Tea really isn’t a necessary part of life, but isn’t it a beautiful part of life?  The very spirit of tea, whether you drink it in a pretty cup by yourself or with a friend, is the spirit of beauty. Tea can bring grace to your every day, or stir a memory of a time or person you love. I hope you will pour yourself a cup of your favorite tea {mine is Earl Grey} and read along as I share The Gift of Tea in a Basket.

The Gift of Tea in a Basket

It’s always such a delight and honor to join my Monday Morning Blooms friends Pam and Mary for their Tea on Tuesdays! I’ll share their links at the bottom of this post so that you can join each one of us for tea.

The Gift of Tea to Go

 

The Gift of Tea in a Basket.

I’ve had the pleasure of lots and lots of tea parties. From a daily ‘party’ as a little girl with my European grandmama when my Mom and I lived with my grandparents in their stately European home, to little tiny cups of tea in child-sized porcelain cups with my girls and little people {mostly honey very little tea}  – to big tea parties in the garden for 40 ladies from church we hosted every month for two years. Each one is special to me, and each one fills my heart with sweet memories.

Tea in a basket

Today, I’m sharing a small tea party with you, one that you can gift to someone. It’s a tea party that you can pack up and take to a friend who is in need of a touch of beauty, a spot of tea, but mostly love and friendship. All of us have friends who have varying ailments, from the friend who has battled with the world’s longest cold, to the friend who is recuperating from surgery, to a friend who is fighting breast cancer. Or maybe just a friend who is having a hard time, and can use some encouragement.

Sharing the beauty of tea and your love for your friend, and taking her the gift of tea in a basket, is a joy. I have had the opportunity of doing this several times, and I can promise you, while your friend will feel loved and spoiled, it will be YOU who receives the biggest blessing!

 

lilacs in a basket filled with tea party things

If your friend is in bed, you can take your basket right into her bedroom and set everything up on a tray.

The Gift of Tea in a Basket-

Somehow, taking tea together,
encourages an atmosphere of intimacy,
when you slip off the timepiece in your mind
and cast your fate to a delight of tasty tea, tiny foods,
and thoughtful conversation.

-Gail Greco

 

lilacs in a tea cup

You can pack everything in a basket. You will want to include two of your prettiest tea cups {possibly leaving hers behind as a gift}, a small tea cloth or runner and napkins,  perhaps a candle {and candle holder if you bring tapers, and matches} some flowers in a vase or other container, and all the other tea things.

Tea party in an antique basket

Once you get to your friend’s home, you can boil water in her tea kettle, and spread out the cloth, and get your special tea to go ready for the two of you.

Lilacs in antique vase

 

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” 

Galatians 6:2,

Lilacs in an antique floral vase

“Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God;

but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”

1 John 4:11-12

Tea with lilacs on a white linen bed

friendship tea party

What you will serve depends on the friend and what she can have. I think that even if you have a friend who is undergoing chemo and may not wish to eat, she will enjoy a cup of tea with you. She will relish in the fact that you went to the trouble to visit her, and prepared a lovely cup of tea, then spent time listening to her, and sharing your love for her.

When my friend did her chemo, she had a time when she really only wanted to eat very simple cookies and fruit, and that was perfect with tea!

antique lavender tea cup for tea party for a friend

Having tea feels comforting and inviting.  Taking a cup of tea together allows for quiet time to listen, to be attentive to present moment. And to really talk to one another.

I John 4:11-1scripture for tea time

 

 

What to Pack for The Gift of Tea in a Basket

*A large basket with a handle
*A pretty tea cloth and two napkins
*A 4 cup tea pot
*A thermos filled with hot tea {if you can’t boil water there}
* Tea, milk & sugar
*2 tea cups and saucers
*2 tea spoons
*2 small plates
*2 small forks
*Tea foods and fruit
*Flowers in vase
*Tray

 

lilacs in a vase

Quite a few years ago I was asked to speak about women’s friendships for a gathering of women. It’s totally out of my comfort zone to speak publicly, so I did a lot of research at the time, because I wanted to sound smart and be prepared. {!!} One of the things I learned {and really wasn’t surprised at!} was that women respond to stress differently than men. We deal with stress by surrounding ourselves with friends. Friendships between women are special. They shape who we are, and who we are yet to be. More importantly, friends help us live longer, and make us healthier!

Treat a friend to tea

I hope this encourages you to incorporate the gift of tea in a basket into your own life. There are so many opportunities to bring someone a tea party for two! I’ve seen friendships made or renewed, friends in need greatly encouraged, and many other beautiful magical things when you take the time to sit together with someone else over a cup of tea!

 

Silver Plate Tea Pot| Nina’s Paris Tea|Sterling Tea Strainer|Lilac Friendship Tags

 

Marie Antoinette Tea|Antique Sterling Crown Spoon| Lavender Hand Painted Tea Cup|English Silver Plated Muffineer

Vintage Florentine Tray| French Lavender Linen Runner

Pin for Friendship tea party

Please be sure to visit my dear friends Pam and Mary by clicking their links below:

The Gift of Tea iin a Basket

PAM at Everyday Living

tea on Tuesdays

MARY at HomeIsWhereTheBoatIs

The Gift of Tea in a Basket

and me, LIDY at FrenchGardenHouse

 

A BIENTOT

Shop for the best in French Antiques, furniture with the patina of age, vintage accessories to delight you and your family & friends, and French Country utilitarian pieces. Treasures that make your home fresh, beautiful, inspirational and above all uniquely yours. Visit our shop FrenchGardenHouse.com