Tea Party in a Box

 I'm going back now to the week that our kids left for Indonesia.

With new restrictions, plans for that week got changed again and again,

as we tried to figure out how to say our family goodbyes.

One of them, being a surprise cousin tea party for Makenna.

I decided to put together the ingredients needed

and send them along for a party with her friends overseas.

It was actually a lot of fun, given the initial disappointment, especially when I realized that her friends there had never had such a party. I had a large tin box. Inside I put three teacups with wrapped cookies tucked into the inverted cups, tea and sugar cubes.

For a craft, I bagged dried flowers and pine cones etc. from our garden.

Two different combinations, one woodsy and one floral.

Also, essential oils to enhance the scent and small organza sacs.

I did a practice run of what they could create.

It all fit into the tin like it was made for exactly that. 

The note included a recipe for scones and ideas for tiny sandwiches.

We both teared up when I handed it to her,

realizing that out of an initial disappointment,

something maybe even better had come about.