The day after Thanksgiving, known as Black Friday [the busiest shopping day of the year], is fun for many people, but I'm avoiding the crowds and staying home to begin decorating my house for Christmas.
I recently found this cute teapot that expresses my feelings about frenzy shopping, and I'm doing exactly as the teapot recommends.
The first Christmas decorations to unpack and display are my porcelain lighted tea houses. I'm grateful to Linda at Friendship Tea blog for the heads-up on Melinda's Scone & Tea Shop by Lemax, available at Michael's Arts & Crafts Store this year. It's the newest tea house to join my collection [far left in photo below].
I'm not sure what year I started collecting porcelain lighted tea houses, but it's been a few years, and my collection has grown to 19. I display them on top of the built-in bookcases in the family room. I love the coziness they provide at night.
I group them by manufacturers. There are four Department 56 tea houses in my collection: Mrs. Brimm's Tea Room; Potter's Tea Seller; Russian Tea Room; and Joseph Edward Tea Shoppe.
I have four Santa's Workbench tea houses [sold by JoAnn Fabric & Craft Stores]: The Tea Cozy [which was the first tea house that began my collection - a gift from a dear friend]; Elevenses Tea House; Lady Anne's Tea Room; and The Terrace Tea Room.
For four years Big Lots sold Norman Rockwell tea houses - a different house each year with Norman Rockwell's Oct. 22, 1927 Saturday Evening Post scene, "Tea Time" visible from the front window. I have all four houses.
[Internet Photo]
The rest of the houses are by assorted manufacturers: Lamplight Tea Room [Thomas Kinkaid]; Wayside Tea Room [Lemax]; Rosie Mae's Tea Room [Kohl's St. Nicholas Square]; Copperfield Tea House; Mistletoe Tea Room; and Haley's Tea Shoppe.
I think I've about reached my maximum capacity, but will I have the willpower to walk past one in a store? Time will tell! ;-)
