Archive for June, 2008
- Relieve your guests from the guess-work of where to sit.
- Give your event a friendly but dressy and prepared-for feel.
- Show your thoughtfulness as a hostess, choosing the best for your guests based on previous relationships, personalities, and the possibility of new friendships.
Your place cards can be simply made with your printer or own beautiful handwriting and some pretty paper, as illustrated in the picture above. Yet creative, theme-based place card holders can add a whimsical touch to your event. They can also double as the party favors. Here are some examples of my favorites:
Intimate is never more than eight, so try to keep your sit-down event to 4-8 seated guests per table.
June 10th, 2008
Last night I listened to a powerful speaker, Steve Chalke, and learned about Stop the Traffik; an organization committed to the abolishment of human trafficking, the second most lucrative crime worldwide.
Chalke reminded me that when people asked William Wilberforce what they could do to help move Parliament’s hand to abolish the slave trade in England, he told them to stop taking sugar in their tea. In other words, government listens when consumers affect the economic balances of our societies and in the early 1800s, the slaves worked on the sugar plantations. But if no one bought the sugar…they wouldn’t need the slaves.
Forty-three percent of the world’s chocolate comes from cocoa beans harvested in Cote D’Ivoire (the Ivory Coast) of Africa. An estimated 12,000 children have been trafficked to harvest these cocoa beans. No candy bar is worth eating if I know one child has been separated from Mom and forced to work.
Thanks to the Internet and our access to information, we can make knowledgeable consumer decisions relatively easily. Websites and companies like Equal Exchange allow us to learn how to purchase our daily pleasures that are not grown in the United States–mainly coffee, tea, and chocolate. Some tea companies deal exclusively with fair trade teas such as Rishi and Fair Trade Teas. But many tea companies offer some fair trade teas in their selections, and it’s always worth asking.
It’s been said ignorance is bliss and I say, it’s true. Life is easier when I don’t know that the small decisions I’m making affect the lives of others in dramatic ways. But my bliss cannot be my goal. I sang, “Jesus loves the little children…All the children of the world” to my daughter tonight with new understanding. Her innocence and safety has been protected through deep sacrifices on my part. Does that mean my anthropology professors in college were right and I do this because I’m programmed to protect my genes? What a sad testimony to the human spirit that would be! No, I may not be able to take every child under my roof, but if by asking a few questions, spending some extra pennies, and sharing what I know I can help protect another child’s innocence and safety, I will.
I hope you will, too.
June 9th, 2008
If you could only afford to buy one looseleaf tea to have on hand, which would it be?
This year, I stopped purchasing tea to resell for a number of reasons, and my stash of black tea has dwindled down to my last few pots. This of course means I have to begin purchasing tea again at retail prices (!) and become a little more choosy about what I decide to drink. My mother brought Quangzhou Milk Oolong tea on vacation and I REALLY liked it, but would not have chosen it for myself, especially at $120 a pound. (Don’t forget, that still equals less than $1 per cup AND it can be infused more than once.) Like wine, the choices can be overwhelming and one can wonder, is the $40 bottle truly better than the $7 bottle and is it worth it?
So I would love to hear from you, Readers. What is your favorite looseleaf tea? What do you reach for again and again? How would you describe it to others? Please leave a comment this weekend and tell me what you know.
June 6th, 2008
This afternoon finds me on my back deck with the temperatures in the low 80s. The children are occupied, the neighbor’s sprinkler and birds mask the barking dog, and the butterflies and dragonflies occasionally flit by to see what I’m up to. It’s easy to be thankful today for life as a stay-at-home mom.
But that is not always the case. And as I have often shared here at Tea Party Girl, two simple comforts I’ve relied on through the ups and downs are quality tea and plenty of books. Recently, a number of new Tea Reads have been added to my ever-growing library including a new favorite:
An elegantly illustrated book, The Gentle Art of Hospitality provides simple and beautiful ideas for hosting others in our homes. As I read through it, I felt like the ideas were new and fresh, not typical. I felt like it was a chance to learn from a Southern lady who had a few more decades of experience welcoming other into her home under her belt. Here’s one of my favorites that helped my perspective:
“A simple glass of water with a slice of lemon on the rim is a wonderful presentation if our heart are in the right place.”
Add a slice of lemon. What a simple and beautiful idea!
Alda’s tea party-related company is called Sentimental Living, if you want to learn more about what she offers.
June 5th, 2008
Next Posts
