Tea in Bed

Hello Everyone,

Sometimes my life is one big blur of business. Sleeping in is a luxury that doesn't happen very often.  However,  there a few occasions that I do get to enjoy some quiet time relaxing in my room after a night of rest. I always like to have tea items ready for such a treat.  Having my tea and breakfast/snack in bed is a sure way to decompress from the stress of the upcoming day. I can sip on tea and read magazines or pick any channel on TV to watch. My room becomes a sanctuary of peace and relaxation for a little while.

Not only can a tray of tea items be helpful tools in catching up on some alone time for any overworked lady, it can become a great item of decor for your bed.  I just have some fresh flowers (which I always keep around) and a simple silver tea set on a matching tray.  It becomes a wonderful focal point in the room that is always inviting.  I hope this inspires you to do the same.

God Bless,

Trina Belle

Father's Day | 2015

Hello Everyone,

Father's Day is upon us!  Not only does it occur during the wonderful season of summer, but it gives us the great pleasure of honoring the patriarch of the family. Like America, most countries celebrate Father's Day on the third Sunday of June.  Father's Day was inaugurated in this country in 1908 as an observance to compliment Mother's Day.  Father's Day had a very interesting and rocky start but finally in 1972 it gained recognition as a national holiday.

It is a definitely an occasion where you want to do something special to celebrate how wonderfull and important all of the male role models in your life are.  Fathers are not only are important influences in the home, but they echo the paternal and manly nature for society. The father is essential for the structure of any home and should be given proper attention on this special day.

The best way to express your true feelings for the important men in your life is to highlight their interest.  Showing them that you are willing to take the time to for what they love is a sure way to make them feel special and appreciated.  My husband loves fishing and hunting, so we made him some really cute cupcakes that brought a smile on his face.  Not only did he have a wonderful treat for his day but he had something that represented his favorite past times.

 

Hope you all enjoyed your Father's Day!

God Bless,
Trina Belle

Queen Victoria's Garden Teacup | Birthday Gift for Mom

Hello friends,

I feel like shopping for my mom is really easy. All I have to do is go to a local antique shop and pick up a cute tea cup and saucer, which is exactly what I did this year for her birthday. I managed to find a tea cup, saucer, and plate that matched a tea pot she already owned. Can you say, jack pot?

This particular print is called Queen Victoria's Garden. Like I mentioned before, mother had already purchased the teapot a year or so ago. The cup, saucer, and plate I found just a couple weeks ago as a set. I bought them for $24 which I thought was a pretty good deal. The top of the tea cup is shaped like a flower and the place where the tea cup sits on the saucer has a corresponding flower cut out for the tea cup to sit in (you can see it in the second picture). The saucer is also in a flower shape instead of the standard round saucer. All in all, I was very happy to stumble across this - as was my mom!

Thanks for visiting,

Tilly

A Birthday Celebration

Hello friends,

Over the weekend my mother celebrated the 12th anniversary of her 30th birthday (in case you can't tell, someone has issues with being 40 something.) We first celebrated by going out to eat and going to the premiere of Jurassic World (super AMAZING by the way). The following day we celebrated by having some family members over for a dinner. The menu included pork loin, grilled chicken, green beans, macaroni and cheese, gravy, dirty mashed potatoes, rolls, and corn. For drinks we had fresh lemonade and sweet tea. We ordered a lemon cake from a local bakery, and I made chocolate cupcakes for dessert. We had a considerable amount of yellow and black dinnerware which is why we went with the yellow and black colors. We made sure that each table had fresh flowers, as they always help to set the ambiance. 

 

Using what you already have can be a very helpful way to keep your party inexpensive. Investing in a nice dinner/tea set will always come of use in situations such as this. Besides the place mats and settings, we used a piece of yellow fabric we had left over from a sewing project to place under the food. We also purchased hanging fans and balloons to create a more festive atmosphere. All easy and inexpensive things conjure up and use to decorate, making this dinner relatively easy to put together and enjoy.

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Tilly

Toile de Jouy

Hello Everyone,

As far as printed fabrics go, toile is by far my ultimate favorite.  Any and every chance I can use its old world charm I do.  Toile is a French word that is not pronounced like it’s written, and has been shortened from its original name.  Originally called Toile de Jouy  (pronounced twahl de zhwee) after the town, Jouy-en-Josas, a village near Verailles.  French Toile has quite a history and it doesn’t even start in France, for which it’s famous.  It originated from Ireland in 1752 by Frances Nixon, who invented a way of machining the print onto fabrics with copperplate printing.  When Nixon introduced them to England, they were an instant success and manufacturing began.  Due to a ban at the time on France for exporting cotton manufacturing, they were falling behind on their industry.  When the ban was lifted, a French printer hired a designer and opened the Jouy factory.  Due to their high standards and artistry, the Jouy plant became synonymous with the toile design.  It became the fabric of the French court, especially with Marie Antoinette. 

Benjamin Franklin, a printer himself, was the first American to buy toile and bring back to the colonies.  It was an instant success here.  Despite a ban on skilled textile workers leaving England, Franklin was able to help a man by the name of John Hewson leave his country to produce such fabrics in America.  It took America nearly 50 years before they were able to compete with the British textile factories.  Because of industrialization and social change the toile design lost its popularity fairly quickly but was revived in the Colonial Revival movement that officially began 1876 in Philadelphia.  Since then it has always been a popular fabric here in America, even having peak popularity known as “toile fever.”

This enduring and endearing fabric can be an inexpensive way of bringing stories of the past and charm into anyone’s home.  It can be found by just about any retailer and online.  Most of my toile is a Waverly print that I have bought in various places because of its popularity and convenience. Here is a room I have decorated with yellow and blue toile wallpaper and curtains.

 

All information was retrieved from the following book: Toile: The storied Fabrics of Europe and America by Michele Palmer.

 

God Bless,

Trina Belle

Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes

Hello friends,

Here we are with another cupcake recipe! I have been craving a strawberry shortcake for some time now and decided to make it in a cupcake form. Strawberries are one of the first fruits of summer and were traditionally used to mark the beginning of summer. In fact, shortcake parties were popular summer social gatherings in the 1840s and 1850s. While shortcake parties are no longer a fad, I still have been classically conditioned to eat them this time of year. To find out how I made a strawberry shortcake cupcake, see my recipe below. Happy baking!

Recipe: 

          Ingredients

          - 1 box white OR yellow cake mix

          - 1 cup of sour cream

          - 1 and 1/4 cups of powdered sugar 

          - 1 package of cream cheese (room temperature)

          - 1 stick of butter (room temperature)

          - 1 teaspoon of vanilla

          - 1 teaspoon of almond

          - 2 egg whites

          - 1 carton of strawberries

          - 1 cup (or more) of granulated sugar

         Directions

          - Mix cake as directed on the box AND add the sour cream into the mix before baking. Then bake the cake as directed on the box. The sour cream will help to make the cake fluffier and have a softer texture.

          - While cupcakes are in the oven, mix cream cheese and butter until well blended.

          - Add in egg whites, vanilla extract, and almond extract until blended. Adding in the egg whites will help the icing to be feel lighter and smoother.

          - Mix in the powdered sugar about 1/4 a cup at a time. Refrigerate icing for a couple hours before icing. 

          - Cut carton of strawberries up into slices and place in a bowl. Add sugar into bowl and stir. This will sweeten the strawberries and create a strawberry syrup. If more than a cup of sugar is needed to sweeten the sugar, then slowly add in extra sugar until they are sweet enough for you.

          - When the cupcakes are done and the icing has firmed up, ice the cupcakes. TIP: ice the cupcakes so that the icing forms a circular dome with a hole in the middle (this will be where you place your strawberries so they do not slide off).

          - To finish, place strawberries in the center of the cupcake and drizzle strawberry syrup over the cupcake. NOTE: do not add the strawberries until you are ready to eat the cupcake(s). The syrup will soak into the cupcake and make it soggy if left on for an extended amount of time.

          Additional Comments

          - This recipe made 24 cupcakes and I had enough icing for all of them.

         - Like my Mint Chocolate previous cupcakes, these cupcakes should be stored in a refrigerated area because they have cream cheese icing. 

         - This is probably one of my favorite cupcake recipes because the cake and icing are so light and fluffy!

Happy baking!

Tilly

Sugar Lace Doily

Hello friends,

I don't know about you, but I can spend an endless amount of hours browsing Etsy. Sometimes this can lead to my demise (or my bank account's demise) and sometimes it can lead to finding neat little gems! Below is a sugar lace doily that melts away in your tea. How cool is that?! The doily takes about 2 minutes to dissolve and is such a cool way to sweeten your tea. The lace sugar is homemade here in the U.S. and can also be used to decorate a cake or cupcake. I thought the doilies were super cute, but was afraid they wouldn't be sweet enough for our tea. However, my fears were put to rest after the doily had completely dissolved. The tea was sweet and sugary enough for this gal!

Thanks for reading,

Tilly

Clothesline Tea

Hello friends,

I absolutely love having lunch/dinner/tea/etc. outside. Eating alfresco this time of year is perfect because the heat isn't unbearably hot yet, and the wind isn't too strong. Since I recently purchased new sheet sets, I thought it would be a great day to hang them up to smell fresh. This inspired me to set up a clothesline tea using a sheet as a backdrop. Having an impromptu outdoor meal or tea doesn't take that much effort if you have a spare table and chairs. All that you see in the pictures below were pulled from the house and set up within minutes. The flowers are wild and were picked a few yards from the house. Adding cute decorations and flowers to any setting makes me feel happier. In my opinion, taking the time to treat yourself to a lunch out side can be quite beneficial to your mental health ;)

Thanks for stopping by,

Tilly