By Sarah Willcocks
Tea can be a daily ritual; my everyday poison of choice is peppermint, but ‘taking tea’ can also be a special treat. It is doubtful that I’ll ever be sick of what we now refer to as High Tea. I can’t get enough of a prettily laid out table, gossipy chatter and comforting hot cups of tea. I also admit to a slight obsession with cucumber and cream cheese finger sandwiches served at such events – I could wolf them down all day long – but that’s another matter. I’ll take my “tea” anyway I can get it. Strong and hot, fruity and chilled, as green tea ice-cream and I’ll never say no to a Long Island Iced version; not that the appeal of the latter has much to do with ladylike, pinkies-up, cups of heady brew.
1. Ceramicist Gregory Bonasera has created these pendant lights from discarded crockery. No longer relegated to dingy shelves of musty op-shops, recycled cups and saucers have been transformed into quirky lighting features. I like how the original designs on the china determines how the light will illuminate each piece. I even love the name of the lights, ‘Electric Mavis Luminare’.
2. ‘Lightly’ designer Cindy-Lee Davies is another artist to rescue old crockery from a shattered fate and turn them into objects of beauty. She uses vintage saucers and cuts them into decorative butterfly shapes to hang on your walls and be admired. No two pieces with ever be quite the same due to the reclaimed nature of their source just like real butterflies.
3. These pretty pastel rings are hand-crafted from melamine teacup handles by Canberra based jeweler Danyka Van Buuren. They are a little bit rustic due to being hand-carved and I doubt many people could pinpoint their past life origins which makes them all the more intriguing to me. Perhaps they should be worn on our little fingers as a good reminder to keep our pinkies up when drinking tea in proper company?
4. Self-proclaimed “exotic tea lady” Madame Flavour takes traditional tea blends and adds an Australian twist of Lemon Myrtle or Mountain Pepper leaf – what’s not to love about that? I’ve already sampled her Green Jasmine Pear flavor but am yet to take her up on her “serving suggestion” of slipping into a kimono or silky pajamas to enjoy it. Next up on the ‘to drink’ list will be her tantalisingly named Sultry Chai.
5. My new blog crush is Eat Drink Chic, collated by local graphic designer Amy Moss. She chats about all things stylish in food, drink, home and fashion – which is obviously right up my alley. She is also very generous and has designed vintage tea canister labels for peppermint, chamomile, earl grey and English breakfast teas that are free for you to download. So go ahead – create a little inexpensive luxury for yourself.
Image credits: 1. Gregory Bonasera 2. Lightly 3. Danyka Van Buuren 4. Madame Flavour 5. Amy Moss
