If Teacups Could Talk...

They would say:

It's come and gone already -- the Annual Mother-Daughter Tea. Just like the holidays, where there's so much planning, shopping, preparation and then, bang, it's over! But it was fun. All the tables were so beautiful; the little girls so charming; the guests so pleasant. It was nice to take a few hours from the busyness of daily life, the dreariness of world news (not to mention the gas prices) and carve out some pamper time and create some beauty for other ladies. Notice I said 'ladies.' Because that's what you feel like when you do proper Tea.

So here's a pictoral history of how a Mystical Gypsy prepares for a Grand Tea Event...

Ribbons & wallpaper samples. hmmm. We can do something with that...

Old fashioned May baskets! Frou-frou with some pink tissue paper & fill with lucious chocolate and you have favors for the guests.

What else do we already have on hand?

Sage organza -- the beautiful fabric created just to test a sewing saint's patience. I found this, actually several years ago, at such a bargain price, I bought a gazillion yards with the ambitious intent to make a bedskirt. Which didn't look so hot when all was said & done. I've been hanging on to it with another ambitious intent to make placemats or table runners. Aha - now's the time. Except, let's do 2 colors. Off to the fabric shop where a beautiful lavender was on sale - yahoo! Except I didn't figure on enough. Return to store. Of course it's all gone. Now my heart is intent on this color; I must have it or my life will be ruined, so I exchanged the 2 yards for 3 of a slightly different color and at a higher price. Of course they let me exchange it!

What would the teacups say at this point? "Crazy woman." She's learning a new job (kinda saps your brain energy, ya know?), husband is on a multi-country trip (leaving her with 2 large, needy dogs), and there's only a week to make these organza runners (with 3 evening obligations, there's basically only 2 evenings left). How hard can runners be? Just a straight edge, you say? 1 - obviously you've never worked with what I affectionately call "the beautiful fabric from he}}" and 2 - I always seem to do things the hard way when it comes to sewing. I thought about my friend Debbie a lot. She's the Queen of Stitch Witchery.

Moving on. We have frou-frou favors and organza table runners. Now we need a centerpiece. Ribbons. May. May Baskets. A Maypole? It was a thought. Off to Michaels for inspiration. Instead, I found another bargain - a topiary marked down 40% and ribbon was on sale (Michaels has become my FCS, favorite craft store, lately).

Making progress. We have a topiary maypole & ribbons. Needs something else, a whimsical touch.

Lo and Be-Hold -- I found these darling fairies marked 50% off after Christmas and Had To Have Them. Usually, they sit on the curtain rod in my crafty room, but they were quite happy to take center stage on the Tea Table. The whimsy factor just ratcheted up a couple notches.

And here is the final result.

Now for the Icing on the Cake.... 

What a surprise! I just wanted to splash some color around & have fun. I've never won a first-place anything before!

It was a fun week and a lovely day. So if Teacups Could Talk, they would say, "Happy Mother's Day." More bloggity-chat to come, but that's all for tonight.