Tea for Toys a success

Last week I participated in Tea for Toys. It was sponsored by Newnan-Coweta Magazine and Holly Cottage Tearoom and benefited Project Joy, a toy drive held by our local Foster Parent Association. The tea was held at Holly Cottage Tearoom on Savannah Street in Newnan. My editor, Angela McRae and I hope to make it a yearly event and though it took a good deal of work, especially for Angela, it was very satisfying since at the end of the day, we had a huge pile of toys that will find their way underneath the Christmas trees at foster homes all around our county.

I think the spirit of giving was in the air. All of those in attendance came in feeling good about giving toys to needy children. The tearoom was beautifully decorated and everyone was so nice.

We had so many door prizes, including a gift from Holly Cottage and a Times-Herald gift subscription. We also gave away the handmade Christmas craft projects we made to share with the attendees.

The tables were set so beautifully and each person was given a "shoe" favor which was a hand-made and decorated Victorian shoe with Christmas teabag inside. The shoes went along with our theme, "Stepping Up."

The shoes were all different and were a beautiful decoration for the tables. The menus included Vanilla Rooibos tea and for the main course, two gourmet tea sandwiches, one plump traditional fruit scone with lemon curd,  berry preserves and clotted cream condiments, a hand-rolled truffle and fresh fruit. For dessert, a Traditional English Sherry Trifle was served.

During the dessert, we gave out a hand-made booklet that doubled as a program and a memento. The booklet contained recipes and directions for hand-made Christmas decorations and ideas.

I hope everyone had as good a time as I had. It was very nice and I think everyone felt pampered and happy that they had contributed to a good cause. I feel I should have taken a photo of all the toys but I forgot to do that.

For the next few days, I will share some of our craft and decorating ideas, beginning with the wreath above.