Family Tea Party

Over the summer, I set out to host a number of tea parties. Some were planned for special groups, such as this one, but for several, I just put out an invitation on Facebook for anyone who was available on a certain date and wanted to come. It was lots of fun! Kind of like a "Guess who's coming to dinner?" party. It was great to make some new friends and re-connect with old ones.

This particular tea party was planned for the women in my family who lived nearby. We happen to live in the small town where my father was born and raised. Two of my aunts are local. I invited them along with one of my cousins and her daughter. With my mother and Jewell present, we had two sets of three generations that day!

The date was May 23rd. It was early summer. Actually, it was late spring, but as you know, by the time we get to May in the South, summer is in full swing! I pulled out my formal flatware. The pattern is "Ribbon Edge Frost" by Gorham. If you look closely, you'll see that I placed a pink tablecloth down as my first layer, and then used a vintage eyelet cloth which allowed just enough of the pink to show through.

I began my tablescape by pulling out this tea set I found while thrifting last summer. I wish I knew the maker. It's actually very delicate. The cherry blossoms are hand-painted. I have six cups and saucers, six salad plates, a teapot, and a sugar bowl and creamer set. I got the set for $15!

"Paris" by Harney & Sons has become my favorite go-to blend. I served it at just about every tea party I hosted this summer! I served ice water in these vintage-style Pioneer Woman tumblers.

I read somewhere that the Brits serve plain milk with their tea. I love my half and half with my coffee, but I've started using milk with tea and have found there's less of a chance of it curdling.

My daisy gardenias were in full bloom. Their scent is absolutely intoxicating! I used the cherry blossom teapot as a vase and placed a few pieces of tape across the mouth in a cross hatch pattern to support the gardenia blooms. I placed a few extra blooms in tiny vases and scattered them. I used silver chargers from The Dollar Tree and added my "White Satin" dinner plates by Nikko as the second layer. We didn't use them, but they bridged the gap in size between the chargers and the smaller plates.

I try to always have a decaf option when I have a tea party. This "Mother's Day" blend (also by Harney & Sons) was a little fruity and a little floral. It went very well with our scones. I started with a cup of "Paris" and ended with this one. 

I like including the tea tins on the table. It's pretty, and it allows my guests to read what's in each blend. We also can have a little sniff! I also like to look at the tea leaves. You can learn a lot about the blend by seeing what's inside. I have a couple of white teapots that I use most of the time. I purchased a couple of white tea warmers that do an excellent job of keeping our tea warm!

Of course I scattered some tea lights down the table. I love candles no matter what the time of day! Napkins with a little Battenburg lace detail added another feminine touch. 

The scones for the day were "Orange Cream". I'll share the recipe soon. My husband loved these!

I served them with lemon curd, as well as some of the leftover glaze. No clotted cream that day. Trust me - we didn't miss it! I served them both in sherbet dishes that once belonged to my maternal grandmother. Her daughter (one of my aunts who doesn't live locally) gave them to me, and I cherish them! I thought it was so appropriate to use them to honor my grandmother.

I used a mini floral cutter on these. They were small, so there was no guilt in eating several!

The pink and white table was very feminine and perfect for this afternoon spent catching up with family!

 

Blue and Yellow May Birthdays 2023

I hosted my group of close friends back during the summer for a May birthday luncheon. Two of the ladies had May birthdays. I decided that yellow and blue was just perfect for channeling happy, Summer vibes! Add a blueberry theme for my meal, and Voila! The perfect summer table.

How to set an interesting table? Layers, layers, layers! 

Gold reads yellow, so it I pulled several gold pieces to add warmth and sparkle. The flatware is "Abigail" by Hampston Silversmiths. 

The vintage blue and white transfer is actually more off-white, but I still mixed it with my white everyday pattern. I think it adds to the aged eclectic look of the tablescape. My everyday white pattern is "White Satin" by Nikko. It's 24 years old, but I still love it! So classic and versatile.

I staarted with a white tablecloth, then added the yellow and white runner I made years ago for my Mount Vernon Love Story book club. The blue and white Jacobian floral pattern runner came from the same party. I've used them both many other times, including an Orient-Express themed birthday dinner for my mother. (What a flash back! My dining room was red and my photograhy was lacking, but it was still a pretty table!)

You know I love to use flowers that I can then add to my planters outside. Possum Kitty (ruling cat in our home) will chew on fresh flowers and many are dangerous for him. I don't like to spend a lot on an arrangement I can't keep out to enjoy. So often, I will buy annuals that I can use for a pop of color and then put in a planter outside where they can be safe (and he can be safe from them!). Marigolds are a summer staple in pots on my deck and front porch. I simply pulled them out of the black plastic six pack, dropped them in a small Mason jar, and then potted them later that day. The daisy gardenias smelled amazing. I just snipped a few blooms and dropped them in small vases which I scattered down the table.

I collected a dozen or so small vases to use for Jewell's senior tea. You can see the details of that Hobbit-themed party that was by far, the most involved party I've ever thrown! It was wonderful, though!

I have a couple of these woven runners that I regularly use on a coffee table and a small chest of drawers. I just grabbed one and threw it on the table to add another layer and to add some warmth to the color scheme.

The blue and white transferware pattern is by Nikko. It doesn't list the pattern on the dishes, but I believe it is probably part of the Double Phoenix line. The clear beaded glasses are by Pioneer Woman. 

I was afraid white napkins would be a little stark (and perhaps boring) against the different yellow and blue patterns, so I took a chance and used these blue plaid napkins. I found them on Amazon several years ago and used them for my Blue Christmas tablescape I created for a cheer squad Christmas party one year.

Of course I scattered tea light down the table. I love candlelight...even during the day. It adds such warmth and is so welcoming!

I use this Mason jar holder a lot. It covers a good bit of real estate on my table and is really flexible about what jars I can use inside.

Of course I forgot to take a picture of our meal, but here is dessert. An old-fashioned lemon buttermilk pie with fresh blueberries. It was a delicious end to a worderful meal! Happy birthday ladies! We sure enjoyed celebrating you!

 

Teatime Tuesday 1

I wanted to share with you something I'm trying this summer. In a way, it's not all that different from what I usually blog about...a beautiful table, delicious food, and lot of great friends. However, there is a slight twist. Instead of inviting people into my home, I'm asking them to invite themselves! What do I mean? Well, I am planning at least six tea parties this summer, and I have no idea who's coming. At least not yet!

I have been listening to Sally Clarkson's podcast, "Teatime Tuesday", for about a year. In fact, I've been following Sally for several years. She has written a number of books that I love about everything from entertaining, to homeschooling, to raising children, to deepening your faith. Although I've never met her, she is definitely a kindred spirit. She just launched a new book called "Teatime Discipleship: Sharing Faith One Cup at a Time". One of the things she encourages the reader to do is carve out time at least once a week to sit down with someone and share a cup of tea. If you're around me much, you know my phone timer goes off each day at 2:00 pm. If I'm home, that's my signal to stop whatever I'm doing and make a cup of tea. I take about 15 minutes to sip and enjoy my tea (and some kind of little sweet to go along with it!) and a little quiet time. If the kids are home, they join me.

I decided I wanted to combine my love of entertaining and taking tea and invite people into my home this summer for some time to sit down and get to know them. Instead of inviting the ladies I always have over (don't worry girls! you'll still be invited regularly!), I have posted the dates and time on my Facebook page and asked who would like to attend. I've gotten a lot of great feedback, and I hosted my first Teatime Tuesday last week!

Let me tell you about how I planned my tablescape. I had hosted a baby shower the weekend before, and this lovely impressionist floral tablecloth was the basis for that party. As I was washing and putting it away, I thought I would go ahead and use it three days later for the tea and see how I could change it up. Both were very feminine tables. I'll blog the baby shower soon, and you'll be able to compare the tables.

Pink, gold, and cream was my color story. I used a white tablecloth as the base. My table is a dark wood, and without the white underneath, the floral topper would have been too muted. The floral topper is actually a piece of chiffon I purchased at Joann's. It was already finished very nicely on the edges and was longer than my table, so there was no extra work in using it as a topper! The creamy linen table runner is new. I was killing time in Big Lots a couple of weeks ago and found it. I had been wanting something neutral that I could use under my decorative trays on my kitchen table. I like that it breaks up all the floral.   

I didn't have anything blooming in my yard, so I picked up a mixed mum bouquet from Walmart and put them in small pretty vases. I didn't want anything too formal, or anything that was too tall in the middle of my table. I added some Nandina from my yard to give some movement and interest to the little arrangements. Of course I added candles! The votives are an opaque white with gold trim. They came from Dollar Tree several years ago.

I served two tea blends, both by Harney & Sons. First was my favorite, Paris. I always take one brown sugar cube and a tiny splash of milk in mine. I like to display the tea tins on the table. The ladies can see what the flavor notes are on the side of the tin, and they can even take a little sniff of the tea itself as they decide which they want to start with! 

Peaches and Ginger was the second blend. It's a black tea, so I put milk and sugar in mine, but I also offered lemon and honey from my daddy's bee hives. Either would work since it was a fruit blend in black tea.

I found this tea set several years ago at a thrift store. It's so pretty! The flowers are beautiful pinks, yellows, and blues, and it's so cheerful! I have eight sets - tea plates (perfect for scones), cups and saucers, and a creamer and sugar bowl. The pattern is "Belinda" by Paragon. I just use two white teapots since I don't have a matching one.

I'm getting bolder when it comes to mixing metals. I have gold chargers, but I thought the rose gold ones picked up the pink in the table topper. I did choose to go with gold (amber) stemware. These are vintage "Jamestown" by Fostoria.

Here's a long view...

If you look closely, you can see that there is a texture to the china tea cups. Sort of a pleated look. They also have a gold trim. That worked nicely with the stemware, as well as the flatware, which was "Abigail" by Hampton Silversmiths.

I try to choose seasonal recipes whenever possible. It's peach season, and we are about an hour away from Clanton which, in my opinion, grows some of the most succulent and delicious peaches you'll ever eat! I happened to be there a day or two before, so I picked some up. We had Peaches and Cream scones with lemon curd and clotted cream.

I'm sure you all know about Temu by now. I found some beautiful small gold knives and spoons that are the perfect size for spreading jelly on scones! They're not necessary, but they sure are pretty. And fun!

We also had pimento cheese sandwiches, cucumber sandwiches, chicken salad cups, orange fluff, and a mini blueberry cheesecake bite. It was all so delicious, if I do say so myself! I'll share recipes soon. Since I don't have dinner plates with this set, I just used my everyday white. This pattern is "White Satin" by Nikko.

These three ladies responded almost immediately to my Facebook message asking who would enjoy coming to tea. It was nice to reconnect with one mother and daughter, and it was a chance for me to get to know another that I attend church with but had never really had the chance to sit down with. Exactly what this tea time was intended to do! Of course, Jewell was my co-hostess. I am enjoying having here home for the summer. We had a wonderful time! It was a dark, humid, and rainy day, but we were cool, dry, comfortable, and spent the afternoon getting to know each other better! I hope you find some time this week to enjoy a cup of tea and the company of a friend!

 

Snowy Village...A Winter Tablescape in Cheerful Robin's Egg Blue

If I'm anything these days, it's consistent. Consistently inconsistent! But I'm working on it. I hope to be much more regular in my blogging this Spring. We'll see! There's no time like the present, so let's get started!

Today I'm sharing the tablescape from a brunch I had in January for my mother/daughter group. We've all been friends for going on ten years, and I look forward to hosting them at my home several times a year. I decided to wait until after the new year to have our holiday get together. Everyone has such a busy schedule. It worked out beautifully, and it even seemed to stretch out the holiday season!

These beautiful blue dishes actually belong to my mother. She bought them several years ago from a lady who was moving out of her home into an assisted living facility. They are somewhat reminiscent of a set my grandmother had when my mother was growing up. I used them to decorate her holiday table years ago and had wanted to use them ever since. This winter brunch was the perfect time! 

The blue set is "Castleton Turquoise" by Castleton China. It has a simple platinum band around it. I thought it played nicely against the more ornate band on the dinner plate from my wedding china. My pattern is "Palatial Platinum" by Mikasa. There are only eight place settings of Mama's blue pattern, and I had twelve coming for lunch. I decided to use six place settings from each pattern and then mix the pieces so each table would have pieces from each set. This stack was in the kitchen at the girls' table. It began with the bone dinner plate and cup and saucer set and had the turquoise blue salad plate on top.

Once I decided to mix and match, I committed and went all out! The tea cups match the two china patterns. The water goblets in the dining room (where the mothers always sit) is "Jamestown Platinum" by Mikasa, also one of my wedding patterns. The juice glass is "Parklane" by Mikasa. Since I was mixing patterns, I decided to mix metals, as well. While both sets of china have platinum trim, I went with my gold flatware. It's called "Golden American Chippendale" by FB Rogers. It was a gift to myself several years ago. You'll see why I added the gold in just a minute.

Here's a view of the different drinkware patterns. I just think it made for such an interesting table!

In the background you'll see the bottle brush trees I got at Hobby Lobby this year. They came in a set of four - a blue-green, silver, gold, and brassy gold. I got them on clearance for $5 a set (four trees). I got four sets basically for the price of one! The gold and brass trees are why I decided to pull in the gold flatware. I think everything needs at least one other component on the table to "talk to".

There's also a touch of gold on the village pieces. I scattered silver and gold tiny balls down the table. I found these on clearance for 80% off at Hobby Lobby. They were with the Christmas crafts. I love a good table scatter!

I also found the off white wool snowflakes 80% off at Hobby Lobby. I have been doing a lot of wool applique lately, and I knew I could use them for that as well. They were perfect for adding another texture to the table. I mixed silver and gold votive holders, too.

I have MORE than gotten my money's worth on these beautiful votive candle holders. I picked them up at Dollar Tree close to ten years ago.

I felt that the blue and white china and crystal drinkware would have blended in too much to an all white tablecloth, so I added this woven runner. It also looked great with the gold accents, and it, along with the "wood" chargers from Dollar Tree, helped to keep it elegant, but make it less formal. This plate stack was in the dining room on the mom's table. It has the blue dinner plate and cup and saucer set with my salad plates.

If you look closely at the two story building on the left, you'll notice that I put some inexpensive fairy lights inside the buildings to add a little extra twinkle! This was the girls table in the kitchen. The water glasses on this table are more of a balloon bottom shape. They're called "Stephanie" and are also by Mikasa.

Here's an aerial view. I found the robin's egg blue placemats at Big Lots probably 15 years ago. I had done a Breakfast at Tiffany's tablescape. They have little mother-of-pearl square sequins along the edge. They're so pretty!

I absolutely loved this tablescape! It was such a lovely way to wrap up the holiday season and embrace winter. I'll be posting the menu soon, as well as a tutorial on how I did the Christmas Village. Check back soon!