Posted by “There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.”
Henry James
I’m pretty sure the main reason I want to host my own afternoon tea party is that I love tea sandwiches: Roquefort Butter and Red Pear, Crisp Vegetable, Smoked Salmon and Caper. I want to eat them all. But a tea party can’t just be about food (or can it?), so to make the idea of throwing a tea party more interesting, I decided to put a literary spin on it.
Here are some of the items I would love to use during my literary tea party:
anthropologie Literary Correspondence Napkin Set
This beautiful set of four cotton napkins has text from letters written by some well-known authors screenprinted onto them. Who wouldn’t want to sip tea with Jack London, Mark Twain, Emily Dickinson, and D.H. Lawrence?
Penguin Tea Towel
At the end of the tea, wash up with a cotton tea towel based on the Classic Penguin tri-band cover of Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own.
Novel Teas
This is pretty cute. Novel Teas contain 25 English Breakfast teabags individually tagged with literary quotes from authors like C.S. Lewis and Alice Hoffman. It’s perfect for a literary tea party but it would also make a great gift.
DIY Literary Quote Mugs (photo credit: Sarah Fritzler)
I came across this blog post by designer & illustrator Sarah Fritzler and thought it was such a great idea. In fact, I’m already planning on making my own mug following her simple steps!
Interested in throwing your own tea party? Martha Stewart has some great suggestions here.
Any advice on hosting a tea party? Leave me a comment!