11th Tea Cup/Mug Exchange

I recently participated in Stephanie's 11th Tea Cup/Mug Exchange, which has been the fourth time I've been blessed to be a part of this incredibly fun event.




When you join the exchange, you agree to send a tea cup or mug to one lady, and then another lady will send you a teacup/mug as well.  So you make two new friends and get to experience both giving and receiving!

I was incredibly blessed to send a package to Linda who blogs at Little Bits and Pieces. Linda is just the sweetest, most precious lady, and it was pure joy to be able to put together a package for her. Linda told me that she loves dainty flowers, antiques, and her favorite colors were aqua and teal.  I was quite excited to find the perfect teacup for her, it is an antique cup, made in Occupied Japan in the 1940s, made with teal colors and dainty flowers!

It was just the Lord that helped me to find such a perfect teacup for her.  You see, my dad suffered a heart attack shortly after the teacup exchange began, and I flew to Texas to be with my dad during the week leading up to the date scheduled to send out the tea cup exchange.  I flew back home on Tuesday, and had one day to shop for her package, put it together and mail it out to meet the deadline, as I had my first carpal tunnel surgery on that Thursday!  So I prayed and asked the Lord to help me in my search to put together this package for Linda, and He helped me find everything to send this package on its way with lots of love :)

I did not have time to do much shopping, and ended up visiting a local antique store and finding the doilies, teacup, and Thomas Kincaid boxes all in one place!  Just the Lord! Most of the time, such an event may require going to several different stores to find the perfect goodies to send.

My new friend Linda has shared a lovely post about all the goodies in the box I sent her, so pop on over here to visit Linda, and see what she received from me :)  You will be blessed to meet Linda too, such a sweet and precious lady!

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My new friend Deb of Garage Sale Gal was given my name to send a teacup package to.  Oh my goodness, she spoiled me!  When the package arrived, I could not open it, because I was home alone, and had just had my first carpal tunnel surgery done, so I could not open the package myself.  It was hard to sit and wait until my husband got home to help me unwrap the package!  

Deb had communicated with me right away after she received my information, and she was so kind to let me know when her package was on its way to me.

Inside the box, it was filled to every nick and cranny with the prettiest wrapped little packages! Deb, you do wrap packages so nicely!

As I began to unwrap each package, I was amazed at all the special delights included.  The chocolate is long since gone, but Deb told me it was made locally.  Oh my goodness, it was soo good! Deb made me the cutest pumpkin card
 along with some Minnesota post cards and a Minnesota cookie cutter.  What a beautiful state! At Christmas, we will make some
Minnesota sugar cookies with my new cookie cutter :) 

As I unwrapped the packages, it was hard for me to take pictures with one hand, but I managed! Deb included a large assortment of tea-themed cards and stickers! Oh they were just beautiful, each one of them! She also sent a package of napkins and matching plates, perfect for a tea party, such as I like to have :) 

Stashi green tea is a favorite of mine, which Deb included, along with a new one to me, Acai Berry,
and it is SO good, I now have another new favorite tea!  

Here is the assortment of absolutely gorgeous teacup themed cards that Deb sent to me! Oh it was just so fun to look at each card
that she sent.  Each one was so unique and special. 

Wrapped oh-so-carefully inside this lovely flowered box with the handmade teacup tag was the teacup!

Such a beauty this cup is! I just loved the pink and  yellow flowers, scalloped edges and gold rim of this
Royal Albert bone china teacup "Petunia".  This cup was made in the 1940s,
was hand painted, and is just a beauty in perfect condition!
My heart was full to the brim with joy at the thought of having tea out of this cup! 

Once my hand healed up enough to where I could move it, I was able to take some better pictures of
the beautiful things I received from Deb. 

A closeup of the napkins and matching plates, with the gorgeous stationary/cards lying next to them. 

A bit of a closeup picture of some of the cards she sent me, as well as the yummy locally made chocolate. 

My very favorite card of all that she sent me was the gorgeous teacup card with matching envelope. I loved it so much, I sent it back to Deb with a very heartfelt thank you note inside it.  I wanted Deb to have this card as it was the most beautiful teacup card I have ever seen, and her gracious gifts to me were generous beyond measure!  

I loved my new Royal Albert "Petunia" bone china teacup so very much and
got the hot water on to boil,
and made myself a cup of tea and biscotti right away!
Tea always tastes better with a bit of something sweet
and biscotti pairs perfectly every time :) 

I took my tea out on the back deck to enjoy the  fall colors
on our young little blazing red maple tree planted last year. 

And while I was drinking tea, I was joined by three rather furry beggars who caught wind of biscotti.
Oh, the faces! How could one resist?
And so, the dogs and I had our little tea party,
with some biscotti shared with the 3 unannounced guests to the party! 

Thank you Deb for this delightful gift of treasures 

that has blessed my heart so much!  

This teacup exchange is so special in many ways, but for me, the part that brings me the most joy is the chance to interact and become friends with two new ladies.  Truly the friendships that come about through this exchange are blessed of the Lord.

I want to say a big thank you again to Stephanie who has put all the effort into making this exchange happen, and is such a blessing in so many ladies' lives.

Do stop over to Stephanie's blog The Enchanting Rose to visit her and to see what so many other ladies have given and received in this teacup/mug exchange, you will be blessed and thankful you did.  :)