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There’s really nothing better than a beautiful tea party! It’s such a fun occasion to put on a cute dress and serve all the tiny bite-sized things! And champagne, of course! Oh and tea.
I’ve seen ideas for Christmas teas for years, and always thought it would be so fun! So this year I decided to begin an annual Christmas tea tradition, and I won’t lie – I already have next year’s all planned out! Today I’m so excited to share pictures and details from this year’s Christmas tea party.
Read on, or scroll to the bottom for my quick tips on hosting your own easy and beautiful tea party!
I had so much fun putting the table together for our Christmas tea. My inspiration started with the beautiful Teleflora floral arrangement. I love how traditional it is with the winter greenery, red roses and even a few pine cones! I always have such a fun time perusing the Teleflora website, knowing that I’ll get exactly what I order.
I also picked up some super fun decorated sugar cookies, and no tea party would be complete without macarons, am I right?? I got an assortment, and we had so much fun trying the different flavors and sharing what our favorites were (for those curious, the winner was the peppermint candy cane)!
I put a small bottle of La Marca champagne at each place setting, for mimosas of course, and tied each of them with a little red ribbon. I loved that guests could pour their own drinks, as much or little as they wanted, or even take them home for later!
For favors, I opted for small boxes of Frans Chocolates salted caramels. If you haven’t tried Fran’s salted caramels, do yourself a favor (ha, get it?) and order them right. now. They are by far the best salted caramels ever, and I loved gifting each of my friends such a fun and delicious favor!
Since I hosted this party around lunch time, I knew we wouldn’t survive off of cookies and champagne alone. So I put together some quick and easy tea sandwiches for us. I made them all open faced, and served them on my favorite tiered stand I’ve had for years. I did traditional egg salad sandwiches topped with sprouts, cream cheese and smoked salmon sandwiches garnished with fresh dill, and little cheese sandwiches that were a slice of parmesan cheese and a small dollop of my favorite peach jalapeno jelly! All really simple, all really easy, and all really delicious!
Tips For An Easy and Beautiful Christmas Tea
1. Decide on the color scheme/inspiration. I got my inspiration from the beautiful Teleflora floral arrangement I found online, and fashioned all the other decor around that.
2. Keep it simple silly! Don’t try to do everything at once – you’ll drive yourself insane. I opted to order the sugar cookies and macarons instead of make them myself, because I wanted to focus on setting the table instead. Especially now that I have a toddler running around I definitely know I can’t do it all, and that’s totally ok!
3. Use what you have! I didn’t buy a single new dish. My tiered serving dish was perfect for sandwiches, I used my favorite cake stand for the macarons, and the cute polka dot Kate Spade dishes I received as a bridal shower gift.
4. Use favors to help decorate the table! I love how adorable the little Fran’s chocolate boxes are, especially wrapped in their beautiful red ribbon. Everyone was so excited to sit down to a little gift at their place. They have so many box and ribbon options on their website, so whatever your color scheme is, you’ll find a favor to match!
5. Serve drinks at the table. The cute mini champagne bottles were a perfect addition to the table decor (see tip #4!), but they also made my job as hostess a lot easier! Instead of getting up to refill everyone’s glasses, I could pour drinks while enjoying the event and my friends’ company, and they were happy to mix their own drinks at the table as well!
6. Have fun! We joked at the tea about the etiquette of tea cup holding and all practiced holding out our pinkies haha! But just remember that you invited your friends over to have a good time, and nobody expects your event to be absolutely perfect. They came for you!
We’re already a week into November (what!) and Thanksgiving is just two short weeks away! I’ve been working away at holiday recipes, and am so excited to share these pumpkin white russians with you today! They’re creamy, pumpkin spicy, with just a hint of coffee from the Kahlua! Basically a spiked pumpkin spice latte – I mean what can be wrong about that??
In our family we like to take our time on Thanksgiving, enjoying conversation and catching up with each other for a while before actually sitting down for dinner. When I started working on this holiday cocktail, I was imagining how delicious these would taste while we nibble on some appetizers like these mini savory apple pies that I shared last week!
Ingredients:
(Makes one drink)
2 oz Vodka
1 oz Kahlua or Baileys
1 oz heavy cream
1 1/2 tablespoons canned pumpkin puree
2 teaspoons pumpkin spice (with any leftovers you can make pumpkin spice latte cupcakes!)
Directions:
Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker half full of ice, and shake well to combine. Serve over ice, and garnish with a little more pumpkin spice or cardamom if you’d like!
It’s November, and cold-weather months are just around the corner! If you’re from a part of the world that experiences freezing cold temperatures, you know that the change in climate can wreck havoc on otherwise happy skin. Today I’m sharing the biggest skincare mistakes to avoid this winter, and hope it helps prepare you and your skin for the frigid temps ahead!
Mistake Number 1: Skipping Your Humidifier
The biggest complaint people have about their skin in the colder months is dry, itchy and sometimes even cracking skin, which is caused from the lack of moisture in the air. Adding a humidifier to your winter routine is a great way to combat the dryness. You can even just keep it running in your bedroom at night – that’s enough to make a world of difference.
Mistake Number 2: Continuing With Your Usual Skincare Routine
Since your skin is begging for extra moisture this time of year, your normal skincare routine just isn’t going to cut it! Adding a moisture-rich face wash, like this Luminous Cleanser Balm, will help keep your face clean and clear, and will also replenish moisture to your skin. By the way, as someone with combination skin I always used to confuse moisture with oil. This face wash won’t add oil to your skin, if you’re worried about that like me. It’s just gentle and doesn’t strip your skin like other cleansers. Every evening before bed, I also add this Hydralift Moisturizer. It feels super light going on, but true to its name, this cream packs a much-needed moisture punch. This cream is powered with hyaluronic acid, which draws moisture from the air and seals it into the skin. It doesn’t get better than that!
Mistake Number 3: Taking Hot Showers and Baths
Oh man, this one is so hard for me! I love soaking in a hot bath with a nice glass of wine after a long day. How do you know it’s too hot? If you start to sweat at all, it’s too warm. Another trick is to use a body oil like coconut oil on your skin before stepping into the warm water. This helps to create a protective barrier for your skin.
Mistake Number 4: Forgetting To Drink Water
This is the skincare mistake that I’m most guilty of! In the summer months when it’s hot, it’s a lot easier for me to remember that I need to hydrate myself. But in the winter I’m way more likely to forget. If you’re dehydrated, your skin will pay a high price. If you’re noticing that your lips are chapped, for example, that’s a key sign that you need to up your water game. I like to sip on hot cups of herbal tea while I work, and also keep a water bottle with me in the car. If your lips are already chapped, try this Smooth Beauty Balm to remedy the situation fast. I keep this on my bedside table and rub a little in at night, waking up to happy lips every morning! Also if you or anyone in your family gets dry skin around their nose from those pesky winter sniffles, I’ve heard this balm works wonders!
Interested in learning more about these, or other Ever products? You can join the group I’m part of here!
Want to remember these tips for later? Make sure to pin this article below!
What’s the only thing better than a delicious sweet apple pie? A savory one! After our apple picking adventure this fall, I was on a mission to think of all the best apple recipes, and I think this one might be my favorite. These mini apple pies are full of sizzling bacon, crisp apples and aromatic herbs, enclosed in a delicious buttery crust. Perfect for a fall brunch or holiday appetizer!
These mini savory apple pies are really easy to make, and can be made ahead of time and warmed up when you’re ready to enjoy them! I’m serving these as an appetizer for thanksgiving, and I love that they can be done before so I can spend more time with my family.
Crust Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) cold butter, cut into 1 Tbs pieces
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup ice water
Filling Ingredients:
Six strips of bacon
One apple (I prefer tart granny smiths)
One small onion, diced
1 tsp fresh thyme, finely chopped
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
Directions:
To make the crust, add the flour, salt and butter to your food processor, and pulse until the mixture resembles course crumbs. Add the ice water little by little, just until the dough forms a mass on the food processor blade. I usually only use about 1/8 cup. Divide the two into two pieces, form each piece into a flat disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and let cool in the fridge for 1-2 hours. It can stay in the fridge longer, just take it out about 15 minutes before rolling if it’s been in there a while.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees f. Lightly dust a clean, dry work surface with flour, and turn your chilled dough onto it. Sprinkle a little flour onto the dough and your rolling pin, and roll the dough out to 1/8 inch thickness. (This rolling pin is amazing, because you don’t have to guess at the thickness! It rolls your dough evenly to the specified measurement every time!). Using a biscuit cutter or small bowl, cut 4 inch circles out the dough. Lightly press each circle into the well of a standard muffin tin. Bake for 10 minutes at 425. Let cool, and reduce the temperature to 350.
To make the crust, start by frying the bacon until crispy. Remove bacon to a plate, and add the remaining ingredients, apple through black pepper. Cook in the bacon grease over medium-low heat, for about 5-10 minutes or when the onion starts to become soft and translucent. Then it’s time to stuff our crusts! Press the apple filling into each crust, making sure to get them as full as you can. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350. You’ll know they’re done when the crust is lightly golden brown.
If you’re making these ahead of time, they’re easy to reheat! Put in the oven at 250 for 20 minutes, and they’ll be heated through!
For more autumn inspiration, check out my fall fashion posts here, here and here, and my pumpkin spice latte cupcake recipe here!
Quick breads are one of my favorite things to bake. They’re so easy, flavorful and everyone loves them! Just a little mixing, pop in the oven for an hour, and you’ll have the house smelling of tantalizing pumpkin spice goodness! Added bonus? You can whip up this easy pumpkin quick bread by hand – no need for a stand mixer.
This is definitely one of my favorite treats to bake in the fall, but I actually love to bake it year-round.
