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.