The Joy of Jewelry!!

What is better to wear to a fancy tea party then a beautiful necklace with a matching bracelet and earrings? Or perhaps just a pair of lovely earrings with a pretty blouse to a more casual one?
Now you have the perfect place to find such jewelry!!

Please check out my sister's new business - The Joy of Jewelry - http://thejoyofjewelry.blogspot.com/

Tea and a Book

It is quickly getting to be spring time, and the snow is all melting away. But it is still chilly enough out to enjoy a good book and a nice cup of tea some evening. :-) So choose your favorite book, and your favorite tea cup and type of tea, and curl up for a lovely evening! (If your prefer, you can have hot chocolate instead! :OD).

A Color Themed Tea Party

Wouldn't it be lovely to have a color themed tea party? Such as pink and white - have a pink and white table cloth, pink and white flowers, pink and white tea cups, and desserts which can be decorated with pink and white. :-) Have pink and white invitations, and request people to where pink and white if they are able. Give peppermints as party favors, etc! :-) (This can be changed to YOUR favorite colors! :-) If you mix two, such as pink and white, or pink and brown, or something, then it will tone down the brighter color. ;-)).

Loose Leaf Tea Anyone?

Last night my Cousin and his fiancee came over for dinner, and he very kindly brought some loose leaf tea for me to try. (He insisted that it was better then bagged tea, and being a tea lover, I had to try it! :-)).

First we picked what kind of tea we were going to brew, and settled on Irish Breakfast. We placed two teaspoons (enough for two cups of tea) into his loose leaf tea steeper
and poured in the hot water. (Note - after boiling the water we let it sit for a moment so it wouldn't be QUITE as hot, but only let it sit for like a minute or two.).
We let the tea sit for 3 minutes, and then he poured it into the cups. (The tea steeper was pretty cool, you just place it on top of the cup, and press slightly, and the tea comes out! Hehe! :-)).
I added some milk to mine, (because that's how I like my black tea), and tasted it! It was really good! I've had Irish Breakfast tea in the past, but I think I prefer the loose leaf! :-)
Now I want to go to the tea store and get others to try! :-) (I'd like to do a taste test - one cup of loose leaf and one cup on bagged tea, just to see how they taste different. :-)).

So, I'd like to know, which kind do YOU prefer? Loose Leaf or Bagged? :-)

Thanks for sharing Zach! :-)

*Cough Cough*

As we get into Fall and Winter colds and sicknesses start going around more, and you can hear more coughing and sniffing.

When I have a cold, a nice cup of tea often helps me feel better!!
My favorite is just plain black tea with honey and lemon!!! :-) (And milk ;-)). A lady at the bank today told me I should try green tea with honey, which I will have to do (as I have a cold at the moment!)! :-)
However, any kind of tea can help! So, go make yourself a lovely cup of hot tea, and make sure to rest as much as you can!

Sun Tea - Perfect for those hot summer days!

Ever long for a nice cool drink on a hot summer day, something other then water, but find the only thing you have in the refrigerator is milk?? Well, I have the perfect solution for you! :-) Sun Tea!!! :-) And if summers where you live is anything like New England, you'll have plenty of sun to do this simple, yet refreshing drink! :-)

First, pick out your very favorite kind of tea! I find that with Sun Tea a flavor is best, but if you prefer plain, that's great too! :-) I like Peach Herbal Tea best so far! :-)
Next place 3 tea bags in a half gallon jug (more or less depending on how much you want! :-)).
Next fill jug with room temperature water (just out of the faucet is good! :-)).
Next place jug in the sun and let set for several hours - it's best if you put it out in the morning, and then it should be ready in late afternoon! :-)

When it is done, either serve right away over plenty of ice, or place in refrigerator until cold! :-)
You can add sweetener, but personally I prefer it plain! :-) The herbal tea's don't taste bitter at all! :-)

Enjoy!! :-)

My Church's Tea Party

Yesterday I hosted an Afternoon Tea for our church ladies! :-) I thought you might enjoy hearing about it, and seeing some pictures! :-)




This was our table! :-) We used three different tea sets, complete with dish, saucer, and tea cup, which I simply stacked on top of each other at people's places. When it came time to begin, people just lifted the tea cup and saucer off their plates. It looked elegant, and didn't clutter things too much. :-)

Here are a couple more pictures of the table -







Our wonderful guests all looked so lovely in their tea party clothes! :-)

















This is me at the Tea Party. :-)

What we had to eat -

For sandwiches we had Egg salad, and chicken salad. Peanut butter and jelly, which I made some with Apricot, and also some with our homemade Strawberry! :-) And Turkey, made with lettuce, and American cheese, and some with mustard and some with mayonnaise, (and some just plain).

We had Scottish Oat Scones, with raisins! :-) Sugar cookies, Ginger Snaps, and Lemon Bread (which I think was the best part! ;-)).
We also had a bowl of Gala apple slices and a bowl of read and green grapes! :-)

To drink -
We had Peach and Regular Sun Ice Tea! :-)
For sun tea you simply put the tea bags in room temperature water, and place in the sun for a full day. (If you remember too late, you can put some hot water to help it along! ;-)). To make it iced we simply placed bowls of ice on the table, and put the room temperate in the tea pots (since it was too hot for hot tea), and let people ice it themselves. :-)

We also had lemonade, which I cheated with and bought the frozen lemonade from the store, however, I did buy lemons to squeeze into it to make it better!! :-) I also had my sister (who made it) slice lemon's to float in it with the ice to make it look lovely! :-)

What we did -

Before the tea party began, after everyone sat down I read Psalm 100 aloud to everyone, and then my Mom asked the blessing.

For games during the party we played Tea Party Bingo, as explained in in my Spring Tea Party Part Two post. :-) http://teatimewithamy.blogspot.com/2009/07/spring-tea-party-part-two-party-games.html

After the Tea Party we played Change Seats, which is also suggested in that post. However, instead of saying "Do you love your neighbor" we said "Do you like your neighbor's seat better", which made it more comfortable! :-)
Even the mother's played, and everyone enjoyed it. (We had ages three and up playing, and everyone was able to do it. :-) The three-year-old had lots of fun, and was so cute! :-)).

As a finishing touch, my friend showed us a little film she had made, which she did a lovely job on! :-)

Well, I hope you have enjoyed hearing about our church's tea party!

God bless!