Christmas Candy Tea

Happy New Year! We have enjoyed a great holiday break with lots of family time, extra rest and a few creative projects I can't wait to share. But first, here are a few photos from the tea party the girls and I hosted for our friends the Browns.

Most of our sitting room furniture is still in Wetumpka, but I took advantage of the empty space in our new house to set up a card table in view of my sitting room tree.

A simple menu of mostly storebought treats helped us manage planning a party in the midst of the holiday rush.


 

I tied extra wreaths to the chair backs with pink ribbon and set the table with pastel linens and dinnerware.


 

Candy ornaments from Wal-Mart made sweet favors for the four girls.


 

Our menu included tea sandwiches with chicken salad and pimento cheese from Zoe's, chocolate cupcakes from Publix and strawberry petit fours from Edgar's Bakery. Fresh strawberries and pineapple rounded out the simple fare, served with Ascot Floral Afternoon tea from Whittard.


 

And a candy cane at each place reiterated our candy theme.


 

I filled a cake plate with extra teatime treats so Stacey and I could visit over a cup of tea in the kitchen while the little girls enjoyed their tiered server in the sitting room.


 

Stacey brought blueberry and cranberry-orange scones for the party, and I served them with homemade lemon curd. Find the recipe here.


 

We have gone through many transitions this year, but we are grateful that our friendships with Stacey, Emma and Lizzy remain constant. We are already planning our next visit with these sweet girls!



 

Speaking of sharing tea with friends, in my next post I will announce the winner of my giveaway from Whittard. Find the original post to enter here. Also, the book Afternoon Tea from the editors of TeaTime was not claimed, so leave a comment below and I will select a new winner from this post.


Happy New Year!

Candied Christmas Crafts

A highlight of the holiday season for the girls and me was having our sweet friends Stacey, Emma and Lizzy Brown come up for a candy-themed Christmas tea party. I will share our tablescape and easy menu in my next post, but before we sit down for afternoon tea, we have some crafting to do.


 

My daughters and Stacy's share a love of creative projects, so making glittered ornaments and bracelets was a great way to make some sweet memories together.


 

I decorated the sitting room for tea, but our kitchen table was set for play.


 

I provided two clear ornaments for each girl to paint with acrylic craft paints -- one to keep and one to give to her friend. The girls painted ornaments when the Browns arrived so the paint could dry during our visit.


 

Then at the close of the afternoon, the girls painted over their ornaments with ModPodge and covered them in fine glitter. They turned out so pretty! The younger girls coated their whole ornaments with sparkles, but Emma Brown and Mary Ashley were quite creative in glittering their baubles. The four ornaments we kept will look so sweet on our pastel playroom Christmas tree!


 

After we sat down to tea, the girls peeked into this candy dish to choose pretty beads for making bracelets.


 

These shimmering beads from Michaels looked like candies to me. We strung beads on ribbon for a simple token of friendship. Most of the girls made bracelets, but my Emma chose to make a necklace.


 

We bonded with the Browns when the girls were in preschool, and we are so thankful that our friendship has grown stronger through the years.


 

It's no secret; best girlfriends are among our most precious gifts!



"Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time." ~ Laura Ingalls Wilder

Merry Kissmas!

"Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another" (1 John 4:11).


Merry Christmas from the Lester Family!

Musical Notes

"Be merry all, be merry all,

With holly dress the festive hall;

Prepare the song, the feast, the ball,

To welcome merry Christmas."

~ William Robert Spencer

 

 

We celebrated sixth-grader Christian's first concert with lunch at our house before the show.

 

 

 

 

Joe's parents joined us for the day, and it was exciting to gather around the table for such a festive occasion.


 

My mother's Pink Willow added charm to our tablescape.

 

We kept the menu simple and added a few musical notes to enhance the theme of the day.


 

To commemorate Christian's first saxophone performance, I wanted to give him a little memento of the day.


 

This box from Michaels held a little surprise.


 

I found this sweet little saxophone ornament on Ebay.


 

Christian was so pleased to have Nana and Pop in attendance at his first concert.


 

And we were all so proud of how far he has come in learning to play since picking up the instrument for the first time in August. I hope we have a new Christmas tradition!

I heard the bells on Christmas Day

Their old, familiar carols play,

And wild and sweet

The words repeat

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 

Woodwinds & the Willow

"I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year." ~ Charles Dickens

Sunday afternoon we celebrated 12-year-old Christian's first band concert with lunch at our house before the big event.

This occasion seemed the perfect opportunity to use my late mother's Pink Willow china. I inherited her collection when the house she and my father shared recently sold. Mother loved music, so I think she would smile knowing we incorporated her dinnerware into our celebration.

Mother displayed her collection in a china cabinet, but I don't recall her using it for family dinners. I was so surprised to discover that she had 18 place settings! I was delighted to think about all the entertaining possibilities for this lovely transferware pattern.

We used Pink Willow during our lunch, and throughout the holidays I am enjoying the classic vignette this tea set provides.

Stay tuned for a few musical notes from our party. 

"What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace." ~ Agnes M. Pahro

Holiday Notes

 

 

We rang in the holiday season yesterday with Christian's beginner band concert. What a lovely way to celebrate Christmas! Joe's parents joined us for the event, so I will be sharing photos from our visit in upcoming posts. This teacup of roses is just a little preview of the notes to come this week, so stop in again soon!

 

 

"Music expresses feeling and thought, without language; it was below and before speech, and it is above and beyond all words." ~ Robert G. Ingersoll

Merry Merry

"It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air." ~ W.T. Ellis

We took Christmas pictures over the weekend, and although I won't reveal the winning photos until Christmas Day, I had to at least give you a little peek. I still don't have a working computer, but thanks to two borrowed laptops I can let you see how the children are doing.

Our new home in Birmingham is near Oak Mountain State Park, so we ventured out Sunday afternoon. With opportunities for hiking, biking and boating, this looks like a great park to explore. I hope to plan a picnic there soon.

I am really proud of how well the children are doing in their new schools. The older three have jumped right in and are excelling academically and socially. Surprisingly to me, my little Emma has been the slowest to warm to our new home. She is doing more cartwheels every day, though -- a sure sign that the bubbly girl we know and love is on her way back. (Chevron dresses and Mary Ashley's polka dot ribbon from The Shoppes of My Kids Attic; boots from Rack Room Shoes; and Emma's headband from Little Bit Designs.)

Mary Ashley asked to have her picture taken with Joe. She has an empty frame in her room, and she insists that space is reserved for her daddy.

I think Daddy has a special place in his heart reserved for Mary Ashley, don't you?

He certainly has my heart.

My sweet girls.

My boys were not eager to pose, so I will leave you with this final favorite shot of all four. I hope your Christmas season is off to a great start and look forward to sharing more memories through the holidays!

"Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time." ~ Laura Ingalls Wilder

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving 2013!

With Love from the Lester Family

Clipart from the Graphics Fairy. Used with permission.

Whittard of Chelsea Tea Giveaway

"The cup of tea on arrival at a country house is a thing which, as a rule, I particularly enjoy. I like the crackling logs, the shaded lights, the scent of buttered toast, the general atmosphere of leisured coziness." ~ P.G. Wodehouse

British tea company Whittard of Chelsea recently sent me samples of two of their favorite loose-leaf teas. Passionate about importing fine-quality tea and coffee, Walter Whittard opened his first shop in London in 1886. Masterfully composed blends tailored to suit his customers drew a loyal following, and the company grew steadily for more than a century, even through wars and challenging economic times. As an Anglophile, I would love to stroll the streets of England and stop in to browse one of Whittard's 60 UK stores. But lucky for me, until I book that dream trip, authentic British tea is only a click away. Find the company's online boutique here. 

We tried Ascot Floral Afternoon first -- an aromatic blend of fine black and jasmine green tea combined with the distinctive flavor of bergamot. A small acidic orange that yields an essential oil used in perfumes and confections, bergamot peel is used in Earl Grey tea. According to the company's web site, "Mr. Whittard created this house blend in the 1940s especially for those long lingering afternoons when tea taken on the lawn was the most British of rituals." The children and I have savored this blend over Saturday brunch. Mary Ashley and I recommend adding a little milk for a delightful cup! 

This weekend we plan to brew a pot of English Breakfast. Beloved for generations, this is Whittard's most popular blend. "A pot of this traditional blend makes breakfast all it's meant to be," the company boasts. "We combine teas grown thousands of miles apart to create this familiar, comforting taste. Assam for strength, Ceylon for depth and Kenyan for color. We can't imagine starting the day without it."

Just in time for the holidays, Whittard of Chelsea has generously offered two bags of loose tea to a reader of A Little Loveliness. For an opportunity to win both the Ascot Floral Afternoon and English Breakfast blends, leave a separate comment below for each entry you choose.

(1) Tell me about a favorite teacup.

(2) Leave a comment if you follow A Little Loveliness.

(3) Leave a comment if you follow ALL on Facebook.

(4) Like Whittard of Chelsea on Facebook.

I will announce the winner soon. In the meantime, congratulations to Usha Murugesu, who won a copy of The Petit Four Cookbook by Brooks Coulson Nguyen.

Photos from Whittard of Chelsea. Used with permission.