A few weeks ago, my friend Marie texted to say that she had ordered something for me and it was arriving that day. It was an advent calendar from Vahdam Tea, and I was thrilled to receive it! In the past, tea companies used to send advent calendars for me to review, but I hadn't seen any new ones in years, and I was delighted to check out this one. When you open the box, there's a chart that shows you which tea to drink each day. I tend to be a rule follower, so of course I'm drinking them in the prescribed order. And the teas are nice big tea sachets, each individually packaged, which i ..read more

It was the best of lines, it was the worst of lines. But there I stood, in the long, long line at my local T. J. Maxx, and I pondered which of the cute tea tins I should purchase. I had found some delightful Christmas decor and wasn't about to get out of line, but still, I pondered. You see, I have an idea for a craft for next Christmas, and it's a little silver tea shop for which one of these tins will make a great companion, but which one? Will I go with a pastel sidekick since pastels are my default for favorite colors? Or would it make more sense to go with the classic red so that I can ..read more

I'm always in the market for new vintage recipes to try, and I found a little booklet of chocolate recipes online that is quite intriguing. It was published in 1909 compliments of Walter Baker & Co., Ltd., the same folks whose Baker's Chocolate we often use in baked goods today.  Health claims from food manufacturers are certainly nothing new, but these kind of cracked me up: "It is evident that the coming American is going to be less of a tea and coffee drinker, and more of a cocoa and chocolate drinker. This is the natural result of a better knowledge of the laws of health, and ..read more

I'm headed to a craft retreat soon, and when I was at Joann the other day, I found the perfect new resource to take along! It's this Everlasting Hope book of stickers and designs by Karla Dornacher. My tea friend Lani in Hawaii first introduced me to Karla's beautiful work years ago, so when I saw her name on this book, I had to take a peek inside. And what was one of the first things I saw? This page with teacups and Bible verses. Count me in! There are also some cute vellum designs that can be colored in and glued along the blank borders of those journaling Bibles that are so popular ..read more

Yesterday, I ran by the local Joann store to check out the Christmas stuff, and I was so pleased to find some fun new goodies! I'd almost ordered some Christmas teacup earrings I'd seen in a Facebook ad for just twenty dollars the other day, but I talked myself out of them, thinking I could probably find a better deal. These mug earrings were half off, just $5.99, so that was an easy yes. Each one measures about 1-1/2 inches long and 1 inch wide, and I look forward to wearing them with the new Christmas outfit I don't yet have. And yes, my obsession with Santa mugs continues, so I was ..read more

Today, I'll be preparing the foods I'm taking to my sister's house for Thanksgiving tomorrow, so I wanted to go ahead and wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving ..read more

I've just returned from my twice-yearly crafting retreat at Lake Hartwell with a bunch of crafty girlfriends, and once again, I had a fabulous time filled with good friends, creative inspiration, yummy meals, and super shopping! I joined the group through my dear friend Kathy, whom I first met years ago when I interviewed her for a newspaper article about her crafting (Fimo clay at the time, I believe). We bonded immediately and have been friends for thirty-some-odd years now! These gals are so creative, with expert knitters and quilters as well as paper crafters who've been at it ..read more

Do you have an At Home store in your town? We got one a few years ago, but I don't recall ever buying anything there until last week, when I decided to stop by and check out the Christmas décor. And while there were loads of things I liked, I limited myself to just two items on that trip. First, this teacup, a little larger than a real one, lights up, so I look forward to displaying it at Christmas. And this 8 x 8-inch frosty piece is just a shelf-sitter, I suppose you'd say, but I am always delighted when I see Christmas décor that is teacup-shaped and not just mug-shaped. I'll decorate ..read more

The other day, my friend Deberah asked if I would be home because she had something she wanted to drop off for me. I was delighted to receive a bag of treats that included some of her homemade pumpkin muffins as well as a beautiful new tea tea infuser from her daughter, Amelia, who is also a friend! (Amelia the Friend is not to be confused with Amelia the Niece, although Amelia the Niece is also my friend, but you know what I mean.) I rarely make tea the same way twice, so my brewing methods each week are likely to include tea bags, a tea infuser basket, a tea ball or spoon, a tea-filterin ..read more

I can't remember who it was, but years ago, some friend of mine suggested that we ought to hold showers for middle-aged women and replace all the goodies we got at our wedding showers. Isn't that a marvelous idea? I couldn't help thinking of that at niece Amelia's bridal shower on Saturday! I especially loved the idea of giving someone a Merry Christmas welcome mat as a wedding gift, like the one my sister is displaying here. Amelia also got a pretty Christmas plaque for the outdoors and a beautiful Christmas wreath, and she went right home and hung them all up at the newly purchased home ..read more