Sipping Tea With My Mum

Sipping tea with my beautiful Mum stepped up a notch this morning when I suggested that a tea party was in order !

Generally we will sit around the kitchen table and chat over a mug of hot tea but this morning was such a beautiful sunny day so it seemed a shame to sit inside and not enjoy it.

My parents have a beautiful garden.

They had it designed for them many years ago and over time it has matured into a picture perfect garden full of hedges, Camellias, Lavender plants and lots of other formal and cottage style plants.  

It was perfect setting for our tea party !

I knew that there were some home made slices in the house so I began to set the table and prepare the tea.

When it came time to pop the slice on to the plate I found that the slice had already found it's way into somebody else's stomach the day before ! 

boo hoo !

The alternative ?

You really don't want to hear that the delicious home baked cookies on our tea party table were actually store bought and stale ! lol

We both took a bite and giggled   

Oops !

Oh well, the tea was still yummy (Laduree of course) and the view of the garden was as pretty as a picture.

I set my theme as pink, green and floral as they all of my Mum's favourite colours and prints.

I used pretty teacups, a lace tablecloth and I threw a pretty floral throw over the back of a chair to complete the floral look.

                          A birds eye view of our pretty table.
                         

Would anyone like a cup ?

and then the 'Butler' arrived to clear our table ! lol

Actually the Butler was hoping for something to eat and a nosey around to see what was going on

WOOF

Yes his name is actually Butler !

                         

We sat and relaxed for an hour watching the garden grow before us. 

The Camellia trees bloom huge white blooms when they are in season. They are absolutely beautiful !

A spot of tea and a Jeanne De' Arc magazine........perfect !

but how I wish there was a nice piece of chocolate slice to eat too !

Maybe next time I will come more prepared.

Cupcakes and cucumber sandwiches would be perfect.

But I guess our diets will be safe this week ! lol

It was a lovely way to spend the morning and more importantly it was so nice to have some girly time with my Mum.

Love you Mum 

x

My Little Christmas Tea Party

Tea parties should never be reserved for birthdays and special occasions.

Tea parties are a little treat that can be enjoyed at any time of the year. I had a little stash of beautiful chocolates that were given to me. The kids had been bursting at the seams to taste one......

After little grubby fingerprints began appearing on the smooth shiny chocolates I decided to put them out of their misery and set up a little tea party for my 'babies' (big babies at that !)

After making them salivate whilst taking my photo's I called them in to choose a chocolate and make them a cup of tea.

Well hence to say they disappeared before my very eyes and there were some very happy faces.

I decided to share some tips in decorating for a tea party, whether it be a Christmas theme or other.

I always choose a colour and a theme.

I try to keep to a simple colour combination and think about the colours and textures of the food being served and make sure my china displays it well therefore making it as pleasing to the eye as possible.

I decided to use my grandmothers brown and white tea pot set and teamed it with my big green milk glass cake stand. 

I chose a beige coloured lace tablecloth and laid fresh sprigs of crab apple branches on my table.

The greens, browns and beige's all complimented the warm brown and cream colours of the chocolates.

Simple white china allowed the chocolate to be the stars of the show and not be trying to compete with any of my floral plates.

Simple is best !

Think about the size of your table and use your china appropriately.

We held our tea party at our coffee table by the Christmas tree, therefore I used small side plates and petite sized china. Heavy thick plates would have over powered the delicate size of the sweets.

A pretty crystal bowl full of leftover silver glittery baubles set the whole look off and gave it a Christmas feel.

Would you like a pistachio macaroon or a caramel/peanut butter filled truffle ?

mmmmmmm

I pushed the table over next to our Christmas tree where we sat and enjoyed our little feast!

Don't forget the small touches that give your table texture and interest.  I used a creamy lace tablecloth and some antique milk jug covers to decorate my cake plate with. 

Milk jug covers look fabulous used as doilies !

You can always use them for their original use and cover your little milk jugs with them.  They are relatively cheap to pick up from antique stores and you can find some really sweet ones. The one that I used was plain white with white glass beads hanging from it.

My son's old antique school chairs were just the size to sit around our table and the nice wood patina of the chairs blended in perfectly with my colour theme.

We had a delightful afternoon tea and created some special memories of Christmas 2012.