I sent them a pretty white china tea pot and creamer, as well as our new favorite blend of tea from American Tea Room. This company, which is located in Beverly Hills, used to be known as the Palais du Thé and I'm a big fan of their lapsang souchong, which is a dark tea that tastes exactly like smoke. For this gift, we decided to go with the beautifully addictive new tea Nirvana, which is made up of Japanese sencha, figs, berries, rose petals and kiwi. I'm not usually a fruity tea person, but I love this particular drink--it's a subtle, sophisticated blend of florals and green tea that is mellow and smooth and absolutely unforgettable. If you'd like to order some for yourself or for a friend, the company does offer free shipping for orders over $50, and they have lots of great gift packages available as well.
It's not Christmas without books, of course, so I also sent them a copy of Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce. I don't think either one of them have read it, and it's a nice cozy mystery to curl up with during the winter holiday. I really enjoy the challenge of finding children's books for my friends to read--I worked in book stores for many years, and my favorite question from parents was always "My son doesn't like to read. What would you suggest?" so I'm culling from that mental list as I send them books. So far, so good!
I packaged the tea things up in huge amounts of bubble wrap in a sturdy box, then prettied it up with paper adorned with birds, sequined ribbon, and a brass jingle bell. The book was a humble secondhand copy, but it's still befitting of holly tissue and vintage red velveteen ribbon. At the last moment, I also slid in a decorative pine cone that I glittered, and I quite like the overall festivity of the package. The presents are both simple and fancy...just like the boys they're going to.
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