Totally TEA-riffic!

This past Saturday afternoon, I had the joy of participating in one of my very favorite Christmas events of the season, our church's annual Ladies Christmas Tea! It is the most beautiful event...over 80 tables lovingly & creatively set for tea with silver & china & linens & more. There is singing & special music, there is a wonderful speaker, there is food and, of course, tea! It is girly, it is encouraging and it is just plain fun! This was my 5th year participating in the event by decorating a couple of tables. I love planning my table themes & also enjoy setting them just right with the help each year of my faithful mom! It is always a special mother/daughter time & this year I had a couple of extra seats at my table, so it was a joy to include my own girls in the festivities! We had walked through the tea room on Friday afternoon & toured a lot of the already decorated tables. It was all they could do to not touch every pretty plate, every ornament tied around folded napkins, every thoughtful table favor & every sparkly decoration. So when I asked Sophie & Darcy if they would like to attend the tea this year, well, they were over the moon with excitement to be a part of such a fancy, grown-up event!

My mom & I did most of our decorating on Thursday evening, and I think we are getting into a groove because it seemed to not take us as long this year! My mom went into work early every day last week & worked through lunch to accumulate enough overtime so that she could take off on Friday morning to help me further! How's that for dedication, THANKS Mom!

(Mom & I at the Tea)

On Friday morning, we put the finishing touches on the tables & then Mom strolled Drew up & down the hallways while I went around taking pictures of the gorgeous tables! (It is too crowded & busy on Saturday to take a lot of pictures!) About a third of the tables still had not been decorated, so I didn't even get to see them all...but let me tell you, WOW...every.single.table was a masterpiece...lovingly planned, painstakingly set & creatively decorated...kind of reminds me of how God views each one of us, amazing!

I have always admired tables that use blue, they really stand out in all of the red, so this year I changed up my table decorations a bit...for the table we were sitting at, I went with a theme based on the colors red, silver & blue. I have been really into the red & blue combination for Christmas & I was pleased with the way everything turned out!

For the centerpiece, I filled my trusty apothecary jars with blue, red & silver/white ornaments & set them all on my mom's beautiful silver tray from her tea service.

 My Christmas china is a simple silver snowflake pattern that I got a few years back for Christmas from my mom. It is from Target & I love that they have been carrying it for several years now, so that I can add pieces each year if needed! And I love the snowflake pattern because I can leave this china out well into the New Year & it still looks festive & wintry!

 I love adding in little details like these silver glass birds to provide extra interest & a touch of the unexpected!

 Sweet little favors for our guests, pretty blue tins full of tea bags, of course!

 

 We also wrapped the napkins with a ribbon & added a flavored honey stirrer for the tea!

 One of these years I hope to find some nice chair covers, but until then, just a simple ribbon to add a festive touch!

Eight places ready & waiting for fellowship with sweet friends!

For my second table, I like to use more traditional Christmas colors to match my "good" china pattern...lots of reds & golds & greens. I also did a new centerpiece on this table this year with the addition of a big square lantern (that I found at Old Time Pottery for $20!) 

My original intention was to use various sized crystal glasses inside the lantern with votive candles...but there was a "no candle" rule this year, so I had to switch things up...next year I will invest in some of those great battery operated candles to create a pretty glow inside the lantern!

 To add a touch of green to all the golds & reds, I used fresh magnolia leaves all around the base of the lantern & also under the napkins. 

 Red tins of tea for the guests at this table!

 I love to collect teapots & it is so fun getting to bring them off of the shelf for a special event!

 One of my favorite ornaments, a pretty little blown glass birdie resting atop the lantern.

When I was planning this table I knew it needed something to add some punch & bring it all together...when we finished decorating our tree last week & put the tree skirt around it...I knew that was just what the table needed! It worked perfectly as a round table runner over the white tablecloth!

Now, you know me, and you know that I took a zillion pictures of all of the beautiful tables...and you also probably know that I can't choose just a few to show you...BUT I did create a few photo collages to show you many of the beautifully decorated tables!

The Traditional Tables

(Click on the collage to enlarge photo in a separate window & then click your back button to return to the post.)

The Pinks & Plums!

Fun & Whimsical Tables!

Christ-centered Themes

All-out Fancy Tables!

As we were leaving church the day before the Tea a friend was decorating a vignette by the elevators with a Christmas tree, a Cross topped with a crown & a manger filled with hay. The girls wondered why there was no baby Jesus in the manger, so my friend Jane gave the girls the swaddling cloth & asked if they could bring back a baby Jesus for the Tea...of course, the girls were delighted to have such an important job! When we left the house Saturday afternoon it was starting to sleet & rain, so the girls were all bundled up in their warm, winter coats. Sophie cradled the swaddled baby Jesus gently in her arms the whole way. As we got out of the car at the church, Sophie tucked baby Jesus inside of her coat & said, "Mommy, it's okay if I get wet, but I can't let baby Jesus get wet!"

 Here is Sophie ever so carefully placing baby Jesus in the manger.

 My sweet girls at the Tea! 

Check out Sophie's pretty flower headband, isn't it gorgeous! My mom's sweet friend Mary Ann made them (she also made one for Darcy & one for me) and the best part was that Mary Ann was able to join us at the Tea, so I finally got to meet her in person after being her Facebook friend & following her blog! I thought I got a photo with her, but it must have been on someone else's camera.

 This table was right beside us at the tea. It wasn't finished on Friday when I was taking pictures, but I had to snap one during the tea because it was TOO cute! It was decked out in a Mad Hatter's Tea Party theme, complete with "Drink Me" tags & crooked teacups. My picture doesn't do it justice, but it was totally delightful, whimsical & very fun! 

All of the pastor's wives did a sounded so sweet singing the beautiful Amy Grant song, Heirlooms.

 The girls watching & listening to the music

 Time for tea, 2 lumps of sugar, please!

 Darcy especially liked the pomegranate honey stir spoon...she pretty much treated it like a lollipop!

 She also like stirring her tea!

 I think Yaya is worried that Darcy is going to spill her tea! But both girls were wonderful little ladies & I am thankful to report that we had no spills or incidents!

 Listening to more music...because I knew that listening to a speaker for 1/2 an hour might be a little more sitting still than the girls could handle, Jeff graciously offered to pick the girls up just before the speaker started. It worked out perfectly & made for a Tea that we all could enjoy!

 My roommate all through college, Amy, was able to join us for the Tea! She only lives 5 minutes away & yet we hardly ever see each other :-( so it was GREAT to spend the afternoon together! 

  My mom & her friend from work, Sandy, who also joined us for the tea

My mom works with some of the nicest people ever. Aja is another dear friend who I met through my mom...her sweet sister, Taylor, sat at our table. Aja & her mom sat a few tables away.

My mom, Aja, me &Taylor

So that wraps up a totally sweet day of tea & decorations & celebrating friendships old & new! The biggest bummer of the day was that I didn't have a chance to get a picture of me with the girls at the tea! :-( Oh well, hopefully next year, I'm already looking forward to it!