Tea Time

It has been awhile since I've shared tea time pictures! Don't worry, I still have been going out for tea from time to time! Recently, my good friend had a birthday...the perfect excuse for a trip to the tearoom!

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A little inspiration *Bubbly Nature Creations *French Country Cottage 

I can teach my child  *It's Overflowing * Oopsey Daisy  *Positively Splendid 

Ruby Jean * Tatertots and Jello  *The Delectable Home *The Grant Life 

The Southern Institute 

Tea party birthday

For my birthday, a dear friend treated me to a special tea. Last time I visited this tearoom, Hannah Rose was only a week from being born! Now my sweet girl is 4 months old and she got to accompany us again.

After stuffing ourselves silly with these yummy treats, we went to one of my new favorite stores - Tuesday Morning! Can you guess how much I paid for these four lovelies?

A glass water pitcher, a rooster pitcher, a three part cutlery basket and a quilt for only...
$24! I think it was a great use of my birthday money and will be perfect in my new kitchen. I'm so thankful for the blessings God has given me in this past year and look forward to what the year to come will bring.

Little Girls' Tea Party

My good friend Katie just hosted a tea party for her daughter's third birthday. Ellie and I both had so much fun that I'm not sure who enjoyed it more! Katie was kind enough to let me post some pictures to share with you all. I wanted to feature her party because she is so creative and I know I will be stealing some of these ideas in the future :)

Beautiful (and yummy!) pink cake pops, tea sandwiches and pink tea

Table setting for the party

This centerpiece is gorgeous with the eyelet trim. You can find how-to instructions on my last post.

Miss Katie getting Ellie "accessorized" for tea :)

They are all dolled up! I love the embellishments Katie added to the hats.

Katie made their necklaces out of gumballs!

The girls enjoyed tea sandwiches, cookies and fruit salad.

Ellie is STILL wearing her ring and earrings from the party. She calls it her "ling ling" (bling bling - thanks Mimi)

Ellie was pretty worn out from all the fun. Thanks for the great party Katie!

Vanilla Sugar

After visiting a spice shop, I fell in love with all things vanilla :) I bought vanilla paste for the first time last December. I love using it in recipes for a more intense vanilla flavor. I use it for creme brulee, pudding, homemade ice cream, icing, and so on.

Another item I was tempted to buy was vanilla sugar. It sounded divine but the high price didn't! Instead, I bought a few vanilla beans to make my own at a fraction of the cost. 

I've found that one vanilla bean goes a long way. I just open the pod and scrape out the beans and stick all of it (pod and all) in a tupperware container with 2-3 cups of granulated sugar. 

Let it sit in the airtight container for 2 weeks and you'll have vanilla sugar! Chase enjoys using it to flavor his coffee. I usually can use the same pods for a second batch. After that, I use the leftover pods in creme brulee - just boil them in the heavy cream and, for added flavor, use your new vanilla sugar as a substitute for regular sugar. I think it would also be fun to make sugar cubes (see this post) using vanilla sugar. Yum!

Homemade Sugar Cubes

What is a tea party without sugar cubes? When I was planning my last tea party, I found it nearly impossible to find sugar cubes. The stores around here don't carry them and to order them online was too expensive. That is when I realized I could make my own. You can find lots of recipes online but this is the easiest recipe I know:

1. In a mixing bowl combine 2 cups of sugar with 2 tablespoons of hot water.

2. Stir until well blended. The sugar should be uniformly wet and resemble wet sand (it should not be so wet that it is dissolving in the water).

3. Spoon the sugar into an ice cube mold. Make sure that it is firmly packed into the mold by pushing it down with the back of a spoon.

4. Carefully turn the mold over and tap the sugar cubes out of the mold onto a paper towel. I let mine dry overnight before touching them but they should be dry within a couple hours. 

 These sugar cubes are so easy to make at virtually no cost. If you have different ice cube tray designs like I do, you can make sugar cubes in fun shapes.





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Tea Time

Those of you who know me very well, know that I love tea parties! For my ninth birthday, my mom planned a Victorian tea party complete with every detail from sugar cubes to tea sandwiches and scones. From there, my love for all things tea-related blossomed.  In college, I frequented the Swan House tea room in Findlay, Ohio (one of my favorite places!). And now, thanks to a friend, I discovered another tea room here in the South.

Devonshire cream, lemon curd
& strawberry jam

Chase accompanying me
to the Swanhouse :)

Glenwood Tearoom
(4 days before Hannah Rose was born!)

I've often had friends over for tea parties at my house but now I've discovered a great ministry idea thanks to Bear Valley Bible Institute. BVBI is a preaching school that also includes a women's program with courses specifically tailored to the role of a preacher's wife.  I would absolutely love to have the opportunity to attend this program. You can view a list of the women's courses offered here. 

I heard about a tea ministry that was discussed in both The Art of Hospitality and Evangelistic Women classes. The woman who does this ministry, takes her tea basket to someone's home and shares tea with them. Their only responsibility is boiling a pot of water! Obviously, it wouldn't have to be tea - you could also bring coffee, pastries, lunch, etc. My preference will always be tea and scones though ;-)

I was inspired by this ministry idea to get my tea ministry "fixings" together. I found an old basket and spray painted it to use for my tea basket. For now, it is mainly used when I'm taking food to someone's house but I hope to someday have my own tea ministry :) Thank you also to my dear friend Helen who just gave me these beautiful hydrangeas! Don't they look perfect in my basket?