I’ve been putting together a plan for my 4th Annual Mothers Tea over the past few weeks. Little memories have been shared from tea to tea and I’ve tried to carefully listen and make notes to reference as each friend awaits for their year to honor their Mom. This year we will be honoring my friend Kelly’s Mother, Jane.
Marigolds
At our very first tea, Kelly told us that she had recently been planting marigolds in her vegetable garden, to protect against insects. As she was planting, she recalled an image of her mother collecting the seeds from marigolds in her own garden to replant the following year. Her shared memory stayed with me, and as my marigolds began to wither I collected their dried buds and created seed packets for each of our guests as a favor. (See the past post: https://socialinteractionsandparties.wordpress.com/2021/06/13/a-marigold-memory-of-mother/ of how I dried the flowers and made the seed envelopes in mid-June last year in preparation for this year’s tea.)
Every year, in preparation for the tea, I offer a list of questions to each friend to help generate memories of their Mom’s favorite things – from pastimes to favorite eats. I then do my best to give a nod to those interests, flavors and memories as part of the decor and menu. Sometimes the list is minimal and a clear direction, while others offer new challenges of interpretation. Kelly’s list presented a colorful and uncommon Mom with interesting passions. While I may not be able to incorporate all of her notes into the tea, I always do my best to capture the spirit of our honored Mom.
Beaches
Kelly’s Mom was a thalassophile who loved turtles. Beaches provide everything from “peacock” sunsets to seashells and turtles in the sand. So for the invitation I used a pretty image from a wedding invitation and cut out the center. After a lot of cut and pasting the image created a frame for my invite. (Reason for the undesired lines in the image.) I then glued small shells around the border for a 3D affect and a string a pearls to highlight Jane’s photo. (We only have 7 or so guests at each tea and I do my best to be thrifty where I can. A mailed invitation is not only more fun, but also gives my friend a keepsake. )
What is a thalassophile? A person who loves and is magnetically attracted to the ocean and the sea. Many people say they enjoy spending time at the beach, especially during summertime.
I used six beautiful scallop shells gifted to me several years ago at each place setting to capture the beach vibe and tied each plate with peacock blue ribbon for a pop of color. Plain glass plates were used for the guests and a peacock glass plate for Kelly and her daughter.
For one side of the table decor, I used a Barbie beach chair set on processed graham crackers with sugar for sand,chocolate turtles (made in a candy mold), seahorses and shells with a sprinkle of very tiny real shells. Lastly a sandcastle (a salt and pepper shaker set found at Cracker Barrel) to create a beach vibe. The beach chair was a dark pink that I toned down with a piece of ribbon to better blend in with the cool, soft blues of the decor.
Peacocks
Several years ago, Kelly told me that whenever she sees a peacock, she feels it’s a sign from her Mom. When I questioned what the connection was, she explained that her Mother’s maiden name was Peacock. Now every time I see stationary or other items with peacock feathers, I think of Kelly and her Mom. Clearly this symbol had to be at the center of my table.
It started with the invitation. To add a touch of “Peacock” I printed an image of a peacock feather, cut around it and then glued it over a peacock blue ribbon as a seal on the back of the envelope. To protect the shells from getting crushed in the mail, I wrapped each invitation in tissue paper and applied 3D daisy stickers (one of two flowers that Kelly said reminds her of her Mom) before gently slipping each into the envelope to mail.
For the past three years I have used my small form mannequin as part of the centerpiece for my table. The first year, it was an obvious choice for the Seamstress theme that I decorated with pattern tissue flowers and measuring tape ribbon. Last year we had a Nurse theme and Lydia created a little white nurse dress and a blue cape with red trim similar to the uniform she remembered her Mom wore in the 1960’s. A vintage style nurse’s cap hung from the top to complete a little nurse.
This year I used the Peacock to elegantly dress the form mannequin (inspired by a designer dress I saw online). Small peacock feathers were used to shape the top, paired with ribbon I had in my craft box. As I cut the ribbon it curled under (much like a folded peacock tail.) As I began to run out of ribbon I placed shorter pieces on the front section, all pinned with pearl tipped straight pins, creating my own specially designed dress. I reused the measuring tape ribbon on the back and the sewing charms because Kelly’s mom (we learned from our seamstress tea) was also an excellent seamstress.
It takes a while to figure out my table decor for every event, but if I quietly sit and meditate on it, ideas begin to generate and I always figure something out. Because of all of the themed entertaining I do, I have to be on the lookout for little things I might need in the future for an idea I may have been holding on to. During the holidays while in Homegoods in what I call the “booby trap” section (the shelves of items on each side of the line while waiting to get to the register), I spotted two Artistic Accents Turkish hand painted glass plates with peacock feathers. There were only two and I wasn’t sure what I would do with them, but knowing I had the tea to plan, I decided to purchase them and figure it out later. I decided to use the two peacock patterned plates for Kelly and her daughter who was also invited, and plain gold rimmed glass plates for the other guests with the scallop shell tied to the center combining the beach and peacock notes.
NASCAR
Kelly’s Mom was also an enthusiastic RV NASCAR circuit fan. Full disclosure, this was stumped me for a good while. I originally had no idea of how to inject this into an afternoon tea, but in the end I was happy with what finally came to mind. I found clip art online to print the racetrack, NASCAR logo, finish line flags and lights. I cut out each of the figures and then attached each to white card stock with a glue stick. As it began to dry, the sides of the card stock began to curl up, similar to the stadium bleachers that surround the racetrack. So I cut it into a shape similar to the track and then rubbed the stick glue all over the outer area from the racetrack. I then pressed multicolored sprinkles to represent the crowd. I ordered two cars on Etsy that are ornaments (reason for the metal loop on the top). They are very small, but I was able to enlarge the print of the track to better match the scale of the cars and I decided I would give the cars to Kelly to put on her Christmas tree in memory of her Mom after the tea. The track was set in the middle of a white rimmed dinner plate and I used dollar store moss to create greenery around the outside of the stadium to look like trees, etc. This is being placed on the other side of the table.
My table is basically ready for the coming weekend…. once Jane’s favorite cheerful flowers of daisies and yellow roses are added – it will add the final touch of brightness and light that I’m sure will attract Jane’s spirit to be with us on this special day we’ve created in her honor. Now onto the menu! Come back for the next post!
S I P [Social Interactions and Parties] 
What an incredibly beautiful way to honor a special mother! The whole idea of the tea is so kind and thoughtful.
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Thank you Dorothy!
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