The Eclectic Tea Party

The name says it all! A tea party using a mix or variety of ideas, inspiration, and traditions. While I love my China and silverware, I like to add the unexpected to my parties and table. Using 15+ years of tea experience, I will encourage you to host your own “eclectic” tea party in your home or anywhere else, with friends and loved ones.

Until 2006 all I knew about tea was the storebought, straight black tea bag, so imagine my surprise when I sipped my first taste of Whitlock Afternoon - a hearty combination of black tea, peach, cinnamon and cardamon. I added milk and sugar and to create a perfect melody for my taste buds. I think I had six cups and I didn’t sleep that night. Partly because of all the caffeine I ingested, but also because I was so excited about this whole new world opened up to me, the world of tea!

Since then I have enjoyed hosting people in my home serving tea and finger foods. It has become a tradition in our family and my children have been known to surprise babysitters with afternoon tea.

A year after that first sip in 2006 I embarked on a journey to open my own online tea shop and it was a life-changing and humbling experience. Within a year I was not only filling online orders but had a booth at a local antique store with faithful customers. I was also speaking to groups of women at homeschool meetings and women’s events. I loved sharing my passion for hospitality and tea with others.

Fast forward to 2020, March to be exact when I pulled out teacups for friends at my first Zoom tea party. The world was already on lockdown due to COVID-19. I chose cups for each woman based on what I knew about her and how each cup represented their personality or gifts. I posted a picture of the cups on Facebook and people loved them, which inspired me to post my entire teacup collection, daily, for over two months. It was a hard time for many, confined to their own four walls without outside connection and their usual routines. Sharing teacups was my way of brightening someone’s day and keeping myself active. While sharing my varied collection I was reminded of all the information stored on my computer about tea and felt stirred to compile that into an Ebook, which is how The Eclectic Tea Party was born.

It’s now the beginning of 2021 and we are still not back to “life as usual,” but it’s time to release this treasured collection of tea knowledge I’ve obtained over the years. I not only love to host people at home, but love to share information, so this is a perfect marriage of my passions.

Many have told me it changes you to release a book and I believed that, but I didn’t expect it to feel quite like this. Many days I feel like I’m having a baby in the town square in the middle of the afternoon. My hope is that this book brings excitement to the gift of hospitality and people will use it to bless others as they invite them into their hearts and homes.

The Ebook will be released on Tuesday, February 9th for $9.95. I will post a link on Facebook and the blog to purchase download. Thank you for taking this journey with me!