expected!

Happy Fourth of July!

Here's wishing all my tea friends a safe, happy and hopefully iced-tea-filled Fourth of July! (Blueberries in your tea optional.)

Whittard of Chelsea's Peach Green Leaf Tea

Whittard of Chelsea in the U.K. kindly asked if I'd like to sample some of their teas, and I was delighted when the box showed up the other day! First up: the Peach Green Leaf Tea.

I tend to be a fan of peach flavored teas, and I think the packaging on this one is quite lovely.

In fact, so are the tea leaves! When I first saw them, I wondered if those were rose petals I was seeing, and the answer is yes. In fact, on their website I found a helpful breakdown of ingredients: "Green tea, 5% Flavouring, 4.5% Peach bits (Peach, Rice Flour), 0.9% Rose Petals. Suitable for Vegetarians, Vegans & Lactose Intolerants." Nice info!

Here are the steeped leaves, and I must say I'm quite, quite pleased with the taste of this tea. It's nice and fruity, and the rose petals offer the merest hint of a rose taste, as the fruitiness is really the defining characteristic of this tea. I initially tried it hot, and I was not at all surprised to find it also makes a refreshing iced tea. Two thumbs up for this Whittard of Chelsea flavor, and I look forward to trying the others I received as well.

Tea, tours and temperatures!

So what's the temperature where you live? Here in Georgia we hit the hundreds in spots over the weekend, and the high temps are the topic everywhere you go. I overheard a friend pondering what to do during the heat wave, and all I could think was, "Stay inside and drink iced tea!"

My guilty pleasure these days is a glass of any iced black tea sweetened with minted simple syrup (just one syrupy drink a day, though, because of the sugar!). And to make it, I always enjoy pulling out a pretty silver iced tea spoon to use.

I have only a few vintage iced tea spoons, but I came across three marked National Double Tested Silverplate the other day (just $2 apiece) at an antiques store in the neighboring town of Senoia, Georgia. Hint: Locals pronounce it "suh-NOY," which rhymes with "boy." If you ain't from around here, you say "Suh-NOY-uh" or "Suh-KNOW-uh." This brief pronunciation guide has helpfully been printed on town T-shirts!

These rosy iced tea spoons cleaned up in no time flat, and now I'm enjoying stirring simple syrup into my iced tea with a pretty new spoon. And that's about as industrious as I care to be when things are this hot!

I was in Senoia, by the way, to join my friend Deberah in touring the new Southern Living Idea House which recently opened. It's a renovated farmhouse, and the Southern Living name is drawing lots of people to Senoia to see it. If you don't live too far away, you might want to come visit and shop the town's antique stores while you're here. Senoia is also where scenes are filmed for "Drop Dead Diva" and "The Walking Dead," if you happen to watch those shows, so don't be surprised if you happen upon a film crew or two.

Here's a side view of the front of the house. (Southern Living doesn't permit photos inside the house since it's going to be featured in an upcoming issue of the magazine, and I certainly understand that.)

And here's the lovely porch—which I would enjoy sitting on if it weren't 100 degrees outside!