Christmas is finally here! I hope everyone is having a very Merry Christmas! Just a note to everyone about the hope that was sent to us through our Savior Jesus Christ. He is definitely the reason for this day we gather with family. I pray each and everyone makes a place for this hope in their heart. There was no room for Him when He was born on this day may years ago. So remember, by allowing room for Him in your life can give Him the opportunity to express Himself to you and those around you for today and many days ahead.
As you may have noticed, we had a giveaway open this past week. We wanted to give back to our blog followers to say that we appreciate you. We also wanted to celebrate reaching 3000 page views, which to us is unheard of! So a huge thanks to each and everyone of you that continually return back to our page to support us.
Now that the giveaway is closed, it is time to announce our winner! I used this free random selector online to choose the winner to insure an unbiased selection. Drum roll please.
The winner of our giveaway is...
JILL STAGGS
Congratulations!!!! Thank you to all that participated! I hope everyone has a very blessed Christmas Eve, and be sure to check back tomorrow for our Christmas Day post!
Merry Christmas to all! I just wanted to share some of my holiday decorations around the home before the Christmas season was over. Striking holiday decorations can be created quite simply and beautifully done with little time or money.
Starting from the out side in, I brought a lot of festivity to my front porch by taking some fresh cut evergreens from my front yard and placing them in a pot. I then took some branches from another tree, spray painted them red, and also placed them in the flower pot. Finally I added in some extra Christmas decorations and voila! Simple, easy, and cheap front door décor!
I won't comment much on this as it is just our main Christmas tree. It sets in our foyer as soon as you walk in the home and always takes guests' breath away. The key to do so is by adding in TONS of decorations. When you think you are done decorating your tree, think again and add some more.
One main décor item in the living room is this chalk board. It is unbelievably cheap to draw on a Christmas themed picture or words, which is what we did. My son also sets up his Christmas Lego train every year to weave around the presents.
Also in the living room, I have a buffet with silver candelabras and a silver tea set, but what really brings the Christmas vibe to this area is the reindeer accent pillows I found from the Dollar General!
I hope you enjoyed these pictures! Have a very safe and wonderful Holiday!!
It is undoubtedly the most exciting time of year! It’s when every child has that certain glimmer in their eyes and one thing on their mind: what to put on the ole list to Santa Clause! Every child has that image in their mind of that jolly old soul who will bring them goodies and fill their stockings with treats. So why not take this enchanted Christmas theme and turn it into a lovely tea time to spend with your child. With just a few Christmas items you have laying around you could make up perfect tablescape that would make a perfect lifetime memory and tradition. While serving tea you could tell Christmas story’s and write out a letter to send to Santa. What an inviting time you would have! Cupcakes and cookies would be a wonderful thing to serve and that’s the exact treat Santa would love. If your child does not like tea, no problem, just serve whatever they like in a teacup. It’s the memories that counts and believe me drinking anything out of a tea cup makes it more fun.
I found this very inexpensive Santa teapot at TJMaxx but you could use any teapot you have laying around the house. I placed a tree ornament around a plain white teacup and it really made it pop with Christmas. I just gathered up a few items I already have lying out to decorate for Christmas and made a wonderful display to have a good holiday time. I hope this inspires you to want to have a childlike time for Santa inspired tea.
This week we will be putting a post up everyday until Christmas. Today I thought we'd kick off the week's holiday posts with a history of poinsettias. Poinsettias are traditionally used around Christmas time and are known for their red and green color. Poinsettias were brought to the United States in 1825 by Joel Roberts Poinsett (which is from whom their name derives from), and were brought to Mexico from Egypt! In Mexico they are known as Flor de Noche Buena, which translates to Christmas Eve Flower. Poinsettia were not associated with Christmas until the 16th century when the legend of a young girl too poor to present a present for the celebration of Jesus' birthday placed weeds in front of the church alter, as instructed by an angel. The weeds sprouted to resemble the poinsettia we know today. The star-shaped leaf pattern of the poinsettia is also said to symbolize the Star of Bethlehem, and the red color represents the blood sacrifice through the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, further tying it in to Christmas traditions.
A couple lesser known facts about the poinsettia includes that the poinsettia is toxic. Although the poinsettia's toxin is only mild, if the toxins get inside an eye cavity the eye will temporarily go blind. Another fact is that the poinsettias are different colors throughout the seasonal year.
Today is an exciting day because we get a announce our very first giveaway on our blog! The first item in the giveaway is a box of Clover Valley 100% Natural Green Tea. The second item in the giveaway is a brown teapot we picked up in Amish Country antique shopping. The final item is my favorite, a Alfred Meakin Fair Winds teacup and saucer made in Staffordshire, England. The print on the teacup is brown and shows an 1830 New York Harbor.
There are three steps to entering the giveaway:
1. Subscribe to our email updates on the side bar.
2. Share this post on Facebook.
3. Comment on ANY post on our blog (we can see all the comments). To comment, the blog will ask you to log in with an account. If you do not have an account, select Anonymous and type your name after your comment. An example will be commented on this post by me. Every comment will be counted as an entry as long as 1 and 2 are completed, so comment as many times as you like!
Entries will be accepted now through 12:00 PM December 24, 2015. The winner will be chosen randomly and we will contact and announce the winner on Christmas Eve. If you have any trouble please contact myself or my mother!
Run, run, run, as fast as you can, you can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man! - Nursery rhyme
As I was researching different spices to put in my gingerbread cupcake recipe, I stumbled upon some really cool facts about gingerbread! Ginger root was first used in China, from there it spread and was used medicinally to help prevent the plague in the Black Death. It can still be used medicinally today for nausea and stomach aches. Gingerbread is also a good preservative for other foods such as meats. Gingerbread was said to be first baked in the 11th century in England. However, in the 1600s Nuremberg, Germany was named the Gingerbread Capital of the World. Bakers have been recorded baking gingerbread as early as 1296 in Germany. In fact, only master bakers and skilled workers were allowed to create their versions of gingerbread in the 17th century there.
Elizabeth I of England is credited with the idea of gingerbread men. She asked for the gingerbread to be shaped in likeness of some of her important visitors. According to the Guinness Book of Records, the world’s largest gingerbread man was created in Oslo, Norway, on November 9, 2009. The gingerbread man weighed a little over 1,435 pounds.
The history of gingerbread houses are a little more sketchy. The Brothers Grimm are thought to be the originator of the gingerbread house because of their story, Hansel and Gretel. However, others disagree, stating that the gingerbread house was the inspiration for their story. Both Hansel and Gretel and gingerbread houses became popular during the same time period, so it is hard to determine which came first. The Guinness World Record was broken for the largest gingerbread house in 2013, in Texas. The gingerbread house was a 2,520-square-foot edible-walled house and it was estimated to have over a 35.8 million calorie value. They needed 2,925 pounds of brown sugar, 1,800 pounds of butter, 7,200 eggs and 7,200 pounds of general purpose flour. Now that's a lot of ingredients!
Hope you enjoyed reading! And don't forget, next time you are feeling a little sick to your stomach, eat a gingerbread man! ;)
Recipe:
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 and 1/2 cup flour
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 3 cups of powdered sugar
- 1 package of cream cheese (room temperature)
- 1 stick of butter (room temperature for icing)
- 1 1/2 cups of butter (room temperature for cake)
- 1 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract (cake)
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (icing)
- 1/4 teaspoon of ground clove
- 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon (cake)
- 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon (icing)
- 2 tablespoons of ground ginger
- 1/4 cup of sour cream
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 3 tablespoons molasses
- gingerbread cookie mix with packaged icing and ingredients to make them
Directions
- Mix and roll out cookie dough. Cut out shapes and bake as directed on the package. When finished baking, trace icing around their edges and set aside.
- While the cookies are baking, mix flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, clove, baking powder, and baking soda in a bowl. Set aside.
- In another bowl, mix brown sugar, granulated sugar, and butter to a cream. Add in molasses and stir until it in blended into the mixture. Next mix in the eggs one at a time. Then add in the sour cream and vanilla extract until blended. Finally, take the flour-spice mixture and stir in a little at a time until everything is in one bowl.
- Fill the cupcake tin a little under halfway full because the batter expands a lot! Bake the cupcakes at 350*F for 20-25 minutes.
- While the cupcakes are baking, mix cream cheese, butter, cinnamon, and vanilla extract together to start the icing. Then add in the powdered sugar a little at a time.
- To finish the cupcakes, place the cinnamon icing on top and plunge a cookie into the center.
Additional Comments
- Since they have cream cheese icing, they should be stored in a refrigerated area. This will allow the icing to become firm and cool.
- If needed, place the cupcakes in the fridge to allow the icing to firm before placing the cookies on top.
I made a video tutorial with my brother on these cupcakes as well. Check it out:)
As you may have noticed, we did not post anything last week. Cooking, cleaning, and family time took precedence over blogging. But have no fear, we will be having a giveaway this month to make up for it so be sure to check back each week for the details on how to enter. I hope everyone had a grand time over Thanksgiving with their loved ones! Here is a look at out table scape and dessert we presented.
With the start of December, also starts my hot chocolate obsession. I have already started off every morning this week with a cup to wake me up as I am not a coffee drinker. But today, I wanted to have a nice mug full after my meal. My brother also insisted I make him a cup so I reached for these cute little mugs I got from the Dollar General for $1 each. To make our hot chocolate, we used the Swiss Miss brand, and added in whipped cream, chocolate syrup, and cocoa powder. Finally we added in some candy cane spoons!
With the first snow of the season today, I figured it was time to use up the last of the food related apple products in the house. After this week, I will be in full hot chocolate mode until February. As will the stores, for finding apple cider or apple butter becomes nearly impossible to locate in between all the gingerbread and peppermint flavored things. So here is how I savored my last cup of apple cider and apple butter for the season.
The tea pot/tea cup combo is made by Peggy Jo Ackley through CIC. I picked this up for $10 at a local antique store and thought it would bring the ambiance to my breakfast this morning.
I just returned home a few days ago from a much needed trip at the Amish Country. Its a trip we usually take a couple times a year but have not been able to in the last year. Thus I was so excited about going. Its a place where you can fill your day with going from one antique store to another without end. It is just amazing how many antique stores there are. What that mostly means for me is the intoxicating search for tea pots and tea cups, and the and Amish Country never disappoints. The question is not if I can find any, but how many can I fit in my vehicle? Although I found quite a few good treasures, I decided to feature this whimsical cheery yellow pumpkin tea pot. It was a little bit more expensive than I wanted to invest in a seasonal tea pot and I am not sure where I will store it, but I could not resist. I actually did place it back on the shelf for a few moments (out of some faint attempt of self-control) but then around the corner fate happened. I found this beautiful yellow and gold tea cup that just needed a whimsical tea pot to make a seasonal tea encounter wonderful. So, back I went to collect the tea pot, and then to the cash register to check out.
The yellow kept making me think of lemons, so, I decided that Lemon Lift Black Tea would be perfect. Its a distinctive blend with just the right amount of lemon and a dash of spice. A little bit of lemon added to the top of this hot tea was perfect. I wanted something easy to go with my tea and decided on the usual choice of cupcakes. Cupcakes are easy to make and definitely easy to find in any grocery store. I didn't feel like whipping any up so I decided to pick some up at a grocery store after my son's futsal game. My husband trying to be helpful packs up all my bags and puts them in the vehicle for me. Upon arriving home, I discovered he had placed my cupcakes into the vehicle on their tops. Needless to say they were not very pretty anymore. I was able to salvage three and throw some sprinkles on top to cover the imperfections. Because I was able to salvage a few cupcakes and my husband was really trying to be nice, I let him off the hook pretty easy. Overall I was very pleased with this fall teatime especially since we only have a few more days before the Christmas fever takes over.
On my way home travelling a few months ago I made the usual stop to eat at Cracker Barrel. Instead of patiently waiting on my food to arrive, I slipped out and thought I could occupy my time better by shopping. I love shopping to find the perfect treasure to bring home with me as a reminder of my time away. That’s when I found this beautiful linen embroidered with the scripture of Psalm 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God". It was the last one they had and I knew that it would be perfect to use not only for a perfect tea napkin, but to provide inspiration.
In this fast paced life that is constantly filled with distractions, disappointments, and mindless chatter, it is next to impossible to be still. Because of this it is so easy for the world to rob the peace and joy and break down the communication between ourselves and God. As our souls yearn for God, this busyness yields a disconnect in our spirit, and an internal war ensues within us. As our minds begin to race with life our focus begins to shift from knowing God is in control to wondering why we must endure suffering. God becomes a distant glimpse while we become engulfed in the present reality of our problems. Instead of being tuned into what God has for us, this distance ensues a narcissistic cycle of constant discontentment and self-pity.
It is imperative in this secular world that we simply stop and take time to be still and meditate on what God’s design and plan is for our life. Knowing God in a deep intuitive way allows us to detach ourselves from our circumstance and rest upon who he is. Understanding that in the difficult times in our lives he is strengthening our inner man that we may endure the hardships of life and like Job say’s, “Though he may slay me I will rest in him”.
It is one of my life long struggles to drown out life and simply be still and know God for who he is. So, as my tea linen inspires me to work upon my deficiency and grow stronger in the faith, I pray this post inspires you to do the same.
It's Halloween, the festive time of the year where old traditions of celebrating the dead come alive. The last day of October is where we attend costume parties, decorate our houses with spooky jack-o-lanterns, light bonfires, and tell scary ghost stories that send shivers down anyone's spine. But most notable and prevalant attribute about Halloween its the treats! Its the one holiday a year where candy is King and the sugar level in every household raises by an infinate amount. So what does that mean for any tea lover? It means its another opportunity to set up a festive and inviting place to celebrate with a Halloween tablescape and some hot tea with treats.
I started off with a perfect black tea pot that could be found in any witch's kitchen for a brew of some sort, and a matching black mug that could hold a delightful potion of tea. Next, I placed an apothacary full of candy corn topped with oreo Halloween themed cookies. A plate full of orange and green cookies with a couple of cake pops make the sweet menu official. A couple added items for extra ambiance and I am ready to begin my Halloween treat.
Here is to hoping to inspire you on this spooky day to stop and take some time to enjoy your sugary treats with a spot of tea.
Hope everyone is enjoying the autumnal weather we are having! As you know I love to bake cupcakes, and seeing as how it is the fall time, I have been baking these Pumpkin Roll Cupcakes like crazy! They taste JUST LIKE a pumpkin roll and were a instant hit in my house (I'm already on my second batch!).
Recipe:
Ingredients
- 1 box of Pumpkin Cake mix
- 4 egg whites
- 1 and 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 3 cups of powdered sugar
- 1 package of cream cheese (room temperature)
- 1 stick of butter (room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla
- 1 teaspoon of imitation butter
- 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
- extra cinnamon for garnish (optional)
- 1/4 cup of sour cream
Directions
- Mix the cake mix, egg whites, sour cream, vegetable oil, and water together. Add in nutmeg and cinnamon and mix well. Place batter into a cupcake tin and bake for 20-22 minutes.
- While cupcakes are in the oven, mix cream cheese, butter, imitation butter, and vanilla until blended.
- Start mixing in the powdered sugar about a 1/2 a cup at a time.
- When the cupcakes are done, let them cool for about 20 minutes. Then put your icing on them. To finish, sprinkle cinnamon on top to garnish the cupcakes.
Additional Comments
- This recipe makes about 16 cupcakes depending on how much batter you use per cupcake (I filled the cupcake pan almost to the top).
- Since they have cream cheese icing, they should be stored in a refrigerated area. This will allow the icing to become firm and cool.
- If you would like to create a cinnamon cream cheese icing, add in a teaspoon of cinnamon to the icing mixture before adding in the powdered sugar.
I made a video tutorial on these cupcakes as well. My brother made a cameo in it, check it out:
In honor of Trick-Or-Treat night, todays posts talks about costumes! Have you ever wondered what tea pots dress up as for Halloween? Well here are four tea pots that have their costume on and are ready for tonight!
Here is an unmarked tea pot dressed as a kitchen sink. It is complete with cabinets and drawers under the sink. The tea pot also has a few dishes in the sink, with a dish towel hanging over. The tea pot, cup, and tray on the left make up the lid. This is a super cute tea pot that blends right in with the holiday décor.
This Bordeaux tea pot was hand painted by Mann. I think it looks like a basket filled with grapes, leaves, and vines from a vineyard. What do you think?
This hand painted Tulip Time by Mann, makes for a wonderful garden costume. The handle is a blade of grass, and the lid has a tulip sprouting from the top as a handle. Side note: it is sitting by a childhood favorite, Pumpkin Moonshine!
Finally we have another unmarked tea pot, this time as a cute little cottage. What is more homier than a thatched roofed home complete with a chimney? I think this costume does a great job at impersonating a cottage. This is also my favorite costume of the four!
