Office Tea Party and I can bring it to your office too!

                                       My office asked me to do a tea bar for our 12 Days of Christmas party!

                             

Each day leading up to Christmas we did fun things in the office.

I found these ornaments that you could put liquid in... we called them "Tea Shots"

You can find them on Amazon, search booze balls ornaments.  They have different shapes.  They ran about .50 each.

I did three teas for this day.

One iced, a chai (with fun toppings), and a Wassail.

                      

The iced tea was White Christmas by Harney & Sons.  It is good hot too, but I really liked it iced.

    https://www.harney.com/products/white-christmas?srsltid=AfmBOorRV7PjSolj9RQT9_k7jrBr3MiQjDdD9no-ljIrhg6Z6Hd9ounw

WHITE CHRISTMAS- White tea, cardamom, white chamomile, almond flavor, vanilla flavor, and cardamom flavor. Contains natural flavors.

                

The hot tea I made was Naughty 'N Spice from The Tea Spot.  It was like a chai, so I treated it as such.

https://www.theteaspot.com/products/naughty-n-nice-holiday-spice?variant=40494320418852

                 

NAUGHTY N' SPICE - organic black tea, organic pu'erh tea, organic licorice root, organic cinnamon, organic nutmeg, natural vanilla flavor, organic orange peel

I then had Christmas marshmallows, peppermint candy canes, cinnamon candy canes, crushed cinnamon candy canes, sprinkles, white chocolate, and Elf marshmallows.  All these could be used as toppings for the chai.  

I also frothed oat milk for people to top the tea with. 

                 

I then made Wassail.

I used Kericho black tea from Kenya as the base tea. 

https://kerichogoldteas.com/

             

I made it and I did NOT add sugar, I felt it was not needed.  I also thought the OJ taste was overwhelming, so when I made it again, I only did a cup and half.  I also just squeezed 2 fresh lemons and used ground cinnamon and ground cloves.

It was a lot of fun to share my love of teas with my co-workers.  I was surprised how many men said they did not think they would like the teas, but they tried them and they did like them.  That was super great to hear.  A lot of times I think people just don't know how to make tea have a bad cup and it spoils it and the never want to try it again.  That is why water temp and steep time are so important.

Black teas- water temp 212, steep time 4-5 minutes.

Green tea, water temp around 175, steep time 3 minutes.

You also have white tea, oolong, herbal, and more.  It is important not to have the water too hot for the delicate teas like white and green- you will bruise the leaves and the tea will be super bitter.  Also over steeping will ruin the taste too.  Check the tea package, it should have instructions for you.

                       

When you are thirsty and there is no teacup to be found you need to compromise.

I am off on Wednesdays throughout the year.  If you ever want me to bring a tea party to your office let me know!!

I will do three teas for up to 50 people for $140 (that is less than $3 a cup per person) plus tax and mileage.  I am happy to work with you on the types of tea too.  If you want a chai with fun toppings and frothed milk, ornament balls with iced tea or a summer iced tea bar...just let me know your needs.  

Merry Christmas!!!  Jesus is the reason for this season!

Psalm 96:3

Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all the peoples!

Make some gifts for Christmas

Tight on money this Christmas?  Or just love to make crafts?  Then make gifts!!!  I love homemade gifts, and I think others do too!

Make tea to give, the cards, and the bags!

All you need for some fantastic instant tea...

1/2 C instant tea

1C Instant Tea (I like Tang)

1C instant lemonade (Country Time)

1 tsp instant cinnamon

1/2 tsp instant clove

I then mixed all the items together.

Find some fun airtight bottles to package the tea in.  Put a cute little label on the container.

1 Tbs of tea for 8 oz of hot water.

You then can make the cute bags to put your gift in.

I took bags I have gotten throughout the year, and painted cups on them and then just made them Christmasy by putting holly and them and wrote Joy on the cup.  Feel free to get creative.

Then you can also make the card to go in the bag!

At Dollar General I got these fun cup crafts.  The one set was $3 and made 20 ornaments...that I turned into cards and also a garland for my tea table.  One set was $4.  I was able to make lots of cards!

               

First, I glued all the teacups together.

I had some fun with the to-go cups.  I added my tea logo to the to go sleeve.

I then put the teacup on the card stock with just a spot of glue... so that the teacup could be taken off and used as an ornament.

I have to say, I just love these cards.  Super fun for Christmas and for my tea brand.

Here is the garland that I made for my tea table.  I think it sooooo much fun.

Psalm 96:3

Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all the peoples!

Galison Tea Puzzle

https://www.galison.com/collections/jigsaw-puzzles

"Tea Time 1000 Piece Puzzle with Shaped Pieces from Galison features a variety of cozy tea time elements such as tea pots, saucers and spoons. This puzzle includes 20 specially shaped pieces for an added challenge. Galison puzzles are packaged in matte-finish sturdy boxes, perfect for gifting, reuse, and storage.

• 1000 Piece Puzzle, Random Cut
• Puzzle Size: 27 x 20"", 686 x 508 mm
• Box Size: 11.5 x 8.5 x 2"", 292 x 216 x 51 mm, Minimal Puzzle Dust
• Includes 20 Shaped Puzzle Pieces
• Includes Puzzle Insert
• Puzzle greyboard contains 90% recycled paper. Packaging contains 70% recycled paper and is made responsibly from FSC-certified material. Printed with nontoxic inks. "  From the website

This puzzle I bought at Goodwill has a few extra large puzzle pieces in it, I have never seen anything like it.

I’m figuring out how to do puzzles with cats…it’s a balancing act.

I’m loving this fun new puzzle from Galison Puzzles !!

I ended up putting the puzzle on a piece of plexiglass that I had. It is perfect to lay the puzzle on and then also slide under the couch when I finished and the cats can't reach it. Orange Pekoe is NOT impressed, he really wants to work on the puzzle with me. And he likes when I use the large oversized felt board for puzzles, because he can snag it with his claws and knock the pieces off.

I made that mistake once...trying to use the felt board once with the cats. I ended up putting the puzzle away and never finishing. It is small plexiglass board for me from here on out! I have more control and they can't get at the plexiglass as easily, it is smaller and they can't attach their claws to it.

Fingers crossed all the pieces are in here!!!!  I have loved putting all the big pieces together...but there is a lot of navy background that is going to make it tough.

I had to use a spatula to move some of my pieces that were already together- since they were fragile.

Tonight I did kind of cheat, I used the lid to figure out where the large puzzle pieces should be. Once laying out the big pieces I could see how it should fit together.

Now I’ll work around those big pieces to finish the puzzle. I now won’t look against the picture.

A little background on not looking at puzzle pictures, when I was growing up my grandma and aunt would work on lots of puzzles. However, we could only look at the box once and then never again. It was a fun challenge not looking at the picture. I have continued that tradition most of my life. There was an awful cat puzzle I did last year, that I HAD to look to do, lol. Yet, for the most part I look once and then not again. Thanks Grandma for the fun memory and tradition.

I had so much fun working on this puzzle. I forgot how much I enjoyed doing them. Now, that I have figured out how to do puzzles with my cats, I am up for more!!! I can't wait for cold winter nights to work on more of them.

Good boy Orange Pekoe, just sitting and not touching the puzzle!

I finished and now I will glaze it an hang it.  It is missing one piece, but I plan on painting that area so that it is not noticeable.

I found this $10 frame at Mission Thrift in Orrville.  I think it is so fun!!!  Can't wait to hang it in my shop.

I also have these five cat paintings I did...at some point they will hang in my tea cafe!!!

Psalm 96:3
Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all the peoples!