Melissa’s Cozy Teacup

Need a hostess gift for all those holiday parties you’ll be attending this season? Give a tea basket.

Find a lovely basket, of course. It may either be a picnic basket filled with goodies or a more shallow basket wrapped in cellophane and tied with a big bow. Whichever you chose, here are some suggestions for filling it up.

Teapot, 4-6 cup or a tea for one.

Selection of good quality herbal, black and flavored teas. Bagged or loose will do, but if you give loose tea also provide a strainer.

Creative sugar :decorated sugar cubes, crystallized sugar wands, or brown sugar cubes, a few flavored honey sticks thrown in for good measure.

If giving a teapot, provide at least two cups and saucers especially if you’re putting the items in a picnic basket.

Small spoons for stirring the tea.

Cookies,(homemade or store bought or a variety) scone mix,  a jar of lemon curd, Devonshire Cream and a jar of strawberry jam.

Napkins and if giving a picnic basket, you may also toss in an out door table cloth of picnic blanket.

These are just a few examples. You may include or omit as your budget allows. A nice pen and a box of note cards, a slim volume of poetry, a romance novel or a fancy journal are also nice to place  in the basket. Introspection over a cup of tea is as old as, well, tea itself.

Men, held open doors for her. Women complimented her on her hat. She was the very essence of femininity and grace. Where has she gone? Would you dress like this and go out in public and not to a tea party of costume party? Why not? Isn’t fashion one or two or a small handful of designers who dictate what everyone else will wear? What if we started to make our own clothes again or had friends who sew make them or went to websites that sold them and spent our money there instead of at the local retail chain? These days, women’s clothes are poorly made and ill fitting and many styles only flatter the very young and slim.

When I put on my wedding dress almost three years ago, I did not want to take it off. I wanted to dress lovely and feminine like that everyday. I felt graceful, special, beautiful, all because of lace, tulle, and beads and big skirts that made me feel like I was floating.

What would you wear if you had someone who would design and make your own clothes? Would you dress as Marie Antoinette? Dolly Madison? A Victorian Lady. Would you dress the same as you do now?

I would love to know.