Angela Webster McRae's Blog, page 50

Some fun tea-ish finds for Christmas

I accidentally got some bleach on some teal-colored kitchen towels last week, and the white streaks were bugging me, so I looked for some new dish towels when I was in T. J. Maxx this week. This design caught my eye because of the cheerful tiered tray and the tea mug. The set included two of this design and one plain red one for $9.99, which is a pretty good price for thick kitchen towels these days.

When I was standing in line, though, I looked at the tag for the first time and only then realized these are by Rachel Ashwell! That just floored me because I've been a fan of her Shabby Chic books (and style) for years, and this is most assuredly *not* Shabby Chic style. If she's ever used the color red at all in her decor, I can't remember it. And while I (obviously) liked the towels, I just found the branding such an odd thing. (Thoughts?)

And a quick run by Dollar Tree turned up this cute nine-inch-square plastic container with a teacup on it.

I decided I could use it for cookie storage when I get started on my baking, and afterward, it can be "tea ornament storage" to keep this container looking nice each year. So there you go, some fun finds that won't break your Christmas budget!

The tea-themed tree is up!

Ever since my tea-themed ornament collection outgrew the little pink feather tree that used to display it, I've wondered whether it's okay to subject my sweet husband to an all-tea, all-the-time tree each year, but he seems to like it as much as I do, so here we are again! I'm really just getting started on my decorating, but I am almost giddy since, for the first time since I began freelancing in 2013, I am taking the entire month of December off from editing books! Wheeeeeeee! I plan to decorate, and bake cookies, and finish the final edits on my own next book, and read some new books, and go Christmas shopping, and go to tea, and … well, naturally, I've already gotten a bit irrational about what all I can do in a month, but you get the idea. Still, putting up the small (but not tabletop) white tree was fun.

It's always so lovely to reminisce about the various tea ornaments, many (most?) of which were gifts, and some of which are souvenirs of trips to tearooms.

And this year, I was delighted to add a new teacup ornament to the tree, this cutie that was a surprise gift from my friend Joy! So was I the last one to get her Christmas tree up this year, or are some of you still in the early decorating stages of December as well?

Finding the Cutty Sark … amid art!

You never know where a tea reference is going to turn up! See this mug featuring an image of the famous Cutty Sark tea clipper? This is what I was sipping from on Tuesday morning.  (And you can see a hint of my lip gloss, but I didn't think to take a photo until I was already sipping!)

I spotted this mug while I was at Backstreet Community Arts here in Newnan for a fun team activity with some of the staff of the Coweta Community Foundation, which I help with their PR. I’d heard of Backstreet Arts for years and knew of its excellent reputation for making the arts accessible to everyone in the community, but I’d never actually visited. They had coffee and tea available for us, and because they try to be “green,” they encourage the use of reusable mugs. I saw the Cutty Sark mug and quickly claimed it, especially since I once had the great pleasure of stepping aboard the Cutty Sark  tea clipper itself in dry dock in England! (And though I normally would have had tea, I can’t pass by coffee with peppermint creamer on chilly mornings at this time of year.)

Here are some of my CCF friends at our work table, where we all made jewelry! (The gentleman in our group made some as a gift for his wife, which I thought was lovely.) Backstreet also teaches fiber arts, so my eye was drawn to all the yarns, as well as the sewing machines and fabrics for their stitching projects. Their executive director, Kim, was so kind and helpful. The few art-type classes I’ve taken were very intimidating and stressful to me, but this one was not. Kim simply and clearly explained the tools we would be using and encouraged us to experiment. She also said something I thought was very wise, which was not to compare our work to anyone else’s, because “Comparison is the thief of joy.” I agree!

The heroine in my Junkin’ Jewelry mysteries makes her designs out of old junk jewelry, but I had never actually thought about cutting out metal and hammering a design into my own jewelry. For that reason alone, I had a wonderful time learning about all of the great jewelry-making supplies at Backstreet Arts. And I came home with some hammered copper earrings that I made and am proud to wear! (And no, I did not sneak that Cutty Sark mug into my purse, though I was tempted.)

We all had such a fun morning at Backstreet Arts, and now that I know they accept donations of craft supplies, I’m even more encouraged to clean out my stash since I know it will have a happy home there!

Peach Black Tea from True Honey Teas

When I attended my friend Nancy's Open House at Carriage House Country Antiques and Gifts a few weeks ago, I was delighted to discover some new teas, including these single-serve tea bags from True Honey Teas.
I got the Peach Black Tea, and I hope you can tell from the huge, thick tea bag that there's something very different about this tea. It includes granules of 100% natural honey right there in the tea bag!
I don't usually sweeten my tea, but this honey-sweetened tea was every bit as rich and delicious as it sounds! And I did get several steepings out of one tea bag, which was a nice bonus! You can learn more about these teas here.

Readying for December with Christmas teacups

Over the weekend, I started pulling out our Christmas decorations and Christmas tea wares, including some of my Christmas teacups. I always like the look of a stack of teacups, so I may try to figure out a way to include a stack or two in the decor this year.
My newest one came from an estate sale over the summer. I believe the woman who painted this was in her eighties or nineties, an avid golfer and china painter. I love the bows on the cup and saucer.

This pattern is "Noel" by Princess Anne Fine Bone China. Around the holidays, I always try to think about those who've lost loved ones during the past year and may be hurting, and curiously enough (or maybe not), I found myself thinking about Princess Anne and her family. I imagine Christmas will be very different for the royal family this year.

This Duchess (no relation to the royals) cup and saucer is titled simply "Winter," and I love it because it has a softer color palette along with the holly and berries and pine cones.
Finally, one of my more recent Christmas teacup purchases is a Gracie cup and saucer I found at T.J. Maxx a few years ago. I think the pattern is pretty, but mainly I love that the cup is oversized, and since I drink lots more tea in colder months, I like this size a lot.
I enjoy collecting random patterns of Christmas teacups rather than complete sets of dishes, though I do have a dessert service for four in the Spode Christmas Tree pattern as well as a few Christmas snack sets. Do you all have Christmas china/dishes? If so, what pattern(s) do you collect? I'd love to know!


 

The winner of the Christmas throw is …

 Loralie M.! Congrats, and I'll get this headed your way ASAP!

Thanksgiving traditions

Family traditions … I love them! One of my favorite traditions is presenting Christmas ornaments to the children in our family at Thanksgiving, including our three nieces and nephew, who were all at my sister's house yesterday. Since one of them got married this year and one will be getting married the week before Christmas, I was extra happy to see them there!

The newlywed and the bride-to-be got "Our First Christmas" ornaments since they will both be married by Christmas.

The youngest niece started a very successful pet-sitting and dog-breeding business this year, so in honor of that, I saw this canine Christmas tree ornie and knew that was the one for her. Nephew Matthew still likes Spider-Man, so his was an easy selection too.

We eat the traditional foods of turkey and dressing, green bean casserole, broccoli casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potato casserole, mac and cheese, cranberry sauce, olives, and my oldest niece has added seven-layer salad and macaroni salad to the menu, which was great! 

Daddy made a strawberry cake, and I made the chocolate chip pies that the girls always request. (See those homemade rolls, the few that were left? They were contributed by the future bride's future father-in-law and were some of the best rolls I've ever had!)

Aunt Jane was recently hospitalized following a bad fall, so we were all very happy to have her home for Thanksgiving.

And although I love all of our traditions, one I like best is enjoying my sister's fabulous sweet tea. I sure hope your Thanksgiving was as yummy as ours was!

On Cranberries and Clipper Ships

This is the week where I'll eat cranberry sauce for the first time this holiday season, and a vintage tea towel I bought the other day had me delving into a unique connection between tea and cranberries … perhaps.
This tea towel came from my friend Nancy's delightful Carriage House Antiques and Gifts in Senoia, where I always attend the holiday open house in early November. This piece caught my eye since it featured cranberries and seemed perfect for Thanksgiving decor.
It says cranberries were "first cultivated in Cape Cod, 1816," and indeed, it appears that was the year that Captain Henry Hall, a veteran of the Revolutionary War, became the first person to be successful at cultivating cranberries in the US (bless him!).
But my goodness, were cranberries really served aboard clipper ships, those speedy ships that became known for quickly delivering tea from China? According to an article on the site cranberrycreations.com, "During the days of the clipper ships, captains kept barrels of cranberries on board to prevent scurvy." Who knew?
And I read in several places that yes, New Englanders in 1677 sent ten bushels of cranberries back home to King Charles as a diplomatic gesture. How delightful that a simple tea towel had me exploring cranberry history!

I love cranberries and homemade cranberry sauce, but my family likes the canned variety, so Lord willing, that's what we'll be having tomorrow. I did, however, buy two bags of fresh cranberries at the store this week so I can experiment with some recipes in these two vintage recipe booklets I've found over the past year. However you like your cranberries (assuming that you do!), I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!

The Thanksgiving Tea Trolley

Although I collect vintage Christmas goodies all year long, I just can’t bring myself to decorate with them until after Thanksgiving. Over the weekend, I realized I hadn’t updated the tea trolley in a while, so I pulled out my “ease into the season” Christmas decor, this vintage white ceramic tree, which will feature only fall-toned bulbs until Friday at the earliest. I am so thankful for the friend who sold this to me for a great price last year!

As I was searching for other earth-toned pieces, I came across this beautiful vintage tea trivet that was among a whole stack of them my friend Ruth gave me last year. Ruth said she wanted me to have them one day, and she no longer saw any sense in my waiting until after she died to have them, so she asked me to come over and get them. She passed away in September at 83 (which somehow seemed *young* for Ruth), and I am so grateful not only for the many gifts she gave me over the years but also—and mainly—for her incredible friendship. (I’m still getting used to the idea of Ruth being in Heaven. Is she just sitting at the feet of Jesus? Has she resumed her lifelong loves of gardening and sewing? Is she catching up with family? As the song says, I can only imagine …)

“Always be thankful.” This simple little plaque from Dollar Tree (or “Dollar and a Quarter Tree," as a witty friend now calls it) caught my eye a few weeks ago. In my spiritual life, I can tell you that I’ve worked at becoming more thankful over the years, and it has sure made a difference in how I view life. (I hope I don’t whine and moan as much as I used to! I have much to be thankful for.)


This small teacup, with a pattern titled “Tea Drinker,” is cracked, but I bought it anyway on a trip to the beach with Alex years ago. There was a time I never would have bought a piece that wasn’t in absolutely perfect condition, but I’m learning to, if not embrace, at least accept the cracks in life!

This little German dish with roses? The sticker on the back tells me I paid 50 cents for it at the Salvation Army. And to think, there was a time when I didn’t care to visit thrift stores. Now, I prefer them and truly appreciate the joy of thrifting as well as my thrifted finds.
So that’s my Thanksgiving Tea Trolley roundup, and perhaps it will inspire you to think about some of the things that you’re thankful for this week!

More festive fabrics with teacups and Santa mugs

I ran by the Joann store last week and decided to buzz by the fabric aisle to see if they had any Christmas fabric with a vintage look. They did, and I found a few other fun fabrics as well!

My favorite was this cheerful fabric with all the Santa mugs and Christmas cookies. Delightful!

And I know that eventually, I'll want to have a pastel-themed Christmas again one day, and when that day rolls around, this yardage will come in handy. I'm thinking pillows or napkins, because the quilters I know don't recommend Joann's fabric for quilts or heirloom-type projects, but if the fabric is cute enough, I will find a use for it somewhere, and I'm choosing to see these cute pink cups and aqua mugs as vessels for tea latté!

This one will become a table topper for the next time I do a book signing for The Vintage Christmas Cookbook. I've been looking for a fabric that conveys the flavor of that book, and I think this one will do the trick. So if you have any quick sewing projects and need some festive $4.99-a-yard fabric this Christmas, you might want to check out the Joann offerings for yourself!