the third annual advent tea swap

Here we go for the third time, tea-lovers! It's time to collect up a few extra bags of your favourite teas, ready to send, and then watch your post-box for weird and wonderful teas arriving from around the world!

What you'll need: 25 bags of tea. (20 to swap, 5 for yourself)

What you'll do: You'll be paired up with four other tea swappers, and send each of those people 5 bags of tea. 20 bags of tea will arrive for you -- paired with the 5 you kept for yourself, you'll have enough for one bag of tea for each day of advent, and a one for Christmas Day.

You can make yourself a tea wreath or calendar to display your advent tea, or just keep all your teas in a nice pot by the kettle!

How to join in: Send me an email at astrid@redredcompletelyred, before Monday, November 12th, including your mailing address, so that we'll know where to send the tea!

(Note: if we have enough local interest, Bryan/College Station folks, we can have a separate swap group without the need for postage)

photo credit

{advent is brewing}

Tea is arriving, beautiful, from all around the world.

As it goes up onto the advent tea wreath, I'm eagerly awaiting the first cup tomorrow -- I'm thinking we've got to start with a Teapigs tea 'temple', sent from England!

{the second annual advent tea swap}

Ladies and gentlemen, dust off your teapots -- it's time for the Second Annual Red Red Advent Tea Swap!

As the first swap was such a success, we are really excited to repeat the tradition! Last year, teas arrived from all over the world, including China, Finland, England, and America. We tried unusual flavours, found some new favourites, (as well as discovering that Justin thinks chamomile tastes like "warm urine") and loved sharing the experience with some of you.

Would you like to join in this year? Here's how it works:

What you'll need: 25 bags of tea. (20 to swap, 5 for yourself)

What you'll do: You'll be paired up with four other tea swappers, and send each of those people 5 bags of tea. 20 bags of tea will arrive for you -- paired with the 5 you kept for yourself, you'll have enough for one bag of tea for each day of advent, and a one for Christmas Day.

You can make yourself a tea wreath to display your advent tea, check out my advent tea calendars, or just keep all your teas in a nice pot by the kettle!

How to join in: Send me an email at astrid@redredcompletelyred, before November 13th, including your mailing address, so that we'll know where to send the tea!

(Note: if we have enough local interest, Bryan/College Station folks, we can have a separate swap group without the need for postage)

Looking forward to sharing a nice warm cup of tea with you this winter...

Tea Wreaths

{update: If you'd like to join in with the tea swap 2011, check out this post!}

As promised, here is the advent tea wreath in its entirety. With so many bright and interesting tea bags, I thought it would be fun to create a colour chart of sorts, so during advent I'll be working my way through a rainbow of teas! 

Now, for a round up of other lovely tea wreaths:

 Jadyn's Tazo-tastic advent wreath

Jen's lovely purple and yellow Yogi wreath

Gem's fantastic advent tea tree

 Carole Ann's tea packet wreath

And, of course, the Kojo Designs beauty that inspired it all.

So far, we've sampled Lipton's Asian white tea, which was deliciously light and unusual, and the Twinings Traditional English, which was perfect with a chocolate biscuit. 

Up today: The Emperor's Bride, a Finnish tea in a beautiful red packet. Off to put the kettle on right now...

The First Day of Advent

Who says you can only have one advent calendar? Round here, advent is an all day event! 

We'll start the day with a cup of advent tea (Lipton's Asian white tea, today)...

...turn over the first letter of the advent message...

...have a chocolate from the advent train to keep our energy up...

...discover what our little mystery Christmas activity will be...

...and we'll finish it all off by picking who will be adopting little Mr. Bramble the grizzly bear! In case you're not subscribed yet, go ahead and do it now. You've got until I go to bed tonight!

Simply enter your email address here:

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Christmas Challenge

Now that Thanksgiving is over, turkeys everywhere are putting on their Christmas hats to prepare for the next holiday.

And, to spread a bit of Christmas joy in the next few weeks, lots of other things around here will be donning Christmas hats, too. In fact, I'm on a mission to cover the neighbourhood in Christmas cheer.

But why stop at one neighbourhood? With your help, we can cover the whole world in little Christmas hats!

So, I challenge you to join me. I've written a little tutorial on how to make Christmas hats yourself, using either red and white paper, or red and white felt. Whip up a few hats of your own to adorn the statues and garden folk of your home and those of your neighbours!

 

How to Make a Christmas Hat:

You can use either paper or felt, and the same instructions apply. With paper, you'll need tape and glue; with felt, you'll need thread and, optionally, fabric glue. For both, you'll need a pompom for the top.

Cut a cone shape from your red material. I like to use a corner of the paper or felt, as shown below. The longer the straight sides are, the bigger your hat will be. Usually, two sizes will fit most statues: 4 inch sides for a small, 8 inch sides for a large.

Place the rounded edge of the red shape on top of a piece of white paper or felt. Cut along the edge, so that you get a matching edge on the white paper.

Now, cut a parallel line along the edge of the white paper, to make the band at the rim of the hat. For a small, the band should be 1/2 an inch wide; for a large, it should be 1 inch wide.

Now, you have these two pieces:

Glue along the rounded edge of the red material if you are using paper. If you are using felt, use fabric glue, or stitch the band in place with white thread.

Place the white band on top of the glue, making sure all the edges line up.

If you are using paper, add a strip of tape along one long side. It should be sticky side up. You will then roll the hat up into a cone, and stick the edges together. If you are using felt, roll the cone up, and then stitch along the long sides to hold it together.

Your cone should look like this:

Add glue to the point, and stick on a pompom. You can also stitch it on, if using felt.

Ta-da! Now, go out and put in on some garden statues!

So, have a go at making a hat or two (or buy yourself a couple of cheap ones -- they are everywhere right now!) and put a smile on your neighbours' faces. And every week or so, I'll put up a few of the best photos from the group on here, so check back to see how we're taking over the world!

And Yet More Advent...

I have a feeling that, by the time December 1st actually rolls around, we'll have so many advent calendars around here that we'll spend all day every day up to Christmas opening doors, drinking advent tea, and, now, flipping over little numbered red hearts.

I was inspired by this advent calendar, which reveals a letter of a hidden message each day. A lovely way to count down to Christmas, without it having to mean more sweets to eat!

(source)

So, on the backside of each heart is a letter, and on Christmas Eve, when the final one is turned, it will read "We wish you a Merry Christmas."

And yes, it's another good use for my peppermint wool or your baker's twine!

P.S. Don't forget to subscribe by email if you'd like to give Bramble Bear a home!

Simple enter your email address here:

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Head on over here for more Creative Spaces!

Advent Tea: Sneak Peek

Exciting, unusual, tasty-looking teas have been arriving from the lovely people participating in my advent tea swap. And though the final wreath isn't finished yet, here is a little glimpse of it in progress.

English tea, French tea, Finnish tea, Texan tea. 

Red tea, green tea, black tea, white tea. 

My teapot is quaking with anticipation!

Advent Tea: Revised

Okay, perhaps the twenty-five-person tea swap for advent was a little ambitious. I know, that's a lot of people to send to, and a bit more work than anyone wants to do. But, there are three of us dedicated tea-lovers excited and ready to swap with each other, and I just wanted to extend a final invitation to you:

The New Plan: After a little dose of reality, I've decided to limit the number of people to six. So, if sending out a maximum of five little parcels sounds more possible, then send me a quick message (in the comments or at: astrid@redredcompletelyred.com). We'd love to have you join in!

(source)

P.S. If you're looking for Tilly, she's weighing in over at Totally Tilly from now on!

Start Now and Be Ready for Advent

{update: If you'd like to join in with the tea swap 2011, check out this post!}

My family have always been big celebrators of Advent -- whether we were scoffing chocolates out of a Cadbury's calendar, or opening beautifully wrapped bibs-and-bobs that my Mum had collected in the previous months, my brother and sister and I could always expect the twenty-four days before Christmas to be exciting.

Perhaps I've matured a bit, or lost my sweet-tooth (um... no), but Advent is no longer all about the sweeties. As the nights get longer, and the last-minute preparations come together, those twenty-four days are a time to reflect on family, friends and community, and to connect with the people that matter most.

And in the spirit of connecting, this year I have a plan for something extra special. I was inspired by Kojo Designs' wonderful tea wreath (above). But, rather than going out and buying twenty-five types of tea myself, I thought, why don't we have a little swapsies.


The plan: You send me, and twenty-three others, one bag of your favourite tea (and keep a bag for yourself). Meanwhile, twenty-three others and I are sending you a bag of our favourite tea. Voila! Twenty-five teas to sample over advent. (And it doesn't have to be your favourite. Maybe there's a wacky tea you've always wanted to try, but didn't want to drink a whole box of yourself? Share it with us!)


The lovely thing is that a teabag won't cost very much to send, so this shouldn't break into your Christmas fund too much. And just think of all those exotic envelopes heading towards your postbox...

So, if you'd like to join me in brewing up a tea-rrific advent calendar from around the world, please leave a comment below, or send me a quick email to: astrid@redredcompletelyred.com. We need twenty-four people, so don't be shy! Family, friends, old and new readers are all welcome!

(source)

P.S. For more advent calendar ideas, have a look over here.

Adventure

This year, advent kind of snuck up on me. Sure, I had our sweet little advent train out on the counter, but it hadn't occurred to me to buy any treats to put in it yet.

So, yesterday, I was rummaging through the cupboards trying to find something to stick inside. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, (the only chocolate in our cupboard) unfortunately, do not fit.

So, I went healthy... almonds. They fit just fine, but Justin was not impressed to open the little door and find a nut!

"Where are the Hersey's Kisses this year?"

I guess I'm off to get some today...