Custom Order Tea Sets

In a past blog post, I wrote of an amazing woman who commissioned me to create a special tea set for hiking enthusiasts. I had SO MUCH FUN creating the set because this woman had faith in me. Enough to tell me to do whatever I wanted. That is a Creative’s dream!

After the set was complete, I got another call. Would I consider making 4 tea sets for her three granddaughters? I could do whatever I wanted and she’d send lists of the little kids favorite things.

Let’s see, ummm……. HELL YES I’LL DO IT! Challenge accepted :)

Next, I was given the lists of favorite things. Now remember, these are little kids. When we are young, there is no “peer” influence on what interests us or what we love. It’s still so pure. So listen to some of these items and tell me how you would create a tea set to accommodate such passions. Favorite colors? Red, Yellow and Blue. Which just so happen to be the three primary colors. Right from the get-go, these sets were going to be BOLD. Now let me share some favorite’s from their lists: stegasauraus, balls, dandelions, the song “Hey, Diddle, Diddle”… As well as cats, daffodils, fresh mint, candy, the song “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” and finally, apples, Robin Hood, cooking and becoming a reader, writer and artist. Have you conjured visions of all of these onto a pottery vessel? Yeah, not as easy as you’d think. But alas, you have to get started! Here are the sets I came up with. Unfortunately, I put the wrong “favorite things” lists on the sets in this picture. I fixed it when I sent the sets out, but the photo has it wrong. Imagine it correct and you’ll see all of the items from the kids lists wrapped around the tea set forms:

My favorite “pleasant surprise” was the red background against the yellow daffodils. Never in my life would I have put that color combination together. I thought it was truly fantastic! My other favorite things were the cat and the stegosaurus. They just make me happy looking at them and that’s what it’s all about :) Lastly, the child who wants to become a reader, writer, cook and artist? We are from the same tribe! That’s what my child tea set would have had.

All in all, I truly enjoyed the project. I loved getting in touch with my inner child, creating the feeling of happiness and youthful passion of learning and loving all the things on this crazy planet. If only us elders could harness some of that child-like curiosity and remember to use it in our everyday lives. It’s so fun.

Instantly, my teen-aged daughter said “that’s really nice mom, sigh… I would have really liked to see what you would have created for me”. – total tug on my heartstrings! So, I had to make something for my teen daughter and son. Here are my kids custom travel mugs. See if you can figure out some of their favorite things :)