Make Your Own Tea Favor Valentines - With a Free Printable

I love tea.  I love drinking it hot, drinking it cold, and sharing it with other people.  Fortunately, I know plenty of other people in my life who also love tea, so there is no shortage of people to enjoy it with!  Since Valentines Day is right around the corner, I wanted to come up with SOME kind of valentines day craft.  Truth be told, I miss the days of elementary school and coming home with a backpackful of those cute little rectangular valentines.  Remember those?  Just in case you don't:

Yes, that is a Lisa Frank valentine.

I actually went to Target a couple of weeks ago looking for these, and couldn't find any!  Have they been phased out completely now in favor of valentines e-cards or something??  In any case, I wanted to recreate this idea of a small favor just tell people you're thinking about them.  And, instead of some chalky heart shaped candies your friend will probably never eat, what better to send with your valentine than a sample tea bag of your favorite tea?  (Tea bags also happen to be the perfect size for a valentine!)

I have made up a printable that makes 3 of these tea-themed valentines - please download if you have any interest in making your own!

Materials:
Tea Valentine Printable
Heart hole punch
Colored paper
Your favorite tea!
Small plastic favor bags
X-Acto knife (scissors would also work)
Stapler with staples
Tape

Instructions:
Once you have printed out the printable, cut the cards into 3 three, as shown in the picture.  Fold each card in half to make a card.  Use your heart-shaped hole punch to punch out a few hearts from your colored paper.  Take your teabag, and gently pull off the paper at the end of the string - you are going to replace this boring paper tag with your festive heart shaped one!  You can do this by stapling the string onto your paper heart (I folded the string over to make sure it was secure).

Wrap up your teabag in your plastic favor bag.  I used some fancy circular labels printed with the name of the tea to close the favor bag, but you could also just use regular tape (and/or write the name of the tea onto your paper heart).  Or just make it Surprise Tea!  Up to you… 

Now comes the trickiest part of this DIY - use your X-Acto knife to cut a strip through the card where the "inside" of the teacup would be - you can reference the picture above.  Now, use some tape to secure the wrapped tea bag to the inside of the card.  Thread your paper heart on the end of the string through the strip you just made with your X-Acto knife, so it appears that the paper teacup on the card has a teabag inside of it.  Voila!  You have a cute favor to send out to your friends and family.  :)

A Note About TEA - and Happy New Year!

I am a fan of tea.  It makes everything better.  While I have also been known to be a fan of coffee in a past (and maybe recent…over a month now and counting!) life, it is a fact that my relationship with tea has always been nothing but positive.  I am currently in the process of trying to appreciate green tea more; I've heard all the stories about the health benefits, the anti-oxidants, the weight-loss benefits, etc… and I am intrigued!  While a cup of green tea has nothing on a nice steaming cup of Lipton, a splash of cream and a cube of sugar in my life (I like cheap tea, so what!)… I'm getting there, and it certainly is it's own form of relaxation.  

Speaking of tea - if you live in the Seattle area, there is a tea house that just opened that serves Rooibos Tea Latte's, which is my new favorite thing!  I believe they are the only ones doing it at the moment - it is Rooibos tea that is ground very fine, pulled through an espresso machine, and finished with honey and cinnamon (or nutmeg… unfortunately I am not sure which at the moment!  Either way it's divine.)  They are on Queen Anne Hill, in a South African tea shop called the Cederberg Tea House.  Check them out!  Thank me later!

Finally, I saw an opportunity today to combine two of my loves - tea and crafting.  I've collected some crafts I'd like to try based on my love of tea, and wanted to share them.  They would make such lovely gifts for any tea lover!  (Note that I have NOT tried these projects, but don't they all look like a lovely afternoon would be spent making them while watching Anne of Green Gables?)  I intent to try it one of these days before 2014 gets too crazy.  Enjoy!

SOURCES, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: 

1.  Tea Bag Wreath:  http://kojo-designs.com/2010/03/kojotutorial-tea-tea-tea-kitchen-wreath/

2.  Tea in Mason Jars as Favors:  http://www.oncewed.com/31826/wedding-blog/real-weddings/max-margaux-iii/

3.  Personalized Tea Gift Box:  http://blogdecoses.blogspot.com/2012/02/tutorial-caixa-de-paper.html

4.  Tea Bag Notes:  http://www.ohcrafts.net/paper-tea-bag-note.php

5.  Recycled Tea Bag Clipboard:  http://modpodgerocksblog.com/2009/07/recycled-teabag-clipboard-i-mean.html

6.  Butterfly Tea Bags:  http://d24w6bsrhbeh9d.cloudfront.net/photo/6562482_460s_v1.jpg