Festive Fun with a Friend!

Today I had an alone-day. My dear husband was taking his last final of the semester and my parents were taking Lil Monkey to their community's Christmas parade. I attempted to get some long overdue house cleaning done, but then the craft store was calling my name. As soon as my neighbor got her kids and husband off to their respective activities, we headed over to JoAnn's to get supplies to make wreaths.

Now we've both been wanting to make Mickey Mouse holiday wreaths since our two families went to Disney together about 18 months ago. Her husband was more than ready for her to got get the stuff to get it done. My husband was used to my project fixations.

So off we went. The store is pretty picked over at this point and they are already putting out Valentine's Day stuff, but we found what we needed and about 2.5 hours later, this is what we had ...

Her wreath was a beautiful greenery wreath with ornaments and bows ...

Mine was a wire wreath with ornaments strung (and glued) to it. I filled in some of the empty spots after this, but forgot to take another photo.

All in all it was a fun afternoon, and something we'd nover done before. First we've never had a kid-free day at the same time, secondly she's never really done craft projects of this size before, but I think she is hooked now. She is already looking for Spring wreath ideas. I've created a monster!!

Another quick project I did was this vase. The case itself was 70% off because it had a chip in it. As a 

collector of the occasional chipped teacup, I wasn't deterred. The 4 berry branches were 70% off as well. I added some Epsom salt to the vase which I had at home. So for about $8 I created this fun centerpiece. (Later I found 4 more berry branches from a live wreath we had last year - 2 dark red, 2 gold.)

Another great craft adventure complete!!

Until our next cup of tea ...

A Tea Pot, One Stitch at a Time

Well, we are nearing the end of the layout and design of the Winter Issue of TEAinTEXAS, and we are about to start planning for the Internaltional Quilt Festival in Houston, even as we completed an event this weekend where staff (not me) manned a table and sold many of our tea products and accessories. 

While the publisher and design team finish the last of the issue, I am making samples of some quilt patterns that we will be selling at the Quilt Festival. They are all tea-related patterns and earlier this week, I finished the top of the tea tray placemat. It was a quick and easy pattern, even though I am not a fan of triangles in quilting.

I love that I am able to choose my own fabrics and these three were used in other projects. I'll post the others as I get them finished.

Until our next cup of tea ...

 

Mad for Mad Hatter!!

I love Alice in Wonderland's Mad Hatter. Its just something about the quirky little versions all this character, and his connection to tea is just a wonderful bonus. 

The past 2 months I have been working with a variety of antique shops and boutiques as I worked on the TEAinTEXAS Winter Issue. Of course, I took the time to explore and some of my previous posts shared some of those photos.

 

While I was visit Antiques on Memorial in Houston and there I found this wonderful treat. This Walt Disney figurine made in Japan.  I haven't found much information on it, though the vendor claimed it was "rare". Unofficial notes say it was made in the 1950sor 1960s. I'm not sure if the rarity is because of limited edition or because age and few have survived. I have seen several for sale on various websites, but most are already sold.

 

Regardless, of the lack of information this little guy is the perfect companion for my Alice in Wonderland tea set. 

 



Until our next cup of tea ...

 

 

"It is An Honor to Just Be Nominated" and More ...

I have been quite busy lately, but I haven't forgotten about posting all my craft creations! This is what has been keeping me busy ... 

I am so excited about the Winter Issue. I love the holidays and because I work at a quarterly magazine I have an excuse to start early! Yeah!!

I guess our magazine is turning a few heads as we enter our 10th year, because this also happened this summer (if you didn't see on the TEAinTEXAS social media feeds.)

I love this job!! About 2 weeks ago I was introduced to tea blending. First of all, the smell in the office is always A-M-A-Z-I-N-G anyway because of the teas on display, in stock and usually being brewed, but then my first chance to help was with Houston's Hero, a caramel and almond blend that is literally the smell of heaven ... literally!

O.k., I have to get back to the magazine, but if you are looking for some teas, send me an email to EnjoysTeaAndQuilts@gmail.com and ask me where to get TEAinTEXAS teas!

Until our next cup of (Texas) tea,

A Beau-TEA-ful Treat!!

So yesterday, I showed you the Round Robin tea-themed quilt that was completed over the last year by my fellow quilt team members. At the conclusion I eluded that there was another tea-related surprise that I got this weekend and here it is ...

We had quite the active weekend, playing at the park, swimming, an Astros Baseball game, and more. While out and about my husband asked if I wanted to stop at a local consignment store, Consign-It, to see if they had any cabinets or hutches because we'd been trying to find something to display my tea cup collection since we first got married, 10 years ago. (Serious, nothing seemed like it would survive Army movers!)

When we got there we found two beautiful cabinets and after some discussions and comparisons, we decided to go with this one ...

After the baseball game, I spent a few hours unpacking my tea cup collections and tea sets and arranging them. 

Between my collection, the glass pieces and china we inherited from George's grandmother and my great-grandmother, the cabinet was filled in no time. About 2/3 of the pieces fit, so we'll have to come up with some other display methods.

Until our next cup of tea ...

 

Pink Pretties for my Cozy Kitchen

This week I am profiling my beginnings for my pretty pink kitchen. As I'd said before, my great-grandmother's Pink Depression glassware was the inspiration for this room. With that thought in mind, I'd recently started painting pottery with friends at a local pottery place. Here are some of my "works of art." It was a lot of fun! The teapot I did with my sister-in-law and best friend Mindy and the teacup I did with my friend Misty.



A cute mug perfect for hot cocoa and whipped cream!



I painted this planter when Mindy came to visit.



Last weekend I was in Houston for a bridal shower and found this at the local grocery store, it was for Easter eggs, but I couldn't pass it up ...



Thanks for stopping by! I will be busy this weekend prepping for my exit exam for my master's degree ... wish me luck!

Until our next visit ...

Join me for a cup of tea ... Part 11

Welcome to another Saturday Tea. This has been a long week for me as I started working out 5 days a week with me husband, so I am really ready for a relaxing cup of tea. Please pull up a seat, join me for a cup of tea and some sweet treat of your choice. Last time we had tea I showed you the Teacups and Saucers from my friend Kristin.



This week I want to show you a cup that I had fun searching for. My husband was sent to an Army school at Fort Gordon, Georgia that ran over Easter weekend 2007. I flew up to meet him for the weekend and we spent the weekend exploring Augusta which included a variety of antique stores. Among them I'd seen a few teacups and saucers, especially in this particular store, but for some reason, I'd kept coming back to this one. Maybe it was the vivid colors, or the classic beauty of it, but it was the one I'd chosen to document the weekend.

After dinding my teacup, I joined my husband for an Easter Sunday game of golf (which neither of us is really good at) inspired by the Master's happening in Agusta that weekend.

Until our next visit ...

A Book of Treasures

Today I want to share with you my pretty pink photo album. I saw it at Target I think and JUST HAD TO HAVE IT! Though at the time I didn't know what to use it for.



One day I was trying to organize my teacups and other tea-related items and thought, while not catolog them. I was already photographing them for my blog.



So on the back of each photo is the date, description and story of how each one came to join my collection. Many of those stories are recounted on my Saturday Tea posts, as I go through each one in chronoligcal order.



So do you think I am oddly organized yet? My husband and friends think so. DO you organize your collection or anyhting like this? Next week I will preview another binder or two that I have.

Until our next visit ...

Join me for a cup of tea ... part 10

Welcome to another Saturday Tea. I hope your week has been a good one. Please pull up a seat, have a cup of tea and some sweet treat of your choice. Last time we had tea I showed you the 5 Teacups and Saucers from my Grandmother's collection but I forgot to mention there was also a pretty saucer wh'd lost it's cup mate a long time ago. If I can find a picture of it, I will post at a later date, but today I am going to share with you the cups given to me by my closest friend, KG.

KG is also a military spouse. We'd met one fateful day in early 2006 when she got a job as a fellow staff writer at the post newspaper where I worked. She was given the office next to me and we'd hit it off from the start. So much in fact that the door that actually linked our officed on the shared wall was always open with our desks also being on or near that wall so we could chat throughout the day. (The previous writer actually had closed and blocked the door with a bookcase ... Point taken!)

At the time George had been deployed in Afghanistan. After long conversations and shared stories we realized just how much we had in common, aside from being military spouses and writers. She too was a Captain's wife with no children and furbabies who kept her busy. We lived in the same neighborhood, one street away from each other (there is actually a little path through the wooks that connect our homes) and she too has family in the area.

We bonded quickly as our higher education levels had made us outcasts at work (don't ask, but it appeared that HAVING an education was a negative thing.)

Anyway, shortly after George came home we had the chance to introduce our husbands after two power surges knocked out two TVs and computer, I offered her one of our TVs since we didn't really need three TVs in a house with two people! When she returned them she brought along these (below) teacups and saucers that had been given to her by her mother but she didn't want them and thought they'd have a loving home with me.



There were so many to look at. My poor husband was forgotten about for a day or so while I sorted, washed and cataloged them. There were a few that stood out to me, but I'm having trouble finding some of those individual pictures since I got my new computer. If I find them I will posts.

KG and I still continue to be close. We both left the newspaper within a week of each other, both taking jobs as Family reps ... she for my husband's unit and me for the MPs which her husband's unit fell under at that time. True to our "one is never without the other" repuation, both of our husbands recieved orders for their next duty station. We will leave at the same time and go to military posts and hour and a half away from each other. I guess that'll make our seperation transition a little easier.

Until our next visit ...

Teacups to share ...

So there are mornings when I wake up and think, "I wonder what Jan is doing today?" Now for those of you who visit Jan and Tom @ Rose Haven, know what I'm talking about. Every week there is something new and surprising, but she also does a variety of weekly events like Rose Wednesday.

Well, I was not surprised when I logged on this week and found that she was sharing again with others in a tea cup give-a-way. These Give-Aways will last for 15 weeks...every Thursday, starting today. The last Give-Away will be on April 30th. The Photo below is of the ACTUAL cups and saucer sets.



So here's how it works ... You must:
1. Live in the USA only
2. Have a blog
3. Only comments left the on the weekly post will be considered for the Teacup and Saucer being given away that week
4. You may ONLY win ONCE in the 15 week Give-Away
5. If you do NOT win, you will have to post again the following week, for another chance.
6. Each week there may be a topic of discussion for the comment section, so be sure to read before entering.

For 5 EXTRA ENTRIES into the weekly drawing, take the GIVE-AWAY BUTTON , just below (it's smaller and will fit on your side-bar) ~ put it on your blog side-bar, with this HYPER-LINK to her blog:
http://jt-jantom.blogspot.com/2009/01/special-announcementof-new-weekly-give.html

Now that you know where to find Jan, take time to browse through her blog. I will guarentee you'll find something you like.

Until our next visit ...

Join me for a cup of tea ... part 9

Welcome to another Saturday tea. I enjoy then so much as I relive the treasured memories of each tea cup on my colletion. Last time I told you about the Mexican Teacup and Saucer that I got when my husband and and I went to a resort after his last deployment.

Today, I want to tell you about my maternal grandmother. She can be tough as nails when needed (and when my brother and I were young we needed it a lot I'm sure), but she is also the most poised, well-mannered and elegant lady. Even when she is elbow deep in her garden after a rain storm, she still seems to have the elegance of a grand lady. I must say she has probably been the largest influence on my life even though as a child we saw her only twice a year when my mother had visitation.



For my pending birthday (Jan. 22, 2006) she gave me five tea cups and saucers to add to my collection.

I asked her about her collection and she said that she started collecting them when she was my age. She had no preferences or requirements, just choosing those she was drawn too. She has given some away over the years, but I think secretly she was happy that I was starting my own collection and she could pass her collection along to me.

I told her about how when I was a little girl I would sit at the coffee table in the den and pretend I was a Spanish Queen pouring tea for her visitors. I loved playing with her silver set.

Growing up I loved to look at my Granny's tea cup collection, from afar of course. She kept them on top of the china cabinet, but there was a silver tea set that sat out on the coffee table, probably because it was unbreakable (trust me I dropped them a few times.)

My grandmother wasn't a "high class socialite" but she is a firm believer in perfect manners, being polite and getting the most from your education. I think that's why manners and style are inmportant to me today.

These the individual tea cups are from her personal collection that she passed to me that January for my 29th birthday. They are elegant and beautiful – just like her.











Every time I look at them, a new favorite emerges. Which do you like best?

Until our next visit ...

Join me for a cup of tea ... part 8

Welcome to the first Saturday Tea of 2009. Thanks for joining me. Last time we had tea I showed you the Marble Teaset my husband brought back from Afghanistan. Well, that same month, two weeks after returning from deployment he took me to El Dorado Royale in Cancun for vacation. It was while we were there that I found this next piece to my collection ...



I'd always loved Mexican pottery and spending time in Houston with my mother I saw a lot of it. So from the onset of my collection, I knew I wanted some, not only because it would be a reminder of my heritage, but because of the general beauty and artisty of these pieces.

I noticed when looking at the Mexican tea cups that unlike most the design is not centered with the handle on the left, they are centered in the middle of the cup. I don't know if they are all like that or just the ones local to the Cancun/Playa del Carmen area. You'll see later on what I mean, because we went back almost a year later and I got another one.

Until our next visit ...

Join the Tea Party ...

There's a Tea Party hosted by Jan and Tom's Rose Haven and you're invited!

I'm so excited, the first Tea Party of the new year! I just love tea parties ... the crisp linen, the shiney silver, sugar cubes and lemon slices laid out on pretty plates. Chatting with friends, meeting new aquaintances ... tea parties are so much fun!

Oh, what to wear!?! Well, I've got my hat and tea cup, so join me for a sweet treat ...

Until our next visit ...