8 Year Of Tea Thoughts Reflection

May 6th, 2024 marked 8 years since I started Tea Thoughts shop! I don’t always celebrate the shopaversary but this year’s came after a super busy weekend and I just had a feeling I couldn’t skip over it this year. Eight years, when I say it out loud it sounds a bit crazy! Since it’s been so long, I wanted to share some information and thoughts on running the shop. I’m celebrating in my shop with 30% off through 5/12 with code 8YEARS

CELEBRATE

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CELEBRATE ✨

How It Started - The Blog
Many of you have been my friends and supporters since the very start of the shop so you know how I got started but this is for anyone who doesn’t know. I started a new job in 2015 with high hopes but instead, I felt the creative spark I always had being wasted and even drawn out of me but not put to good use. I decided that I needed my own outlet so at the end of 2015 (December), I started a blog and I called it Tea Thoughts! I wrote about tea, sometimes “reviewed” teas I bought and eventually started making recipes with tea because I love to bake and cook!

How It Started - The Shop
A few months later in May, I decided to take the leap and start an etsy shop because I had always wanted to. I started doing paintings, calligraphy and cards. Some of my items related to tea but not everything. After a while I decided that I wanted my shop and blog to compliment each other so I changed all products to tea themed products. This put me on the path that led to today.

Why Tea Themed Products?
I grew up drinking tea so tea has always been a part of my life. I mostly had experience with black tea though and when I started my blog I had the opportunity to explore other types of teas and other tea cultures. I was sort of bummed to never be able to find merch for tea lovers beyond british tea culture themed items like just a teapot or maybe something related to afternoon tea. What about all the other tea cultures? Who would put something out into the world for them? I decided I wanted to ! One of my goals which I think I’ve been able to reach recently is to have several tea cultures/wares represented in my designs and products!

Going Full Time
At the end of November in 2021, I decided to quit my non profit job and try to run Tea Thoughts full time. Most people’s story is that their business blew up so they had to quit their job. Mine was more out of necessity. I had worked at my other job for 7 years and while I did some wonderful work there, many parts of the job had really taken their toll. This was the first time I had experienced physical symptoms of stress and I had enough. I took a leap and while it’s been very hard at times it has also been so rewarding. When you run your own business there are lots of benefits like being your own boss but then you are also your own boss meaning everything is on you. I also work way more hours now but I have more flexibility to go meet my mom for lunch in the middle of the day or attend market events that are monday through friday.

Last Year
There have been many times in my business journey where I wanted to quit but last year was probably the hardest of any year running the shop. There are many factors that went into this but I just didn’t get enough traction each month. There were definitely some bright spots but it wasn’t enough. I would have some good product releases but it wasn’t consistent. As far as running this shop, it’s not just enough to make some sales, the sales have to cover costs of business, future products and my own bills as well. I am trying to be more cautious with what I bring to the shop and what I spend on in hopes of recovering this year and hopefully doing better. It’s May and I am feeling cautiously optimistic.

This Year
This year has been ok, not much different than last year yet but I’m hoping to have some big wins this year like this past weekend. I did a tea festival and a market at a museum and both went well. Selling in person is always a hit or miss depending on the event but I was pleasantly surprised! I think I will be sticking to some tried and true products that I know everyone loves and try to slowly condense my offerings so it’s not so vast. I also would love to be able to publish a short story about tea that I’ve written and take advantage of an opportunity near my home to host a workshop in person.

What I love about running Tea Thoughts
I am a self taught business owner which includes design, marketing, product development etc. This can be very difficult because I’m never sure if I’m good enough. But I do truly love designing for the shop. I love hearing feedback online and in person that people enjoy my work. I love the response to my teas and the countdown boxes. Even though I have a product based shop, it seems like I have been able to bring joy and new experiences to my customers and that’s probably the best feeling in the world. Last, but not least, I have made connections with some of the most wonderful people through Tea Thoughts.

What’s the toughest part of Tea Thoughts?
I notice when I vend in person that people do like my stuff. Even if they aren’t a tea lover, they enjoy my designs. Reaching people online can be so difficult. Low reach on social media and even through my newsletter is really discouraging. I have even done ads in the past but it’s not the huge success that everyone always shares about. I have some of the best customers in the world but it had been difficult to grow my customer base.

What does success look like?
I see success as being able to keep customers happy with what I’m bringing to the shop and make enough money to pay for bills and some for myself. I got pretty close to this in 2022 which was a really great year and I want to get back to that!

What else do you want to know? Ask me in the comments and Ill reply!

Vending at the National Museum of Women in the Arts

January Shop Update Info

It’s 2023 ! I’m excited to start this year off with a shop update that will be super fun! For this month’s shop update I have 2 things to share!

Camellia Sinensis Tea Cups
For a long time I’ve been trying to find a way to get one of my designs on teaware. I love creating the gaiwan enamel pins but what if I could actually get one of those designs or a similar version printed on a gaiwan?! Well, so far I haven’t been able to find a way that was feasible for the size of my shop currently but I did come across a ceramics supplier who could do cups! I’m really excited to be releasing 50ml porcelain tea cups with my camellia sinensis design on them! These cups have a decal of my design high temperature fired on them. I hope you’ll enjoy using them!

Galentine’s Swap
I’ve mentioned a Galentine’s day swap earlier this fall and I’m doing a test run this year to see if it’s something I want to continue doing. In the past I’ve done Galentine’s day swaps and there was always the issue of someone not following through with sending something to their partner. After one year of way too many of non follow throughs I gave up doing the swap. Since then I’ve thought about it more and participated in a few others with other brands and I’m ready to try again!

Galentine’s day was a concept I first learned about from Parks and Rec where Leslie Knope deemed February 13th Galentine’s day, a day to celebrate the women in your life that you love like your girlfriends!

For this swap, you will be signing up to send a small package to a partner and also purchasing a gift box for yourself from my shop. The point of the gift box is to have something for yourself in the chance that your partner doesn’t follow through for some reason.

I have a limited about of spaces for the swap since I am testing it out. There will be 20 slots and you will get the box at a discount. The last 10 boxes will be available for purchase without participating in the swap but won’t have the discount.

If you sign up for the swap, you need to use your full name, correct address and email so that I can contact you and so can your partner. After you sign up, I will send out a short survey that you must complete. This will help your partner decide what to get you! Once I have all the surveys I will put people together in pairs and send you the information of your partner.

For the swap, try to really understand your partner based on their survey and get them something or a few smaller items that you think they’ll love. Don’t go overboard on spending but it would probably be good to spend between $10 and $20. It doesn’t have to be complicated, think of it as sending a fun package to a new friend! Package their gift in a fun way and write a card! You want this to be a fun surprise to open :)

If you’ve never shipped a package before, the easiest way is to pack it up, put the recipient name and address on the box by writing it or printing it on paper and taping it to the box and also your return address then take it to your local post office where they can help you ship it.

Remember that the heavier your package is, the more expensive it will be to ship!

The goal is to ship the package to your partner so that it will reach them in time before 2/13 or 2/14 !

The gift boxes I’ve created do have 2 teas in them but the other items are not necessarily related to tea. I tried to take some of the suggestions that people gave in a survey I sent out. There will also be 2 edible items but they are vegan, gluten free and use transparent and ethical trade.

Ya Shi Xiang Cakes - Now releasing in February!
Something fun that I’ve been working on with Rainy of Serene Tea is designing a cake wrapper! If you’re a fan of Duck Shit, I will have 200g Cakes of Duck Shit in my shop wrapped in a wrapper that I created! I will have 30 total. The first 10 will be available at a discounted price and then the other 20 will be available without the discount. I wanted to create something that had a duck as the main feature of the design but also some background landscape.

These are being postponed and releasing in the shop in February alongside Rainy from Serene Tea who has a few of my cakes and also more of the same tea cake with a different wrapper design that she created. Stay tuned!

My Favorite Christmas Traditions!

If you’ve followed along with Tea Thoughts, you’ll know that I’m a Christmas lover! Christmas has special meaning to me, more for the connection and festivities that come with it. I wrote more about what Christmas means to me here.

There are so many things I love about the holiday season and lead up to Christmas so I’m going to share them all with you!

I would also like it to be known that I’m one of the only people in my family who has had this obsession with Christmas but over the years have pulled friends and family over to my side. Evil Cackle

1. Christmas Movies: I start watching christmas movies in November! In November, I will mostly watch the corny, hallmark type romantic ones and leave my favorite ones for December. Even the corny movies, are always feel-good. They’re a little bit of happiness and always share the magic of the season. My all time favorite movie is The Grinch with Jim Carey. I also love Polar Express, Max Fleisher Christmas Cartoons, A Christmas Carol and in recent years, the new movie Klaus. Don’t get me wrong, there are so many others that I love but those are my top favs.

2. Christmas Music: I know this is something that people are very on the fence about. How annoying it is that it’s played everywhere and how it’s played “too early”. I totally understand people’s differences on this subject, but for me personally, it’s the same as the movies. The songs are usually very cheery and put a little pep in my step. I don’t always relate to the ones with religious themes but usually they’re still nice to listen to. My favorite person to hear sing Christmas songs is hands down, Nat King Cole!

3. Christmas Tree: One of my absolute favorite things to do is to go to a local Christmas tree lot to pick a tree and decorate it! It’s always so beautiful to see them in person and be able to touch the branches. Many times, this is a great way to support a local or small farm as well. Bringing the tree home, strapped to the top of the car is always an adventure. Bringing it up and adding lights and ornaments is possibly my favorite part. I have so many ornaments that I’ve had since my childhood/young adulthood and remember fondly my family members who gifted them to me or where I purchased them. Getting to plug in the tree in the evening and in the morning before the sun rises brings me so much joy.

4. Baking: If you’ve never explored the recipes on my blog you may not know this but I love to bake and cook! Baking is something I’m especially fond of for the holiday season. Our family has a few favorite cookie recipes and decorating sugar cookies is one of my favorite activities! I also bake to gift! It’s so much fun baking a bunch of cookies and gifting them to people because what’s a better gift than a yummy treat you can eat?!

5. Wrapping Gifts: Buying and making presents is fun but my favorite is definitely the wrapping part. Every year, I search for a penguin wrapping paper and fun ribbon to use. This year I found this beautiful penguin wrapping paper with embossed snowflakes! I also Purchased this fun ribbon that is in the shapes of trees, snowflakes and ho ho ho. When I was younger, I always wanted to volunteer with those gift wrappers in the mall, I thought that was the best job ever.

6. Christmas Cards: As a snail mail lover, it’s probably no surprise that I love sending out Christmas cards. I love to create a card with a nice photo of my partner and I or multiple photos of him and I. Even when I was younger, I used to take some sort of christmas themed photo and send it to relatives! Even if it’s not feasible to send gifts to every member of my family because of how big it is, I can send them a card to let them know that I’m thinking about them, that I love them and that I miss them. I love to hand write all the addresses and in the past I’ve purchased vintage stamps in bulk and had fun creating collages on the envelopes with them!

7. Christmas lights: In the last few years, these outings have happened a little less because of COVID but hopefully that will change this year! Around the DC/MD area, there are a lot of great places to see lights beyond neighbors! It’s so beautiful to see the types of displays people come up with.

8. Sausage Bread: I saved the best for last! I admittedly hesitated on sharing this one because I view it as a family secret but I got permission from my sister to share :D Many Christmases ago, my sister and brother in law made us sausage bread on Christmas morning. This is a recipe from my brother in law’s family. Without giving away too much of the secret, sausage bread is exactly what it sounds like and the most delicious treat especially on Christmas morning. We became obsessed to the point where Christmas morning isn’t complete without sausage bread. I have even asked for it as a gift on my birthday which is shortly after Christmas. The warm and hearty meal is the perfect thing on Christmas morning. My sister and brother in law always have a beautiful spread of other food things, tea, coffee, hot cocoa and some of us even like to indulge in a bailey’s and jameson drink. Next to the Christmas tree, gathering together on Christmas morning and enjoying sausage bread (veggie sausage for mom!) is my favorite Christmas tradition. I don’t think Christmas would be the same without it!

If you also celebrate/love Christmas, let me know what your favorite parts are!

What's it like running a business by yourself?

The Small Business administration defines a small business as a business with no more than 1500 employees and and revenue that doesn’t exceed $41.5 million. I wanted to put in perspective the actual definition to all the businesses like mine that are also called a small business.
To me, a business with the above description seems HUGE not small. But it shows the comparison the company described above has to major corporations. I think it’s important to share this because there are a lot of misconceptions about small businesses or owning your own business.

There are many incredible aspects to running Tea Thoughts that I feel so fortunate about and I want to go over them and then share the flip side.

1. Making my own schedule: I’m not constrained to someone else’s schedule. I can easily fit in things I like/need to do like chores or working out. It feels very freeing and definitely less stressful. I get to meet my mom for lunch if I want or participate in an event during the day. Perhaps one of the most important things is being able to vend at certain events that I couldn’t before because I would have had to use vacation days.
   
   The flip side is that I don’t really ever feel off the clock. I feel like I need to respond to people via email and social media immediately. I’m in a stage where this feels essential because I need to keep customers happy and also get orders in. Obviously, I do take time and have gone on vacations but even then it is difficult for me to feel ok in unplugging. Early in the morning or late at night, if there is something I need to do, there isn’t really an excuse not to. During the day I will likely take work breaks to cook, clean or run errands which means I make up the time later. This allows a lot of flexibility but also makes it feel like I work from the moment I get up right up until the moment I get ready for bed.
   

2. Being my own boss: This is related to #1 but stands on it’s own. You can probably relate to having a boss that you maybe don’t see eye to eye with or someone above you that you don’t feel appreciated your work or ideas. As my own boss, if I want to do something, I can just do it without needing anyone’s approval but my own. It is a new level of freedom to be able to explore creative ideas that someone else maybe doesn’t like. I think this has benefitted my shop and my own art/creative projects. It shortens the time to accomplish things in some ways because I don’t have to get approval and can start on a project right away. If I mess something up, I don’t have someone else lecturing me, that’s up me to alone.
   
   The downside to being my own boss is also that there is no one else. I don’t have a team to rely on, I don’t have someone who has slightly more responsibility than me. I have the freedom to do what I want but I am also responsible for the outcome 100% no matter what it is. If there is an issue, I can’t delegate to anyone except myself. This often feels a little stressful and sometimes lonely as well. While I am able to do whatever I like, I also don’t have any help except for google. Everything I’ve built has been from my own researching and learning. While that does have an empowering feeling it has also been incredibly difficult at times. The last part is that because I’m my own boss, I am extremely hard on myself. In many ways, I feel as though my self worth is tied to the success of the shop.
   

3. I’m very lucky to run my own business: I AM very lucky. There are many things that needed to align for me to take this leap and they happened. Every morning when I wake up and open my laptop to start tasks, I can’t believe that I am still able to do this and for now, I will continue to do so. It feels like a dream come true that I get to do something that despite some difficulties, I truly enjoy. I think back to how unhappy I was in other jobs and try to stay as humble and as grateful as possible that I don’t have to work those jobs anymore. It’s not just about freedom, it’s also about control. Running Tea Thoughts allows me to feel a sense of control in my life that I didn’t have before. I feel like I’m building something meaningful where even when I was doing meaningful work, it wasn’t really mine. Tea Thoughts is truly mine and the opportunity to build something of my own is very special.
   
   It’s hard to show the flip side of this but there are some drawbacks. There is nothing guaranteed with Tea Thoughts, I am still at a stage where it could easily all end with a few bad months. While I am happier, I don’t have as many safeguards and I’m doing things day by day, week by week and month by month. Things can get very tight. While I am happy, it can sometimes be difficult for others to understand my choice of profession. It can be hard to turn down invitations from friends and family when I have a lot of work to do. It can be hard to get people to take me seriously instead of just as a “cute little shop.” I am grateful that most of my friends and family are very supportive.
   
   I wanted to share these things with you not to complain, but to be real. I think it’s important to stay true to me and I think that is possible while staying professional. I also have become friends with many of you so I feel comfortable to share.
   
   My advice is that if you’d like to start your own business, do it! But don’t expect it to be easy, you have to really love it because it’s a lot of work. In the near future, I will be offering a guide (for US shops) who want to get started. I helped a friend who opened an Etsy shop recently and it was really fun and rewarding to share my knowledge with her.
   
   I also kept this relatively brief but wanted to know, is there anything you want to know about what it’s like running Tea Thoughts? If you have a question you’d like me to answer, leave a comment and I will respond!
   
   As always, thank you so much for your support of Tea Thoughts! My business wouldn’t be what it is without you!

Deltangam: The first tea for my shop

Since the start of Tea Thoughts, one of the most frequently asked questions is: do you sell tea? I understand to a point since there is the word tea in my name but it is something I have considered a lot.
I chose the name Tea Thoughts because it was alliteration and because at the time I was going to be writing about tea. I kept the name because I loved it and thought it would still fit well. I never desired to include tea in my shop but after the Nowruz box, everything changed!

BACKGROUND
I have often been asked to share more about my own culture and Persian heritage but have always been hesitant for two reasons. In my life, I have experienced negative reactions to this and also due to sanctions, using certain words that deal with Iran put me at risk of being shut down even though I am not in any violation. I have seen several businesses be cut off from their websites/payment processors for simply having the word Persian (not even Iran) on their site. Even when I paid for my blend, PayPal flagged the payment and it took several days to go through because it had the work Persian in it. Shafa mentioned that this happens anytime they use the word Persian. This is obviously a mistake of software but it is a real threat nonetheless and a deterrent for me.

Earlier this year, I did create a Nowruz box where I shared items and information about our New Year traditions and I was so happy that many people enjoyed it. From that time, I started thinking of ways that I could share more and also collaborate with other Iranian owned shops in the diaspora. At that time, what I came up with was 2 different Iranian owned shops in Canada and the US. They both focus on slightly different things and I thought it would be great to create a tea with them for my shop.

The first of which is Shafa Blends, they are located in Rockville, MD and are owned by an Iranian family! I came across them several years ago when they were at a different location and under a different name. I walked into a local mall on my lunch break to get a bite and saw a store called Rumi. I instantly freaked out! I went in to see a beautiful tea and spice shop and the Iranian family that owned it. I would often come during lunch breaks to buy tea or spices. They’re now Shafa Blends but are still creating incredible spice blends and have expanded their tea offerings as well! I was very excited that they were able to help me with the blend.

THE TEA
A blend may be an odd thing to add to my shop since it’s not something I drink a lot of but it’s actually something that is very much part of my tea drinking history. I grew up drinking black teas with bergamot oil which is a blend. I enjoy all the oolongs, white and pu’er teas that I’ve had that are mixed with different flowers. The thing I tend to stray away from are teas with flavorings as they don’t always do well on my palette, I’m very sensitive to those so I mostly stay away. I do enjoy teas that are blended with different ingredients like masala chai type blends!

My idea for Deltangam was at first something I went back and forth on. I wanted it to be a daily drinker type tea that is something like I drink everyday. This was a difficult task because the tea I drink everyday is pretty plain, just a ceylon with bergamot oil but I wanted to make it more interesting without overloading it. I started to brainstorm things that are very common in our culture and cuisine. The base is of course a black tea with bergamot. Not a ceylon which I was originally looking for but a tea that Shafa has and uses in some of my favorite teas. It has a similar aroma to my favorite tea and leaves that are a good size.

The first thing I knew I needed to add was rose. Rose is a very common ingredient, not only in tea but in food! Rose and rose water are included in many of our desserts and we even have our own rose! You will also notice if you search for persian tea blends that rose is almost always involved.

Rose can be controversial though since it has such a fragrant smell. Growing up, you learn tea preferences of family members as you learn to make and pour tea. I remember my uncle has a blend that he always serves and it is very floral and fragrant but my dad on the other hand can’t stand the teas he says smell like “perfume.” To not overpower the tea, rose petal pieces are used to give a hint of rose.

The second ingredient in this tea is ceylon cinnamon. Cinnamon is a commonly used in food but not tea so that’s the twist to this blend! Cinnamon is mostly used in sweet dishes like shole zard (a rice pudding) and to sautee meat in certain dishes. It’s this one ingredient that gives big flavor especially to beef (jn my opinion) and you can tell when it’s used. So why use this in the tea?

I wanted to make this tea blend unique, something you may not find but still have ingredients that are important to Iranian culture and cuisine. It is difficult to import Iranian ingredients so using what we have available is what we used. I also took into consideration the items that Shafa carries and uses in their own blends and spices which was important since I am collaborating with them. Ceylon cinnamon was my choice because it’s my favorite to use. While the fragrance is not always as strong as other cinnamon, the flavor is really nice with a bit of sweetness. In this blend you will find pieces of ceylon cinnamon as it’s more of a bark and easier to break up.

THE NAME
When deciding what to call this tea, I wanted it to first and foremost be something in farsi. I didn’t want it to just be named whatever was in the blend or even Persian blend since that is so common. We have a lot of sayings in Farsi that don’t really make sense in English but have deep meaning and are also used often in everyday speech. I was thinking of some of the most common ones and after consulting with my mom and sister, I decided to use “Deltangam.” This phrase literally translated means “my heart is tight” in English but in Farsi, it’s used to express longing for someone or something.

Growing up in the US with Iranian parents was always an interesting experience because I was taught language, culture and traditions from a different land but grew up in the US which has a very different culture. It was always a struggle to straddle being not quite American enough for Americans and not quite Iranian enough for Iranians.

Many of you are probably aware of the revolution currently happening in Iran, I try to share things about it almost everyday to keep it front of mind for non Iranians. This isn’t a new struggle, in fact Iranians have been fighting against the Islamic Republic since 1979. I’ve never been able to go to Iran for many complicated reasons, but much of it surrounds this current government, the way they rule and having a parent who needed to flee. Deltangam is a phrase I use for Iran. It’s a home that is mine ethnically, it’s a home that is mine in the stories my parents have told me but it’s a home I’ve never physically known. It’s something that not only makes me long for it but also breaks my heart. This tea and my love of tea in general is a love letter to Iran, where I hope all Iranians in the diaspora can go back to together one day.

If you’re wondering how to pronounce the tea, you can break down the word:

del - tang - am
Del: heart
Tang: tight
Am: this indicates the possessive subject like I’m

THE BREW
I’ve included brewing instructions on the tea that I think would be a common way to brew tea but also give you a taste of the way Iranians brew their tea. You can see this in the longer steep time of 5-7 minutes. The way tea was brewed in our house was with a modern samovar set up with a bottom boiling kettle and a top tea kettle. You will boil water in the bottom, then pour that water into the top tea pot with tea leaves. Instead of just leaving the top teapot to brew, you keep it on top of the boiling kettle teapot for a long time. I’m not exactly sure of the time but sometimes 10-15 minutes or more! What you get is a very strong brew that you can dilute somewhat with water if you want a weaker tea. For stronger teas, they are generally enjoyed with a sweet either sugar cube, rock candy, green raisins or other confections.

The 5-7 minute brew will hopefully allow you to experience a stronger flavor that you can have on it’s own or perhaps choose to sweeten. However, I encourage you to play around with it and perhaps you like a shorter brew or perhaps you want to use more tea depending on your teapot. I will mention that this tea isn’t really suited for gongfu brewing.

THE TASTE

The aroma of this tea is very interesting because it is somewhat spicy from the cinnamon at the start but you also get floral and bergamot on the back end. The taste has a nice sweetness from the cinnamon on top of a classic earl grey type flavor but more complex due to the rose. It’s nice on it’s own but I suggest you try it with honey or sugar to taste as well!

I don’t expect everyone to like this tea. I’m not a master blender and this is an experiment of sorts. I’ve blended together ingredients that are meaningful to me and I don’t expect that to be everyone’s cup of tea. Although, I do hope you enjoy it :)

THE PRICE
I will be listing this tea for $16 in the shop and each bag has about 1 oz of tea. The pricing here reflects the fact that this is a collaboration and that I purchased the tea instead of sourcing directly. If the response is good, I will restock in larger amounts and also change the packaging to include a 2 oz package size.

Product Spotlight: Puzzles

On Monday November 7th I will be releasing two puzzle in my shop for the first time! Make sure to check them out then and if you buy on release day, you’ll save a few bucks! You can preview everything coming out for the release on my website now.

Why Puzzles?

You may have noticed the uptick in puzzles during early pandemic lockdowns, and it makes sense! Puzzles are a great way to pass the time and have fun, they also tend to be a good group activity but can also be done solo.

Last year while Christmas shopping, I noticed so many puzzles with a variety of different artwork featured from designs to photographs and I wanted to give it a shot.

I’ve always had a soft spot for puzzles because theyrre an activity I always enjoy and I have fond memories of them. Specifically for me, I think to summers in New Hampshire breaking out a tough 1000 piece or more puzzle to do on rainy days or to do a little bit every night after dinner. Working together with the same goal made it a fun activity since I get a little too competitive with other games.

I loved that you could just dive right in and help where needed or have a strategy or work on one area. Getting two pieces that fit together is the best feeling and I was determined to try to make a puzzle with one of my designs. This past summer, I took a sample of “the overgrown teapot” to New Hampshire and we did it as a family! I was such an amazing feeling to do it together.

My original idea was to take this winter window design I created and turn it into a puzzle because I thought it was a good candidate. Along the way working with a printer, It made sense to get two designs and since the floral teapot had been so popular and the design means so much to me that made the second slot!

Both puzzles are 500 pieces and have several different shaped pieces to keep things interesting. I would categorize these puzzles as intermediate. They’re a little easier because they have 500 pieces as opposed to 1000 however both designs have areas that have similar design elements and colors which can make it difficult. When I got samples, I put both together on my own so they are definitely doable! Of the two puzzles, I would say that the overgrown teapot design is definitely more difficult because of the similar flowers and purple background. The final size for both puzzles is a 47.5 cm square. I also know how easy it is to lose pieces so I’ve opted for a drawstring bag for each puzzle!

If you decide on getting a puzzle, I want to thank you for your support and hope that you have a wonderful time solving them!

All about the Winter/Advent Countdown Box!

It’s that time of year! The box that started it all is back! If you don’t know the story, in 2019, I was searching for an advent calendar that had non blended or non flavored teas and wasn’t finding any good options. I decided to create my own! I offered 15 boxes of a 12 day countdown and did not know what was about to be sparked. After getting good feedback, I realized that I had something good going and thought, why can’t there by countdowns at other time of the year? Since that first box, I’ve created boxes for valentine’s day, halloween and the seasons! Most recently, I’ve landed on the seasons because this allows me enough time between boxes to research, curate, source and prepare the boxes.

These boxes are certainly a labor of love as I complete all the above steps on my own, including wrapping each day for each box and writing a note that is sealed with a wax seal!

I enjoy creating all these boxes and I think they’re unique because of the way that I wrap them but also because I don’t think anyone else is doing this style of box at other times of the year.

The winter/advent box is special to me though and here’s why. Christmas has always been special to me, not for religious reasons though. While I’ve experienced many religions and attended service for them, I wouldn’t consider myself religious and this is not the tie that I have to Christmas.

As many families, we celebrated the more commercial aspects of Christmas. Being a child of immigrants though, Christmas was one of the times where I didn’t feel like a total outcast among my classmates. It was something we could share culturally. This was really important to me growing up when I was often confused as to why there weren’t other children like me in my classes or school

The other important aspect for me showed up as I got older. As my family fractured when I was younger and then I ended up with a “blended” family (I think that’s the term), the holidays, not just Christmas were a bit hectic. Usually it centered around who would spend which holiday with which parent/family and at what location. This was always stressful but when it came to christmas, I dove headfirst into the festivities as a way to cope and bring out joy at a time when I needed it. I love making gifts, buying gifts, decorating, baking, cooking and watching christmas movies. Over the years, our family has created several traditions around christmas that I hold very dear. Now, as an older adult, this time of year signifies joy. It doesn’t matter what else is going on, I can always count on the time leading up to christmas as a time to spend time nurturing myself and healing. I do this through this traditions that bring me joy. I don’t think I’ve ever expressed this in this way so I wanted to share.

With all that being said, I understand that not everyone celebrates either because it is not a symbol of joy or that their cultures or religions have different celebrations. Over the years, I’ve tried to make my box more inclusive so that everyone can enjoy it because at the end of the day, the thing that is most important to me, especially at this item of year is to spread joy.

I’m excited to share that the packaging this year will be a mostly penguin themed (I LOVE PENGUINS!) and a few other things in the box will be the winter window design that you’ve seen on the previews of my puzzles.

The penguin design started as an ornament design, which will hit the shop a little later. You will see a few variations on it depending on where it’s printed. The original design can be seen on the wrapping above. The penguin is surrounded by snow and holding a gaiwan and cup adorned with a fish!

Below you can see a preview of the box that the countdown will come in. I had to change the design to make sure it is printed well. A while back I switched from the white boxes to the kraft ones for a few reasons. The kraft boxes are a little more budget friendly and I’m not as concerned about not wrapping them which saves me a lot of time when I am packaging 50+ boxes by myself. The drawback is that colors are a bit tougher on kraft, the greens and oranges of my fall box were perfect but this was harder. Additionally, the printing company doesn’t use white ink so anything in your design that is white would be blank. To counter this, I too away the ice at the bottom of the design and turned the balls of snow into blue snowflakes!

I also did a variation of the box design below for the packaging tape that will decorate the box of the teaware in the box and the outside of the box to close it.

BOX DETAILS

Just like in previous years, this box has been a bit of a roller coaster. I’m not sure why but all the other seasonal boxes run pretty smooth. I always have issues with the winter countdown! I had an issue with a vendor that fell out of contact which forced me to find replacements and kind of mess up my budget. But then they got back to me with the tea on the way so I also had to spend for those. What this means is that I’ve shared a few previews of the countdown box in the newsletter but I’ve had to change a few things. Below are the details for the box that I don’t expect to change since I have the tea issue sorted out now.

• Price: $75 (Retail: $170)

• RELEASE DATE: October 11th at 11am est. This will be sort of like a pre-order because it will likely take me a few weeks to send out all the boxes.

• 13 days of items to open: I will be doing a QR code again so that I can write more about each tea and item. There, I will lay out an unboxing plan of when to start if you want to countdown to christmas or if you want to countdown to the first day of winter!

• 2 stationery items

• 1 brewing vessel

• 1 tea accessory

• Around 150 grams of tea or 5.3 ounces. Samples range from 10grams to 28grams

  • Typed of tea: 4 oolongs, 2 black, 1 green, 1 white, 1 pu’er. One tea is flavored but does not have other ingredients in it that would cause allergy. If you are concerned, please feel free to reach out before purchasing and I can give you more details about it.

SHIPPING

I have gone back and forth about this and have finally decided on what to do for shipping this year. This box will be heavier because of more items and also the teaware. Shipping in the us will be a flat $3 regardless of where you are located. Please note that for this box, shipping rates I will pay will be from $8.46 to $12.66 depending on location. I will also be trying something new for Canada as well where I will be charging a flat $15 shipping rate where the true shipping rate would be somewhere around $21. I hope that this will make the box more accessible!

Something new for this round is that this box must be purchased ALONE. No other items can be added to your order. If you want another item, you will need to place a separate order. This is because I am already going to be losing on shipping and there will be no room to add other items. Even if you want one pin, I need you place a separate order. If you put other items in the order, I will need to send it separate and I will send an invoice for additional shipping. Shipping really kills a business of my size and I try to make it fair without highly inflating my prices to give the illusion of free shipping. Please know that If I’m to survive as a business I will need to enforce things like this when I’ve been lax about it in the past.
I appreciate your support and understanding!

Need help with Afternoon Tea? LuAnn's Got your back!

One of the first friends I made when I entered the tea world was LuAnn of The Cup of Life. It’s been amazing to have been able to collaborate and see what she’s done over the years!

The most recent project is a new EBOOK! LuAnn has written a guide to afternoon tea with information about hosting and preparing for afternoon tea!

I asked a few more questions about the guide, check out the interview below!

Here is the link for the guide: https://theteacupoflife.gumroad.com/l/theafternoonteaguide

I’m also sharing a discount code for 15% off: afternoonteatime15

Can you give an intro to the Afternoon Tea guide and what people can expect from it?

I’ve been labelling The Afternoon Tea Guide as your new bestea because it takes readers by the hand and guides them through each step when preparing and hosting afternoon tea at home.

In The Afternoon Tea Guide you will learn about traditional afternoon tea — the history and the different types, how to prepare a full afternoon tea service from scratch and host with zero frustration, the proper etiquette when attending afternoon tea and much more.

This digital guidebook is over 60 pages of afternoon tea information featuring 13 recipes for a full afternoon tea service (4 tea sandwiches, 2 scones, 3 scone accompaniments, 4 sweets) and 12 interactive printables such as an invitation template, place card, menus, planning checklist, grocery list, guest list and more.

How long have you been celebrating/engaging in Afternoon tea?

I’ve been a lover of Afternoon Tea almost as long as I have loved tea itself. My first introduction to afternoon tea was when I was younger and enjoying tea time in play tea sets with snacks as well. Of course, I didn’t really know that was a form of afternoon tea then!

It wasn’t until I was older that I actually attended my first afternoon tea service and fell in love with the entire idea of dressing up, gathering with loved ones over a pot of tea, bites and delights with great conversations. That moment was something I wanted to experience regularly.

What inspired you to write this guide?

My inspiration for this guide has always been to make hosting afternoon tea fun and stress-free all while educating others on proper afternoon tea etiquette, table setting and much more.

I have been a big fan of afternoon tea for many years and, especially these last few years, I have been experimenting with preparing and enjoying afternoon tea at home. Once you decide you would like to experience afternoon tea at home you’re hit with a huge list of things to do! There are so many small details that keep popping up as you go along during the planning stage.

I’ve been there many times, forgetting tasks, preparing scones too far in advance or even just not knowing where to begin when I needed to set a menu. The menu, aside from the tea, is a very important step that should be a priority. I always found myself stumbling at this step, so lost on what to serve for food.

Not only do you need to make sure everything looks and tastes good, you want to make sure you are not constructing a menu that repeats too many flavours. You also don’t want the menu to be filled with heavy items only. After several menu attempts over the years I have found a favourite that is not only delicious, but it looks super fancy, without all the fuss!

The Afternoon Tea Guide was created to help others take their afternoon tea at home to the next level. Plus, keep them organized during the planning stage with the checklists and other printables included!

What was your favorite part about writing the guide?

Getting to enjoy afternoon tea several times haha.

Writing any book is incredibly hard with long hours, but add recipes and oh my gosh!!! I think they made me push back the release date a few times because recipes need to be tested and tested again and again until they are perfect.

Also, because all of the recipes were for afternoon tea, which all the food is served together, I had to make just about everything together more than once.

Recipes needed to be tested individually to make sure they actually work, but then I also needed to test if all of the food actually pairs nicely together and if the entire process was do-able. However, that was a good test and made me feel more confident that the afternoon tea menu I was creating was beginner friendly.

Needless to say, I had afternoon tea at home quite a few times this year and I’m not mad about it haha.

I had a lot of fun designing the guide as well, including the invitation, place cards and menu templates!

Do you have a favorite recipe or part of the guide?

I have quite a few favourite recipes so I’ll narrow it down by course!

Savoury: Radish & Chive Tea Sandwich, crisp radishes are layered on chive butter. This tea sandwich is served open-faced. I love the presentation!

Scone: Classic English Scone, this has been my go-to recipe for a few years. It’s one of the recipes I’ve shared on my blog previously and a favourite of many. Best served with cream and jam…which brings me to my next favourite…

Scone Accompaniment: Faux Clotted Cream, I went back and forth on adding this recipe to The Afternoon Tea Guide. It’s not real clotted cream by any means, but if anyone has tried to find authentic clotted cream in North America they know it can be tricky!

It’s fairly simple to make a more traditional clotted cream at home, however it takes over 12 hours and I found that just wasn’t feasible when making everything else for afternoon tea, too.

The quick and easy faux clotted cream recipe in The Afternoon Tea Guide is a cheater recipe that is a great substitute. It’s thick and slightly tangy. Even if you don’t think it tastes like real clotted cream, it tastes so good!

Sweet: Jasmine Panna Cotta, infused with a jasmine green tea, this is an easy sweet that is sure to impress! It’s silky, creamy and floral. It’s a nice change from heavier cakes and tarts that are often served at afternoon tea.

Do you have any advice for someone who finds Afternoon Tea a bit intimidating?

Get The Afternoon Tea Guide! hehehe.

In all seriousness, try not to worry so much about getting afternoon tea “right”. Whether you are preparing and hosting afternoon tea or just attending, the most important thing is that you enjoy the experience.

I’ve definitely been there though. I always find that preparation helps me feel more confident and less intimidated. I kept this in mind while creating the digital guidebook. That’s why I outlined an entire planning checklist starting from 2 months until the day of. Preparing as much as you possibly can before the day of the afternoon tea party will make you feel better. That way all that’s left to do is get dressed and enjoy the time with your family and friends!

I also like to brush up on my afternoon tea etiquette before attending!

What tea are you reaching for most these days?

Hojicha! I drink it year round, but since fall is near it is something I have been reaching for even more. I make a lot of hojicha lattes, my salted caramel hojicha latte recipe (https://theteacupoflife.com/2021/01/salted-caramel-hojicha-latte.html) is my fave at the moment, so I’ve been drinking hojicha powder more than loose leaf right now!

Also, if you have any other projects upcoming and want to share please do!

For the last few years I have been creating a tea lovers wall calendar. The 2023 Tea Lovers Calendar will be releasing sometime in October this year! You can follow my tea blog to know when it launches: www.theteacupoflife.com

The Stationery Shop & My Whirlwind of Emotions

I haven’t read any books in full in a very long time. It sounds silly to say but It’s because I thought It would be a waste of time or that I simply wouldn’t have time. This is mostly because of what happens when I connect with a book. When I find a book that I love or that sparks some emotion in me, it’s hard to put it down. It’s like I have this electrical connection that gives me a shock every once in a while until I pick it up again. I thought, what if I find a book I love and it stops me from getting my very long to do list done? Before, I thought that was a scary thought. After reading the Stationery Shop, I see the errors of my ways. I needed a break and a book to read!

My lovely friend Taniya suggested this book to me long ago and I had ordered it but it sat collecting dust on my shelf. Every night when I went to sleep, the beautiful gold foiled cover stared back at me asking why I had waited so long. The name Marjan Kamali, a fellow Iranian was begging me to open and read her words.

I usually wake up around 615-630 and it takes me a few minutes to fully wake up and start working. At the start of this week I told myself: you will spend the first 15 minutes of your day reading. It was the only way, the only way to start and the only way to make it stick to read all the books that have staring back at me begging me to open their spines.

I began on Monday and after 15 minutes, I extended it a little more putting off my work and workout. I was completely enthralled by the words. I thought to myself, dammit, It’s happening. But I paced myself and read the whole book in one week, a little bit each and every day. Although if I had nothing else to do I could have consumed this book in one day.

My parents are both from Iran, I’ve been regaled by stories my whole life but due to many complicated reasons, many of them political I have never been able to go. So I grew up in the US being too foreign for Americans and being too American for Iranians. Even still, the words of Marjan hit me deep. She invoked these emotions in me that swirled in my body with every word I read. Exhilarating but also calm and comfortable on my couch. The mannerisms, the food, the clash of Persian culture with that of Americans. I can relate to both sides, the things I do that are very American and the things I do that are more Iranian that I was raised to do. When badri uses toh instead of shomah, the tarof, the customs of Iran that I know from my upbringing. The way she describes cooking khoresh for Walter brought tears to my eyes. I so rarely read things like this that I know, that I was taught, that I can relate to. It felt like my mother had sat down to tell me a story of her young love in Iran. In fact my mother has told me such stories before but I won’t divulge her secrets.

Small things reminded me of stories from my parents, the moaning of the man selling beets. Laboo maboo, my dad told me they would yell. The scenes from the streets of Tehran. While my parents never told me about a stationery shop, I could envision it so well as if I had been in Tehran. It was easy for me to form the characters in my head, never had it been so easy for me when I’ve read other books.

I didn’t just enjoy this book because of the way it made me feel, but the story. The love, just as the way Rumi or Khayyam described it. The same way Roya and Bahman read the poetry together, they lived it. They lived Rumi’s words, how beautiful. They also lived his other words, his heartbreak. I couldn’t imagine how this story would have gone but what a story. I try to explain it to others but I don’t think I can express the effect it had on me. Not only has my fire for reading been ignited once more but my fire for love, for poetry, for the romance of small gestures and everyday things.

Thank you to Taniya for kindly suggesting it to me and Marjan for writing these beautiful words.

I'm starting a sticker club!

I have exciting news! I’m starting a sticker club! For the longest time I wanted to help bolster shop updates with more regular income and I thought it would be fun to start a sticker club on patreon. I chose stickers because I don’t really sell them in my shop normally. I sometimes put stickers in orders but other than that I don’t sell them individually or havent for a long time. However, they are a highly requested item.

So I started designing stickers well in advance and started working on my Patreon page. Then, I hit a snag. I started reading experiences from people who used patreon, both that I know and don’t know. These experiences involved a lot of concerns that made me second guess using the platform. I won’t go into all the details, just that it didn’t end up being the right fit.

Instead, I will be starting a subscription product on my own shop. This way I have more control, access to support and I don’t have to be sharing on two different platforms! Now for the good stuff.

I designed this logo for the patreon page before I decided not to do it and I think I’ll keep it or edit it slightly to have a nice graphic for the sticker club!

How Will It Work?

I will have a listing in my shop for the sticker club that you can subscribe to. I will keep the sticker club open always and basically, if start a new subscription by the end of a month you will still get sent that month’s sticker club!

When are you launching it?
I am aiming for mid july but may have to push it back to August!

What comes in the subscription?
Every month you will receive a 3.1 IN X 3.1 IN sticker sheet with 6-8 washi paper sticker on it and also an individual vinyl sticker (~2 in) of one of the designs on the sticker sheet. I will also decorate each envelop

What if I want more of the sticker sheet?
One of the perks of the sticker club will be a secret shop that you will get access to while you are subscribed. After I have sent out all the sticker club orders I will add whatever I have left to the secret shop so you’ll be able to grab more if you’d like. I will only make these available to everyone if there are any left after a long period of time.

How will shipping work?
I know that non tracked shipping isn’t ideal but I also don’t want this club to be expensive. I am still working finalizing but my plan is to have shipping included in the price and send in an envelope with a stamp to keep the costs low. The envelope will have a harder card in it to keep the stickers from getting damaged.

Will you offer the club internationally?
Yes! So, I want to try to open some slots for international customers to see how it goes. It will be a little more than for those in the US because the international stamp is more expensive. My only concern and I will need to make sure there is a disclaimer clear as day that shipping time will be long since these orders will be shipping via first class mail in an envelope!

What if I want to stop my subscription?
I will be using an app and you will be able to manage your subscription through them which includes cancelling it. You would just need to be aware of what date you start your subscription and to cancel it before that date on whatever month you choose to cancel.

Will you show the designs beforehand?
I plan on making them a surprise and maybe giving a sneak peak before I send!

How much will it cost?
I still have to calculate the total cost of items and shipping supplies but currently, I am thinking of making the US cost $8 and International $12 both of these costs include shipping.