French Milled Rose Cinnamon Molded Soap

French Milled Rose Cinnamon Molded Soap is fragrant and so easy to make. The fragrance lingers and the oil in the recipe make your hands feel soft and smooth. Here's the recipe:

French Milled Rose Cinnamon Molded Soap

1 cup grated soap (mild, non-scented, like Ivory)
1/4 cup rose water
1/4 cup coconut oil

Place the above ingredients in a large glass measuring cup. Place this in a kettle of boiling water. Melt and stir the soap until it becomes like marshmallow cream with a small amount of stringiness or rope-like. This takes 10 - 15 minutes with constant stirring. When this stage is reached, remove from heat. Add:

1/4 tsp. powdered cinnamon
Red or pink candle dye melted in 1 Tbsp. almond oil
10 drops rose oil
5 drops cinnamon oil

Stir well and place soap mixture on waxed paper. Then, drop by tablespoons or scoops onto anothersheet of axed paper. Allow to harden, gently molding and forming to smooth surface over time.

Fragrant; gently soapy. Place in a crystal bowl or pretty basket on a rose-embroidered hanky. Enjoy!

February in Pink & Red

Valentine's day has passed, but I cannot allow the holiday to pass without sharing bits and pieces of this heart-filled holiday.

February has been cold and snowy. It's been the perfect time for projects and crafting. Even simple projects like organizing a bookshelf can brighten up the day.

Red is the color for tea service in February! It is such a cheerful color and is the color of love.

Valentine's cards and tea samples from friends brighten February days, making a daily walk to the mailbox a rewarding experience.

And pretty in pink, a puppy's visit was so pleasant and sweet. Cuddles and tugs-of-war alternated with this frisky little beauty.

Good morning! Being called "handsome" is a great way for some to start the day!

Flowers. Tulips and lilies.

Chocolates and a tea tasting.

Red roses. Beautiful red roses.

And a Valentine's brunch of crepes, fruit sauces, and Darjeeling tea.

Happy February!

Spring should be here soon!

Do you have snowdrops in bloom yet?

None here.

The Teapot Quilt Hop

It was a beautiful, sunny day! After days of torrential rain, it was wonderful to see blue skies. Karleen invited me to drive to take a day trip with her to a lovely town in the midst of wheat and wine country. She was running a simple errand; taking a quilt to a shop for machine quilting. She asked if I would like to ride along, and of course that meant the teapot too.

Karleen's quilt is vibrant and colorful! Blue, yellow, pink, and green create a kaleidoscope effect in fabric.

There was a Sunbonnet Sue quilt on the quilting machine, but they spread Karleen's quilt on the edge where it perched all pretty-like. There it was measured and much figuring was done.

It took awhile to figure out which pantograph design to use for the quilting. The little traveling teapot was stuck in a bag, just waiting for permission to peek out and see all the action.

Finally the time was right and the teapot made her appearance. She posed so beautifully on that colorful quilt. And she waited patiently while the ladies went through a bin of thread colors as they tried to find just the right thread for the machine quilting that would stitch the fabric sandwiching the cotton batting.

A choice was made and it was time to move along.  We decided to go to lunch, but discovered another little quilt shop along the way. Of course we dropped in!

The traveling teapot was dutifully introduced and a student learning to sew quilts perked up her ears and said "I'm a tea lady" and gave a happy smile. Her name is Elizabeth and she has a collection of more than 100 teacups. She shared about a recent afternoon tea that she enjoyed in the Bahamas and talked about how much she enjoyed tea at The Empress Hotel in Victoria as well. She was so much fun to talk to!

The shop owner joined right in, telling about a wonderful tea event she attended in Indonesia. She loved the tea and the sugar cubes they served with the tea so much that she stocked up and brought packages of it home with her. It's amazing how "tea" influences so many and how the little plum teapot becomes the impetus for sharing and discovery of common bonds.

Eventually we arrived at our lunch destination. Amber, immediately after being presented with the traveling teapot, offered to take the teapot to the kitchen and fill it with tea for us.

She was quite interested that the house teapots were exactly the same as the traveling teapot except smaller in size. She brought one out to pose with our little plum teapot.

After lunch and tea...

 ...we decided to hit one last quilt shop before heading home.

This shop was a busy place with all the latest trends in fabrics and patterns. After introduction, the plum teapot was given permission to pose wherever she wanted. She was very serious about her task as ambassador of tea.

While the shop keepers worked...

...and serious quilters sewed

...the little plum teapot was finding places to perch and preen. 

Eventually the plum teapot found her comfort zone on a stack of Moda charm packs and next to a delightful quilt design book called "Tea Party". Quite appropriate, don't you think?

It was such a relaxing day. Textiles provide beautiful colors and amazing textures. They inspire and help one create so many pretty things. The little plum teapot enjoyed serving tea and listening to conversation all along the way. Teapot decided that going on a quilt hop made for an interesting day.

Travel Miles!

Keeping up with the Traveling Teapot

I was packin' my teapot along in my pretty pink mini-van, when along came an airliner with USPS delivery. "If you're goin' to Wapakonetta, Priscilla, with me you can fly." And so I handed o'er the teapot and she settled down inside. He asked her if she'd seen the skies with so much tea-dust. And she said, "Listen, I've flown all over in this here land!"

Then she said:

"I've been everywhere, tea ladies. I've been everywhere. I've been to Chester, Niagara Falls, Strongsville, Medina, Lake Couchiching,Washington, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Tonky, Barbourville, Corbin, Stanford, Renfro Valley, Nashville, Bowling Green, St. Charles, Palm Beach, San Francisco, Wapakonetta, Sylvania, Findlay, Waterloo, Des Moines, New Virginia, Frankfort, East Moline, Ann Arbor, Adrian, Defiance, Bryan, Archbold, Pettisville, Altadena, Issy, Burbank, Nevada City, El Cerrito, Markham, Temecula, Berea, Broadview Heights, Portland, Laguna Hills, St. Louis, Massillon, Napoleon, Pensacola."

Find out how many miles the traveling teapot has covered in the past 14 months! I think you'll be surprised! The answer is here.

Mini Yellow Roses & Snapdragons Bouquet

I hope you had a wonderful holiday week-end. Our family enjoyed a relaxing time together. The weather was breezy and cool. We even had several days of rain showers. This evening the rain stopped and the breeze was mild. It was so pleasant. I walked around the garden, looking at the flowers and how they have been growing and blooming. The yellow miniature roses drew me in. Although most of them are pure yellow, some have tinges of dark pink and a few are light cream-colored with pink shadowing the edges of the petals. I had to pick some to enjoy inside. 

I really wanted to arrange them with blossoming stalks of lavender. The hybrid lavenders are so perfect and pretty as they grow in bunches. But, I didn't really want to spoil the effect by picking any of them. Instead, I decided to pick some pretty orange and yellow snap-dragons to go with the roses.

Each rose is so different, yet each is perfect in its own way. I love observing how each petal spirals from a central point and how they flair in wider and larger semi-circles.

Arranging them was relaxing. I found a place to display them in the dining room where the family can view them all week long. I've enjoyed a cup of Adagio Yunnan Gold tonight as I edited photos and created this post. I hope you enjoy a wonderful week! May will be gracing us a few more days and then the warmer, sunnier days of June will appear. May your week be blessed with many good things!

Mouse Ear of the Woods

Forget Me Not teacup
Clare Bone China ~ Made in England

These dainty little flowers have the botanical name Myosotis sylvatica which has the adorable meaning "Mouse Ear of the Woods". They are probably better known, though as Forget Me Nots. They can be identified by their five petals, a flat face, and a yellow eye or center. They are commonly baby blue in color, but can also be found in white and pink. They are native to England but can be found in woodland areas in many parts of North America. They are easily cultivated and make a pretty addition to flower gardens. 

The tiny blossoms of this plant are edible and can be added to salads to add variety in color, shape, and flavor. And like violets, violas, and pansies, they can be candied or sugared and then used to decorate baked goods and confectioneries. Excessive ingestion of this delicate blossom is not suggested, as it contains minute amounts of pyrrolizidine, an alkaloid that is found in several common herbs like borage, comfrey, and coltsfoot. Don't let that scare you from trying this tiny blossom, though. Honey, grains, milk, and eggs are also sources where this naturally occurring chemical can be found. Moderation seems to be the key.

Historically, this flower was selected to be the one representing King Henry IV of England. He was exiled in 1398  and holds a colorful and romanticized place in chronicles of the time. It is thought that the flowers represent faithfulness and enduring love because of the life of Henry IV. This English king was the principle in a play written by William Shakespeare entitled "The History of Henrie the Fourth". Such interesting tidbits of history and information can be gleaned simply by researching a simple, blue flower from the garden.

Forget Me Not teacup
Queen's Fine Bone China ~ Rosina China Co. Ltd. ~ Made in England

Finding recipes that use forget me nots as an ingredient in food is uncommon, but the little blue flowers make beautiful decoration on baked goods. They can be arranged on cupcakes or frosted cookies. Cookies decorated with icing sugar "forget me not" flowers are pretty too. Examples can be found on Pinterest and are fun to look at. 

Forget Me Not teacup
Hand-painted Porcelain ~ No Marking

Forget Me Not Cookies

*

1 egg white

1/4 cup sugar

1/16 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

*

Makes 18 cookies

*

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Be sure the oven rack is set in the middle position. Prepare cookie sheets by lining them with parchment paper.  Whisk egg whites in a bowl until foamy. Slowly add sugar and beat until peaked. An electric mixer works best for the whisking process. Then, fold in salt, chocolate chips, walnuts, and vanilla.  Using a teaspoon, drop cookies on baking sheet. Then place cookies in preheated oven. Close the door and then turn off the oven. Allow cookies to sit in the oven for six to 10 hours. Then, open oven door and remove. Use a metal spatula to remove cookies from the parchment paper.