After an afternoon of laughs and good company I decided that I wanted to try and make this an annual affair. An annual coming together - talking our crazy talk, drinking our herbal tea blends, and eating our yummy (yet healthy) treats.
Well, this last weekend my little annual afternoon tea party dream came true. It came, as it did last year, at the perfect time. New memories were made and old memories resurfaced of people, places and ridiculous moments shared in the past.
I had been desperately needing to use some pent-up creative energy, so I saw the tea party preparation as my perfect outlet and set about making bonbonniere, wrapping pressies, decorating the table, trying a new recipe (an embarrassingly rare event these days!) and even learning some new origami skills. KJ often comments that I'm a Caucasian with an Asian heart - I think it's my obsession with all the frill and bling of the Asian boutiques in Sydney, and perhaps why the origami came surprisingly naturally to me.
The bonbonniere for each place setting was a little calico shoe bag which I screen-printed in the same theme as the baby onesie that featured in our pregnancy announcement video earlier this year. A shoe bag for each girl's next adventure, containing some delicious Pukka herbal tea...
The place settings were paper cranes, which I made in paper that I felt suited each of us: KJ's in a happy yellow stripe, Barney's in an exotic peacock print, Carly's in her signature black and white, and mine in my favourite - gingham.
The table was decorated very simply with daisies and tea lights in bottles and Fowler preserving jars. I find the simple inexpensive
(or free!) things work beautifully when it comes to table decorations, it doesn't take much more than a little flame and some pretty petals to make a table look inviting...
And for a sweet treat to accompany our tea, I did something my risk-averse personality has never done before - I tried a new recipe on someone other than D! Time was against me so I was forced out of my comfort-zone and thankfully it was a success! With many and varied dietary requirements at the table I managed to find a recipe that suited us all - a raw, vegan, gluten free, dairy free, refined sugar free, paleo cheesecake! It was highly nutritious and delicious, as well as aesthetically pleasing. It was decorated with mint leaves and edible viola flowers and best of all, enjoyed guilt-free by us all!
The intention of the tea party was to treat the girls to a lovely afternoon, but it was me who came away feeling abundantly blessed. Not only by the laughs and the good company, but with lovely gifts for 'Mini' and me.
