Wednesday, March 21, 2007

A Bloggers Tea Party - Pt. 2

The bloggers tea party I refer to is going on over at Artsymama's blog. Be sure to go see what's up. I already posted about it in my last blog, but this is Pt. 2 and my original idea - to share my teapots with you.

I was going to just dust (cough, cough, hack, cough) them off a bit and take a simple photo of each of them but then I decided they'd look better with a bit of tea towel or what not beneath them. The next obvious thing was to add a tea cup. And then... well, I got a bit carried away and made these small vignettes. I tried not to spend all day doing it, but I do now have cabinets opened wide, assorted cups and saucers that auditioned spread out all over the kitchen, knick knacks scattered about, and a shelf full of stationary and art supplies knocked over and left for the cats to attack. So, yeah. All your fault.

But it was fun to dig around my house and really look at and take pleasure in some of the beautiful things it holds. It inspires me to keep dusting after I start cleaning it all up again later.

My mother gave me this tiny tea pot. I love it. I bought the dragonfly cup and saucer at World Market. Hubby broke the handle on it and instead of copping to it, he tried to glue it back together before I noticed. Ahem. Like I wouldn't notice that the handle was glued back together with a huge gap in lining it up. Harrhump. I think the little dish is from my mom as well. Nest full of eggs is from a wonderful French style shop that just opened up in our tiny town called La Belle Maison. I go in there regularly just to get a "fix" of being surroudned by beautiful things. That is, beautiful things that are regularly dusted. The tea towel is from there too.

I bought this cauldron shaped tea pot on eBay. I have a Kitchen Witch Theme in my kitchen, so how could I resist her! The little sugar bowl was a find at a local thrift/antique shop. I can't remember where I got the silly black cat. I've got a half dozen live black cats as well. The orange cloth is actually a dishcloth from the little French shop. And "Elpheba"in the background was a really wonderful surprise birthday gift from my hubby.

This whimsical tea pot I found in a junk shop in Sweet Home, Oregon. I can't really call it an antique store. It wasn't a thrift store either. It was just a big barn sized building stuffed to the rafters with old stuff. I bought a bunch of great things that day and sadly left behind a number of other things that were much too large to carry back home in my small Subaru. The tea cup was a sale find at Ross Department Store. And the Cecily Mary Barker flower fairies are from my collection. There was a flower fairy in the first photo too, sitting on the edge of the nest.

Another tea pot from my mom. I've never actually used this one, it sits on a decorative shelf. The old jar was in an online secret sister gift swap box. It held the most wonderful loose leaf herbal tea blend. It made a cup "full of flowers". I drank it all up and now it holds some other tea from the health food store. Can't remember where I got the little birds, they're a fairly new addition to our home.

I inherited this Hall tea pot from my Great Aunt Florence. She was my grandmother's twin sister and they lived together for as long as I can remember them. They were identical in their youth, but by the time I was born, my grandmother was the round, soft and plump one and Florence was thin and angular. They reminded me of the two of the taller fairies in Disney's Sleeping Beauty. They always fondly bickered like them too. At the time, I wasn't quite sure why she bequeathed it to me specifically as I didn't drink tea much at the time. Well, except iced tea. But she must have known something I didn't, because since that time I have become an avid connoisseur of all things tea related. The lovely gold trimmed tea cup, saucer and spoon (which is gold with little roses on the handle - wish that had come out better in the photo) are all from La Belle Maison. The little chair clock was a Bunco winning - I used to play Bunco with my mom and her friends. And the pen I picked up in the gift shop when we visited Castle Caernarfon in Wales.

I also have a children's Fiesta Ware tea party set which is toooo cute, but I decided that would have to wait for another day. I want to get back to visiting the rest of the tea party-ers. I'm having a lot of fun.

P.S. In case you'd like something a bit stronger then tea, I have a post up on Laume's Studio today about wine art.

11 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I really like your collection of teapots. What a good reason to have tea often.

6:13 PM  
Blogger MNScrapbookmom said...

Love your teapot collection... Happy Spring...

6:18 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

I love the teapots and the little vignettes you set up - so pretty! Teapots are so fun and I really like how you've displayed yours. Thank you for coming by my blog today to visit and leave me a nice comment. I really appreciate it!
allie from minneapolis
www.mycozyhome.typepad.com

6:23 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

By the way, thanks for stopping by! I'm glad you'll get to go visit. It is hard when they are so far away.

6:37 PM  
Blogger Boxwood Cottage said...

Wow what a fabulous collection of tea pots you own! This was a fabulous party and I like to thank your stopping by my cottage for tea! Happy Spring to you!

2:34 AM  
Blogger Blame It on Paris said...

I love them! Lots of whimsy and WITCHES, of course. Too bad I don't drink tea. Maybe I should collect chocolate pots.

Laura Florand

5:16 AM  
Blogger Merci-Notes said...

Thanks for stopping by for tea yesterday! Hey, I have 2 kids AND a husband who likes chocolate icecream after I am in bed!! so those are washable slipcovers iI made!
Love your tea pot from your mom and the little fairy you placed on the cute nest. my fav might be the clock tea pot!
With Kindness,
Mary

8:13 AM  
Blogger Darla said...

Glad to see you posted a Part II to the teaparty. I'm pokey but I'm slowly making the rounds.

I've been to Sweet Home, OR but I must have missed that junk shop.

After seeing your teapots this morning and reading back a few posts I suspect we have more in common than living in Northern CA.

Darla

8:18 AM  
Blogger Jeanne said...

Great teapots! My favorite is the "tea time" pot. Oh and I also like your new one with the red lips. How funny! I enjoyed checking out everyone's tea parties. Thanks for sipping some tea with me! By the way, thanks for the cold rememdy tip too!

7:50 PM  
Blogger G said...

I love all your teapots!! I collect them too. I have the very same pair of little birds that are in your teapot clock picture! Thanks for visiting my blog - about the daffodils; they have always stayed true to form. I've never had any that reverted back to plain yellow. Maybe they will do that after many years; I just don't know.

6:57 AM  
Blogger Tanya Brown said...

What wonderful teapots! I love the way you made place settings with them, as though having everyone over for tea.

I like to shop at Cost Plus and Ross too; sometimes they have amazing things.

Bless your Great Aunce Florence for giving you a leg up in the tea collectibles area. The pieces she gave you have such lovely vivid colors.

4:35 PM  

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