Tea party in a box

My oldest friend, Alexis always sends me the most thoughtful gifts for Christmas and my birthday.  She also always mails me fantastic books after she is done reading them.  I have made some cute gifts on my blog, but I always thought that the gifts I gave Alexis were not as thoughtful as the ones she has sent me.

Since I had a cute idea, and some extra time.  I made her a " Tea Party in a box for her birthday!  I know its not a competition between us for who sends the most creative presents.  But her friendship is a gift, and I wanted to show her that.

This " Tea Party in a box" was being sent from my home in Ottumwa, Iowa to Washington DC, where Alexis currently calls her home.

Alexis gave me a copy of "Jane Eyre" for Christmas this past year.  I enjoyed "Jane Eyre" I also love most Jane Austen novels.  I am pretty sure that everyone who loves English literature needs to have a proper tea cup and saucer.  I found this "old school" tea cup and saucer at a local second hand shop.

Any " Tea party in a box" should always include an " old school" tea cup.

Alexis is a huge fan of herbal tea.  This is not exactly the tea that Queen Victoria drank back in the 1800's when she started the English tradition of " High tea".  But of course I included the type of tea that Alexis would enjoy.

I cut open each tea bag,  took out the tea string, and taped on " Tea quotes".  I then taped up the tea bag again so the aroma's from the different kinds of tea wouldn't mix.

I arranged a few other items in the " Tea party in a box".  These items included reusable cotton tea bags, assorted teas, and some cookies for Alexis to dip into her tea.  The reason why Queen Victoria started the tradition of " High tea" is because she needed a snack between lunch and dinner.  

Cookies or some type of biscuit should always be included in a " Tea party in a box"

Alexis's birthday took place during mid May, and I believe she liked her gift.  I have many family members who consider themselves " Austenites". So, I feel like this won't be the last time that I will make a " Tea Party in a box"

Just a few notes as this blog post comes to a close.

1) I wrapped up the tea cup in newspaper before sending it through the mail.  I did not want it to break.

2) Alexis really is my oldest friend.  We are both 29 years old, and we started playing together at the age of two.

Valentines day Coffee cup

Last year, I made my husband DIY beer labels for Valentines day.  And oh how our lives have changed since last year!

Now that we have a little one, Greg's beverage of choice is coffee, not beer!

I decided that I will surprise him with a special Valentines day travel cup that he can take to work with him on Valentines day!

I purchased a pack of disposable " to go" coffee cups from the store  and took off the cup liner.

I then traced the cup liner on a piece of cardstock .

I then used a heart cookie cutter to trace a heart.

I got some coffee beans out of my kitchen cabinet.

And used a hot glue gun to glue them on my coffee sleeve.

I then glued the coffee sleeve onto the cup.

I made a little message to attach to the cup.  " Our Love will continue to Brew. Always"

I also plan to attach a foam heart sticker on the cup opening to prevent spills as he is driving to work.

A picture of the finished product once again.

Like? 

Look at my Coffee Charms I made last year!

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Coffee Mug Charms!

I have heard stories from people about wild family get togethers.  In my family, we are only wild because we are all buzzed on coffee!!!!

This past  Christmas, my wild family went through 1 bottle of wine and 9 pots of coffee! 

People buy wine charms so they can save themselves from awkwardness of drinking from another persons glass at a party. 

 Well, now that I have made coffee charms, I can keep track of my coffee mug at my next family get together, and save myself from some potential awkwardness of picking up someone else's coffee!

OMG what if I drink someone elses coffee...and its decaf?

Here is how I made these.

1) Went online and Googled " Coffee Puns" to get some cute saying for my coffee charms, and printed them out on card stock

2) Found some miniature tiles ( I am a crafter, I just have these things around) 

3) Stole a few coffee beans/grounds from the coffee stash in the kitchen

4) Got some packs of " Hoop earrings" from the craft department at Wal-mart

5) Hot glued everything together to make the Coffee charms!

6) decorated some finishing touches with puffy paint

7) Here you go! Coffee Charms!

Close up of the finished products!

These were Really fun to make! I cannot wait to make more sets of these to gift to family members and friends!!

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See my Valentine Coffee cup!