Hot Pots Crafts in Alliance, Teacup Mosaic

My sisters and I try to do something together at Christmas time instead of giving gifts.

Last year we went to lunch and then did Stan Hewitt and we also did an afternoon tea together.
The year before that we blew glass in Cleveland and made ornaments.
This year was lunch and mosaics.


We went to Hot Pots in Alliance and we loved it!!!!
We so wish this was closer!!!
They have so many kinds of crafts and things to do.  You can also have parties here and bring in your own food.

https://hotpotspottery.com/

We wanted something we could do in a day, since it was about an hour drive to get there.
We decided on mosaics.

It was a bit overwhelming looking at all the options...then I saw a giant teacup.


You select your wooden base and the price is on the back.  
The price includes everything- the glass, the glue, and the grout.

The glass to select from is a bit overwhelming too. 


Did I take on too much?
Did I spend too much?
Maybe!

It took over an hour to complete and I spent $60.  Gulp!!
I figured we usually go out and spend more, so I had budgeted $80 for the day....
Plus, I didn't really like any of the smaller things and I figured if I was going to do a mosaic, I wanted it to be something I really wanted.
And I have to say, I really do like it!!


We each selected our items and then had to laugh, we each matched our item.
I was a purple teacup, my older sister was a teal bird, and my younger sister was a green turtle.


I was laying it all out and then realized that took too long.  I ended up gluing as I went. 
They also give you snippers and you can cut the glass to different shapes or just make them smaller.  I appreciated this, as I did not want all my shapes to be the same.


You can see all the other crafts you can do.
Pottery painting, glass fusion, candle making, wood decor, glitter tumblers, a splash room, and then what we did the mosaics.




FINALLY!!
It is all glued.  Now I can take it home and grout it there.


See how we match our mosaics?


They sent us all home with white grout and black tint.  We could tint the grout as dark as we wanted.  I went for a grey tint.  My sister went with a brown grout...there are other options.


Grouting was the easy process, cleaning it took awhile. 
I wish they had had small teacup...for one reason I would not have spent $60, the other it would not have taken so long.

We were all thrilled the way they turned out.
I just need to figure where mine will go until I get my tea shop.









 

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AffoGato Cat Cafe in Cleveland OH

 Wednesday Wanderings took me to Cleveland to visit a friend.

We went to lunch and then wanted to grab tea/coffee.  When we googled what was around we discovered we were near a cat cafe!

This is just outside Tremont...or on the edge of Tremont. 

Tremont is an adorable little area with cute shops and delicious restaurants.


https://affogatocatcafe.com/



When you walk in there is a small area to order drinks or purchase plants.  The cats are not in this area, but you can see them through the glass windows and door.

I went with the Cinnamon Shortbread Chai.



$9 for 30 minutes with the cats...we could not pass that up!


These cats were so cute!!  I wanted to take most of them home.  There were a pair of lazy older cats that they said loved each other...those were the ones I wanted the most.


There were three very ornery kittens.


My understanding is that these cats are from the Cleveland Animal Protective League and if you want to adopt you go through them.  These are all rescued cats.

They can house up to 20 cats here at one time.

They have had over 1600 adoptions here since 2019!



The area that the cats have to play is very nice.  They have plenty of room to play or be left alone.



You could even buy plants if you wanted.


This was a fun little cafe.  They did a good job with my chai.  The staff was friendly and the cats were the best!!!!
I sure don't mind spending $9 to get in, this goes towards the cats and that's a great cause.




Here is where we went first for lunch....Cilantro Taqueria in Tremont. 
It was very tasty!  We went with build your own bowl.  
Everything was fresh and delicious.

https://www.cilantrotaqueria.com/


The cat cafe is around 10 minutes from here.


I have to say I love Cleveland.  I have always felt safe there.  And it is almost exactly one hour away.  It is so easy to run up see some sights and get home all before dark.


Just another Wednesday tooling around Cleveland!
After all of this I went to my favorite Asian grocery store and Trader Joes.





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LincWay Christmas Tea

Whose ready for a Christmas Tea Party?







I love working with LincWay!!  We partnered together for another tea.  For $30 each person will get to try 5 teas I have prepared for them, have a light lunch, and paint an ornament.

It is so nice that I can come the evening before and set up!  That is a huge help in the morning.  I love to sleep in on Saturdays, lol.


They have a side entrance from the parking lot to conference rooms where the tea party is held. 


I set up a tea table with 4 of the teas.  I also had another area where I would make peppermint matcha lattes as people wanted them.


I had Ohio Tea's Mint Chai.  That is one of my favorite Chai blends.

The nice thing about an iced tea is that it can be made the night before.  I also filled ornaments and everyone had an ornament at their table with tea in it to take home and enjoy over ice.


I usually try to do all different tea companies.  But I just love Harney & Sons.  So not only did I use them for the White Christmas, I also used their Soho blend as well.


I made my homemade Wassail, which seemed to be the biggest hit of the day.  One lady asked to buy a gallon of it from me.


Lastly, I had this matcha station and I made people peppermint matcha lattes.
I demonstrated for them the way to make matcha from start to finish.


Lincway does a fantastic job with the food.  They always have a great assortment of food for everyone to nibble on as they enjoy tea and painting. 


We had around 20 people at this Christmas tea.



Enjoying a little chai break myself.


It was really fun to have one of my coworkers from the insurance office here with two of her friends.  She loves the cold foam, so after she finished her matcha, I made her a cup of just peppermint cold foam.





Once I was sure everyone was set with tea, I went in search of an ornament to paint.



They had close to 50 different ornaments to paint this year.


I loved the truck and tree ornament, but I knew there was too much detail for me in one sitting.




I went super simple and did what I did last year...the to go tea cup.

Last year I went for the brown cup, this year I went purple.


Everyone seemed to have a great time,


My friend and her table did these beautiful trees in the snow.


Not very exciting, but it fits on my cup tree.  This tree has nothing but tea cups on it.





Reach out if you would like me to come bring the tea to your party.  It can be all fun or we can throw in some tea education too.

I have done: herb society tea parties, travel groups, birthday parties, baby showers, family get togethers, bridal showers, wedding receptions, graduation parties, church get together, Valentines Teas, chai making classes, Kurdish tea making classes.  
You name it I am up for it.













 

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