Tea For Two-sday ~ Teacup Tales: The Blue Twins

A very Happy Tea For Two-sday to all of you! What kind of tea should I pour in your cup today? Go ahead and sit right down in that comfy chair - you deserve a little break!

I thought I would tell you about some more teacups today. What can I say? I like naming my cups. And they all have their own stories.

I call these The Blue Twins. They are both the same somewhat sturdy cups with oriental blue design on white. These were some of the first teacups that I received as a gift! A very dear friend (Thank you LW!) gave them to me a few years ago even though she really wanted to keep them for herself after she got them - LOL! She gave them to me for my birthday - so sweet! And not just one, but two that match - even better! They can keep each other company that way. :) They are lovely, aren't they?

Do you have teacups with special stories? Would you like me to post a Teacup Tale next month and include a linky so you can share your own Teacup Tales?

Have a lovely Tea For Two-sday my friends!

Tea For Two-sday ~ Tea Party Favors

Happy Tea For Two-sday! Glad you could join me! Pick out a pretty teacup, fill it up, and have a seat - I think you deserve a little break! :)

For our recent ladies' tea party, I had to come up with the favors. I wanted something a little different. Once I had my idea, I headed to Michael's for some supplies. But when I got there, I saw these adorable recipe boxes for $1 each and just HAD to make them the favors for the ladies!

Inside of each one, I included a "Recipe for Friendship" (search the web for that - you'll find all sorts of variations), some blank recipe cards, a little poem I wrote, a bag of chocolate tea, and a Ghiradelli chocolate. The ladies seemed to like them. If you've been here a while, you know I like to write silly little tea poems! Here's the one I wrote this time:

Recipe For Relaxation

A nibble of chocolate
And a sip of tea
Transport the lady
To a daydream sea
With tea-colored sands
Under chocolate trees,
Like a mini vacation
That puts the soul at ease.

by Lisa W.

I did different favors for the little girls and I did not remember to take pictures of them! I got mini tote bags in pink and green and used white glitter glue to write each girl's name on a bag. Inside I put pastel plaid pencils, mini notebooks, a bag of vanilla tea, and a fun-size candy bar. Simple, but cute!

I hope that gives you some more ideas for party favors! Have a lovely tea-lightful day my friends!

I'm linking this up to Do It Yourself Day (DIY Day) at A Soft Place To Land! You can find all sorts of great projects, crafts, recipes, etc. linked up!

Tea For Two-sday ~ When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Luscious Lemon Cake

Happy Tea For Two-sday!! I hope you are having a lovely week so far. I am - because summer vacation has started! :)

I wanted to share with you the teacher gifts I put together since they included tea and since lemon goes so nicely with tea. I decided to use a lemon theme. Here's a picture of what I included.

I already had the Lemon Zinger tea on hand. The glass and lemon candle I found at Dollar Tree. I made Luscious Lemon Cakes, but put the batter in my Pampered Chef flower mold to make little lemon cakes. They turned out so pretty - and delicious! Well, I had to taste test, right??

I had recently found the recipe by Katie from good Life {Eats} to make this homemade lemon Kitchen Hand Scrub. It turned out great! What a lovely gift, and so simple to make.

I did also throw in a pack of school-themed computer paper and a card. The lemon-themed gifts turned out great and were inexpensive at the same time. You could use these ideas for birthday gifts, hostess gifts, and more.

What are you doing with your lemons? Have a lovely Two-sday!!

Being able to make your own simple gifts is part of a Beautiful Life for me - find more beauty and link up at The Inspired Room!

I am linking this up to Time for Tea Tuesday at Tea and Thee. Stop by there for more tea posts and link up your own!

Tea For Two-sday ~ Teapot Gift

Thank you for bearing with my serious post yesterday - now moving on to lighter things! Welcome to Tea For Two-sday!

For my birthday, my expert thrift-shopping friend gave me this cute teapot as part of my gift (thank you LW!)! Isn't it adorable? I knew I had to set it out so I could look at it often.

But wait, there's a cup there, too. Well I just happened to go thrift shopping myself a few days later and I saw that tea cup sitting all by itself on a shelf. I knew that it was a match so I HAD to purchase it, of course! They look happy together. :)

Do you have a special teapot out on display? Have a lovely tea-filled Tuesday!

Tea For Two-sday ~ DaySpring Green

I am loving shades of green lately and these green DaySpring tea things really fit my mood. Aren't they pretty?

The Everything Beautiful teapot and tea cup and saucer are really nice with a green pattern, gold trim and Scripture. You can get them individually so you could even get a tea cup for you and a matching tea cup for a friend!

The tray behind the teapot would be lovely for serving tea, but also makes a really nice decorative piece. It's a fairly heavy tray with a beautiful dark wood. Now I happen to love the picture that's behind the glass right now, but the bottom comes off (like a picture frame) and you can change what you have inside! I didn't get a chance to play with it yet, but I was thinking that some old-fashioned black & white pictures on top of lace would look really nice. What would you put inside?

DaySpring's pretty tea things give tea time the elegant feel that it deserves. I have really enjoyed sharing these lovely DaySpring items with you over the last few weeks. No, I do not work for DaySpring. I wish! They were kind enough to notice my tea posts and blessed me with these lovely items to review.

Now go find a pretty tea cup and sit back and relax for a few moments with a cup of hot tea. Or are you drinking iced tea now that the weather is warmer?

I'm linking this up to Time for Tea Tuesday at Tea and Thee. Go and see some other tea posts or link up your own!

Tea For Two-sday ~ DaySpring Giveaway

**This giveaway is now closed.**

Happy Tea for Two-sday everybody!! Take a little break and have some tea with me. Well, actually I should be flying back home, so you'll have to have that cup on your own right now! :)

I'm so excited to have another pretty DaySpring tea item to show you! And this time, I thought I should share it with somebody, so I'll be giving it away to one of you - more details below.

This is a pretty tea-for-one set. I love these sets because they are the size of a small teapot and can be stored this way, but then open up into an even smaller teapot and a teacup. This one has scripture on it and some lovely flowers, just right for Spring. When you take it apart, the teapot has such a pretty color on the bottom and the cup is wide and shallow. DaySpring is smart to have made this tea set look delicate and feminine while being strong enough to be functional and practical. Wouldn't it be a pretty Mother's day gift?

Take a look at it..

Isn't it pretty? One of you wonderful readers will win this tea-for-one set! You're already winners actually, because DaySpring has given my readers a special discount of 20% off your entire order! Just use the code "SPRING09", but hurry - it's only good until Friday, May 1!

So, you want to know how you can make this tea set yours?? Just leave a comment and tell me whether or not you knew that DaySpring carried tea items. That's it! No extra entries for things like following me on Twitter, subscribing to my blog, or checking out DaySpring - though they are much appreciated!

I will draw a random winner on Monday, May 4 and announce it on the next Tea for Two-sday post on May 5!

Have a beautiful Two-sday! :)

P.S. I'm linking this up to Time for Tea Tuesday at Tea and Thee. Go there to check out some more tea posts or link up your own!

Tea For Two-sday ~ DaySpring Does Tea Prettily

Happy Tea For Two-sday to all of you! Hope you are having a wonderful week so far.

Recently, DaySpring was kind enough to send me some tea things to review. They are so pretty! I will be talking about them over the next few Tuesdays.

The first is this very pretty teapot and teacup. The white color and the delicate writing give them a fresh and feminine look. What an inspiring way to start your day - tea in a pot and cup with scripture.

The best part is that they are not only pretty, but functional too. They are sturdy and the cup is even microwave and dishwasher safe. Sounds like they know what moms need! Also, they are available for purchase separately.

You can enjoy some pretty tea things from DaySpring too and get 20% off your entire purchase by using the code "SPRING09" (Good through May 1)!

Be sure to come back next Tea For Twosday - I'll have something pretty from DaySpring AND I'll be giving it away!!

I'm linking this up at Time For Tea hosted by Tea and Thee - go enjoy some more tea posts!

P.S. Stop by and see me over at Keeping The Kingdom First! My guest post is about chocolate, of course! :)

Tea For Two-sday ~ Spring Is Brewing

Hello my friends! So nice to see you! I am really enjoying this week so far - OK, it's only Tuesday, but I've got a good feeling about the rest of the week!

Don't forget (as if I'd let you?) that my Blogaversary is this Thursday. Check out the fun and prizes here.

This Tea For Two-sday, I thought I would share the little touches of Spring at my house - which do include tea things! You know, I heard that Kim was also going to be talking about Spring decorating this week - great minds think alike! :) And freshening up your house for Spring helps create a beautiful life, like the series at The Inspired Room.

Let me start with an early birthday present from a friend - does she know me or what?

Cool box

Super sweet tea present!

What a nice blessing - thank you A.!!

And now, let's take a little tour of Spring things at my house...

First, I think you should grab a Raspberry Pecan Bar to munch on while you're wandering around!


OK, start the tour!

The lilacs are almost done blooming.

Wisteria is in full bloom.

Back inside, a little Spring tea display.

Another Spring tea display.

Spring flowers.

Spring centerpiece. Those eggs are from Target and they are in an olive tray that was from a friend!

A bit of green for Spring.

Little tea touches.

You knew there would be chocolate!!

Just a couple of bunnies about.

My family room is bold colors, so Spring pastels don't work. I decided to put some old coffee beans in a glass hurricane and add some bold flowers.

There you have it! Hope you enjoyed the tour. I have always been a horrible decorator, but the blogosphere has really helped me in this area. I think I have improved quite a bit.

This post is also linked up at Tea and Thee - stop over there to read some tea posts and link up your own! And linked up at The Inspired Room for A Beautiful Life!

Have a lovely and blessed Tuesday!!

Tea for Two-sday ~ Finding Tea Gifts

If you are thinking about tea gifts for friends and family this time of year - there are many places to go for ideas. This post from a few months ago covers some of the online places to look.

This post was originally published on April 29,2008, but many of you may not have seen it.

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There are lots of wonderful places to find out more about tea. I highly recommend supporting your local tea house - there aren't too many around. They usually have great tea, great food, tea gifts and tea for sale.

But there are many places on the web that have great tea info, tea gifts, and tea for sale. I've included a few that I like...

To find out where your closest tea place is, click here: Tea Map
They list tea places and include maps, pictures, and reviews - I discovered some new tea houses in my area on there!

If you can't buy loose-leaf tea near you, here are a couple of sites that I have purchased tea from:
Special Teas and Enjoying Tea
They offer a large selection of teas and gifts. Try some sample sizes if you're not sure about the flavors.

For more tea gifts and some pretty tea cards, try: Kimberly Shaw Graphics
The cards are lovely and unique. They often have clearance sales, too.

And, of course, there are many blogs about tea. I have recently found a couple that are lovely and very informative:
Tea Party Girl and Gracious Hospitality
**Updated to add my favorite tea blog with delightful tea party ideas and delicious recipes: Tea In My Cup

There are many other sites and blogs about tea out there, but these can get you started. Please leave a comment and tell me your favorite tea spots on the web!

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I also find wonderful tea things in thrift stores. Do you have more places that you find great tea gifts?

Tea for Two-sday ~ Harry and David

I know you don't always think of Harry and David when you think tea, other than the fact that they have lots of lovely goodies that would be nice to eat with a cup of tea.

But, if you are blessed enough to have an actual store near you - you should go in and take a look - regularly! They do have a couple of tea things online, but rather high-priced.

They actually have a nice selection of teas and cups and teapots and scone mixes, too! All would make wonderful gifts. But, better than that - they have an excellent clearance section. From that section, I have purchased: cups and saucers, tea, chocolates and cookies, adorable salt and pepper shakers that I put on the tea table, gift books, and more. These are wonderful to give to the tea lover or keep for yourself! :) And the clearance prices can be really low - quite impressive for such quality items. I have never spent more than $10 on one clearance item and usually less than $5.

Just the other day, I purchased Moose Munch flavored dessert tea and coffee truffles from the clearance area - yum! Of course, the other reason you should stop in - free samples!

Click here to find store locations. If you don't happen to have one near you, maybe you should come visit me! :)

Tea for Two-sday: Tea Gifts

I have such wonderful friends and family that know how much I enjoy tea things. I thought I would share some of the tea gifts that I have received in the last month.

The first is a set from my friend, LW, that is just adorable. There are 6 cups and saucers. They are probably technically espresso cups, but wouldn't they be adorable little girl teacups? She is so sweet to think of me. Thank you LW!!

The next was actually a gift from my Stepmother (I mentioned her in sad news). She had seen me eyeing this particular set last summer in a Cracker Barrel store on the way to take me to an out-of-town airport. It was so cute and clearanced for an insanely low price, but I did not have one spare inch in my bags! She went back and got it for me. She even tried to get the matching creamer and sugar bowl, but as she went to pick them up - another lady quickly grabbed them. I guess my Stepmother even said that she really wanted to get those for her daughter, to which the lady replied, "Too bad." Wow! Wasn't that sweet of my Stepmother to think of me? She just gave them to me when I was visiting a couple of weeks ago.

The last one was a surprise from a friend, MD, who found this and thought of me. It's a lovely tablecloth with this pretty tea scene embroidered on each corner. I love it! Thank you MD!!

Thank you, Lord, for blessing me with such wonderful friends and family!

Don't forget to enter my Giveaway or the Giveaway on my Other Blog.