Tea Party Favors In-a-Jar

Please excuse my lack of posting this week! And thank you all for sticking with me anyway! :) It was the first few days of school and it's taking me a while to get back in the swing of things. Did your kids start school already?

I co-hosted our church ladies annual tea party a couple of months ago and was in charge of the favors. I wanted to do something a little different, but keep it simple and thrifty. Anybody can put together favors like these - no craftiness required! :)

I had been saving empty jars {from Costco's sliced peaches in jars} for months and hubs was starting to wonder if I was turning into a hoarder! :) Bing! I knew that I could use the jars for my favors and tried to think of different ways to fill them. In the end, I made it very simple. And so tea party favors in-a-jar were born! The favors didn't include as many items as I would have liked, but the ladies seemed to enjoy them anyway!

If you're sitting down for a cup of tea, what do you need other than the pretty teacup {teacups & saucers were given to all the ladies to take home}? This would be a good start:

You need some tea to choose from, of course and you can't go wrong with some shortbread cookies! A pretty cloth napkin finishes it out. {You could include all sorts of items like tea spoons/stirrers, sugar packets or cubes, chocolate, a classic book from the thrift store, etc.}

Originally I was going to stuff the jars with the goody-filled napkins and top them with the lids over paper doilies. As I was working on them, I came up with this idea and liked it better.

I pulled the ends of the napkin out like flower petals and pinched together a paper doily to look like a flower. Much prettier than my original idea! Of course, a truly crafty person would have added pretty ribbon on the outside of the jar and a cute tag hanging from it, but I'm usually running short of time! :)

And *bonus* - each lady gets a nice practical, functional jar to take home! :) I handed out the lids to everybody before they left.

Materials I used:
 ~ Jars that I saved up, removed labels, and cleaned up - free
 ~ Cloth napkins {looked unused} purchased at half-price at the thrift store - less than 50 cents each
 ~ 2 boxes tea purchased at my regular discount grocery store - maybe 20-25 cents a bag?
 ~ Shortbread cookies purchased in box of 20 at World Market with discount coupon - less than 50 cents each
 ~ Paper doilies that I already had sitting in a drawer - free

So that means each favor cost less than $1.50! Not bad!

If you're looking for more tea party favor ideas, you can check out some of my past attempts:
 ~ Tea Party Favors {2008} - using teacups
 ~ Tea Party Favors {2009} - using recipe boxes
 ~ Tea Party Favors {2010} - using teacups

This post linked to:
 ~ Chic & Crafty Party at The Frugal Girls.
 ~ Thrifty Thursday at The Purposeful Mom.
 ~ I'm Lovin' It at TidyMom.
 ~ Made by You Monday at Skip to My Lou.

What are some favorite tea party favors that you have received or given?

Have a lovely and blessed day friends! And don't forget that Savor 7 {Saturday} will be happening again this weekend - post about and link up your 7 blessings! You can link up your post all weekend, not just on Saturday {and I'll be promoting them on FB and Twitter!}.

Cool Lime Napoleons

Another lovely little Summer dessert and just right for a tea party! I found this recipe online from Pampered Chef years ago and tweaked it a little to take to a tea party recently. It's pretty and refreshing!

Cool Lime Napoleons

1 pkg refrigerated crescent rolls
3 kiwi fruit, peeled and sliced
1 can (11 oz) mandarin oranges, drained and patted dry
1 large lime
8 oz heavy whipping cream
Powdered sugar to taste
1/4 cup sliced almonds, finely chopped
Powdered sugar for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Sprinkle 9x13 pan or slightly bigger bar pan with flour. Unroll crescent dough across length of pan. Pinch seams to seal. Lightly sprinkle dough with flour. Roll evenly to cover bottom of pan. Use fork to prick dough all over. Bake 12-15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes. Remove from pan to wire rack and cool completely.

2. Transfer pastry to cutting board. Cut 6 rows across and 4 lengthwise {a pizza cutter works great}. Slice Kiwi. Place 1 kiwi slice topped with 1 mandarin orange onto each pastry.

3. Zest lime to get 1 teaspoon zest. Whip heavy whipping cream in mixing bowl. Before cream is completely whipped, add lime zest and powdered sugar to taste. Whip together. Pipe {or dollop} 1 rosette of cream on center of each pastry.

4. Sprinkle finely chopped almonds over rosettes. Lightly sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve!

*Variation: Instead of heavy whipping cream, original recipe calls for 8 oz. container whipped topping, thawed, combined with 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon lime zest, and 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice. Use this mixture to pipe rosettes. You could try different fruit combinations, too!

Do you have a favorite refreshing dessert?

This reminds me of another tea party dessert with lime ~ Key Lime Muffins ~ yum!

This post linked to:
 ~ Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
 ~ Chic & Crafty Party at The Frugal Girls
 ~ I'm Lovin' It at TidyMom
 ~ Sweet Tooth Friday at Alli 'N Sons

If you enjoyed stopping and smelling the chocolates with me, I'd love it if you click to Subscribe to Stop and Smell the Chocolates by Email or RSS! 

Have a blessed and refreshing day friends!

Tea For Two-sday ~ Spring Tea Party Tips

I recently attended a free tea class (my second one) put on by a lady that used to have a tea parlor.  She  closed down her tea parlor, but now has a booth at a local indoor antique market (Antique Trove) and has an online tea business.  It's called An Afternoon To Remember.

This class was about hosting a Spring tea party and how to make molded sugars.  I will definitely attempt the molded sugars and post about those another time.  I thought I would share a few tips from the class.

~ You need to be very organized when planning a tea - planning out menus, schedule, items needed, etc.  I have to do this when I host or help with a tea or I will definitely forget something!  You need to plan out the smallest details so that you can make as many foods as possible and do the decorating ahead of time.

~ Popular foods are sandwiches, soups, salads, scones, cakes, cookies, etc.  The key is to make everything in mini portions!  And try using a variety of shapes and garnishes to create interest.  Good ideas for mini servings: use teacups for soups/salads or even egg cups with mini spoons, use mini cupcake and mini bundt cake pans.  Food is more fun (and you can have more!) when it's tiny!

~ You can be very creative when it comes to table decor.  Use layers and different colors - they don't even need to match exactly!  A great idea that was shared was using a shower curtain as the bottom tablecloth layer (inexpensive).  You could even use sheets or quilts in your layering.  Use an assortment of dishes - you can find great inexpensive dishes at dollar stores, discount stores, thrift stores, and yard sales.  Use cloth napkins and find napkin-folding instructions online or use creative napkin holders like sprigs of rosemary.

~ Include a party favor for each guest.  This could be as simple as a teabag and a chocolate, or my fave - a teacup and saucer (from thrift stores) to keep, or homemade gifts, or a recipe from the party.  You could even get the tiny little spoons and tie a little ribbon on the end and give one to each lady to keep.

~ It was suggested that you should serve 3 kinds of tea at every party.  The first is a decaf tea as some people cannot have caffeine.  The second is a flavored tea as that's what the majority of the people enjoy.  And the third is a plain tea (like English breakfast or similar) for the more "hard core" tea drinkers.  You should plan for about 3 cups of tea per person.  Did you know that you should keep your loose tea stored in tins, not in plastic bags (some places ship it that way)?  Apparently the tea will lose flavor in the bags!

Those are a few of the things I learned at the class (and some of my own advice).  I hope you found a helpful tidbit or two and feel inspired to host your own Spring Tea!

If you have a chance, do stop by An Afternoon To Remember and check out her tea, cookbooks, and gifts!  Her local tea classes are free (get there very early or you'll be standing for an hour like me - even though I was a few minutes early!) and she hopes to have some online classes soon.  You can get the class info by signing up for e-mail notices.

Have a lovely day 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 ~ Brunch Cakes

Happy Tea For Two-sday!! I'm trying to get back in the swing of things, but still don't have it all together after our trip. Maybe by the end of this week - LOL!

When I helped with a ladies' tea recently, we decided to make it more of a brunch. I thought it would be nice to have a little-girl-friendly food and came up with the idea of using these mini pancakes with toppings. Rather than call them Mini Pancakes Topped With Stuff, I think it sounds a little more elegant to call them Brunch Cakes. Yes, you could make your own mini pancakes - that would be the best - but to save time I used Krusteaz frozen mini pancakes.

I topped some of them with peanut butter and then strawberry jam on top - yum! And then the others - I topped with Nutella and powdered sugar. I LOVE Nutella. Aaaaannnnd now you have reminded me that I have an unfinished jar of Nutella in the cupboard - **drool** - that could be a problem. See what you've done? And speaking of Nutella, check out that cute Nutella button on my sidebar - it means I'm participating in the Nutella Challenge at bell' alimento. I will have to, HAVE to you understand, come up with a Nutella creation to post about once a month. Yum! Did I mention that I love Nutella??

Wait - I thought this was a tea post! Anyway, you could top those little Brunch Cakes with any sorts of toppings you like - fruit, cream cheese, so many options. Make it fun! That's my little tea party idea for today. What fun brunch foods do you like to serve?

I'm linking this up to Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam - stop over there for more recipe ideas!

Tea For Two-sday ~ Blackberry Almond Bruschetta

Hello! Time for Tea For Two-sday again! Get your cuppa hot tea or your tall glass of iced tea, have a seat, and take a little break while you read! :)

Since I recently helped with a Ladies Tea, I have a few things to post about. I'm sharing another food item from the tea. I've actually made this a few times and I think it goes nicely with tea. It's a great recipe to use for a brunch. It's cute and it's yummy! It was the biggest hit at the tea, I think.

This recipe was a Pillsbury Bake-Off winner in 2006 (Karen Mack).

Blackberry Almond Bruschetta

1 can (11 oz.) Pillsbury refrigerated crusty French loaf
Butter-flavor cooking spray
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 pkg (8 oz) reduced-fat cream cheese (Neufchatel), softened
1 to 2 teaspoons almond extract
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 bag (10 oz) frozen blackberries, thawed, well-drained
1/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted, coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons powdered sugar

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake French loaf as directed on can. Cool 5 minutes.

2. Cut ends off loaf; cut loaf crosswise into 24 slices, about 1/2 in. thick. Arrange slices on ungreased cookie sheet. Spray each slice with cooking spray until lightly coated; sprinkle with granulated sugar. Return to oven; bake 8-10 min. longer or until lightly toasted.

3. Meanwhile, in small bowl, beat cream cheese, almond extract and 1/4 cup powdered sugar with electric mixer on low speed until well combined.

4. Spread cheese mixture evenly onto toasted bread slices. Top each with 3 or 4 blackberries; sprinkle with almonds. With small strainer, sprinkle 3 tablespoons powdered sugar over bruschetta.

24 appetizers
~~~~~~~~~~~~

I know you can make these - not too hard! A few steps, but worth it!

Have a lovely and relaxing Tea For Two-sday my friends!

I'm also linking this up to Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam - go check out all the yummy recipes!

Tea For Two-sday ~ Strawberry Scones

Welcome to Tea For Two-sday! May I suggest that you get a tall glass of iced tea today before reading rather than hot tea since we seem to be having a heat wave? I'll take mine unsweetened with a splash of lemonade, but I think the majority of you prefer sweet tea!

We had a Mother Daughter Tea for church this past Saturday and I helped out with the food and favors. The bonus is that I have something to post about for a few Two-sdays! It turned out very nice and was a great time of fellowship.

I usually make white chocolate apricot cream scones, but I had seen these Strawberry Mascarpone Scones at good Life {eats} and tested them out. Yum! So I made them smaller by making 4 rounds instead of 2 and still cutting each into 8 wedges. Smaller scones, but plenty of them! They are a little heartier scone and a nice way to use some fresh strawberries. I wish I had better photos of them - but hopefully you get the basic idea.

They were yummy and it was nice for me to try out a new scone recipe! And now you have another recipe to use with your strawberries. Stop over at good Life {eats} for the recipe and tell her hello!

Happy Tea For Two-sday and have a lovely week!

Tea for Two-sday ~ Thank You

I hope you have enjoyed the last few Tuesdays that I have participated in the tea blog-a-thon. I was so happy to find it and join in! If you missed my posts, you can see them here and here and here. Thank you so much to Gracious Hospitality for hosting such a fun event!

It was like going to a bloggy tea party! Nobody seemed to mind that I arrived late. :) I met many wonderful ladies who love tea - said hello to some, chatted with others, shared pictures with many, and made new friends. A tea party is all about friendship and fellowship, and that is what I experienced. Let's have another party soon, ladies!

As a result of "attending" the tea party, I met Kathy at Shocking Pink Thread. She celebrated her 100th post (a big deal in the blogosphere) by giving away some goodies to one of the commenters. It was me!!! I was so excited to win and would have been delighted to receive absolutely any little thing in the mail. But, Kathy is extremely generous and sent me the most wonderful box of goodies! There were treats and tea things galore - I still have them all together 'cause they look so lovely - though a few treats seem to have disappeared - hee,hee! It really was like Christmas in May! Thank you so much, Kathy.

Have you been to a lovely tea party lately?

Lisa :)