Peek Into My China Cabinet

OK, so I don’t really have a china cabinet but I do have all my pretty teacups and teapots displayed on my living room shelves. Call me obsessed but in my opinion a girl can never have too many teacups and teapots. Most of these were gifts from friends and a few I picked up at the local thrift store.

They are all very special to me and I use each and every one of them frequently. The pale blue teapot came all the way from Canada and I like it because of its large size and decorative ridges. The pretty glass one came from my tea guru and I love using this one because its see-through and shows of the beautiful colors of the tea inside of it. The gold one is also glass and was given to me by my 80 year-old neighbor. Supposedly it can be put on the burner but I’m too chicken to try it. The pretty white one with three-dimensional flowers was a birthday gift and I love it because it’s so feminine and pretty. I found the butterfly teapot, fell in love with it and just had to have it. I have received several matching butterfly pieces as gifts. The Lusterware and the white with blue flower teapots and cups were thrift store finds.

Each one is unique and beautiful. The teapots that I've received from friends are very special to me because they were given with such thoughtfulness, and I will always have them to remind me of how much I cherish each one of those friendships. Everyone who knows me knows how much I love tea and all things that go with it.

What do you do with leftover scraps of fabric........

........you make patchwork hand bags, of course!

I had a lot of bits and pieces of fabric leftover from the patchwork tablecloths that I previously made, and decided to make them into these cute patchwork handbags. I used Simplicity pattern 9963, which includes two different handbag sizes. These are very fun to make and my new favorite party gift. And besides, who wouldn’t want a matching handbag and tablecloth? Very chic!

Little Miss Photogenic

It’s hard to believe that Madelyn is already two-weeks old. Here are some recent pictures of the little sweet pea. If you’d like to read Madelyn’s “baby story,” click here.

Sugar Cubes

My friend Steph sent me a link to a blog that demonstrated how to make home-made sugar cubes. I decided to give them a try using my teacup and teapot candy molds. They were very easy to make. I followed the recipe of 1 cup sugar, 1 ½ tablespoons of water and a drop of food coloring. Put water and food coloring in a bowl, add sugar and mix with a fork until it looks like wet sand. Leave in mold for about a minute, turn out onto parchment paper and let dry overnight. Very simple and fun to make! Thanks Steph, and also to Angela from “Tea with friends” for this very creative idea!

Ice Storm

Today is the first “snow day” of the school year. Ironically, we haven’t had much snow this year, definitely not enough for sledding. But we’ve certainly have had our share of cold weather, sleet, freezing rain and ice. Last night and throughout the day, we have accumulated enough ice to close schools, libraries, and cancel meetings. Even though the ice causes havoc for drivers, cyclists, pedestrians, and power lines, it sure looks pretty.

Valentine Treats

This year for Valentine's Day I made my usual heart cutout cookies and homemade turtles. I also added these chocolate eclair hearts. They are very time consuming but totally worth it. The hearts are made with a cocoa pate a choux which is a cream puff or eclair dough. I traced a heart-shaped cookie cutter on parchment paper that was placed on a cookie sheet. Then I filled a pastry bag with the pate a choux and piped it onto the parchment paper hearts. After the hearts are baked they are then cut in half and dried further in the hot, but turned off oven. The filling is a bittersweet-chocolate whipped cream, and last but not least they are topped with a chocolate ganache. Yum!

This plate of goodies was shared with a good friend, and accompanied by a China Pai Mu Tan white tea. Chocolate, tea, and good company -- what a delightful combination!