Monday, November 10, 2014

T Stands For CreativiTEA


 I've wanted to make my own tea bags ever since I read that Carol was buying hers.  Please check out her blog for lots of beautiful art and how she makes her teas.  For my tea bag, I contemplated cheese cloth, but knew I'd need to wash the material before it could be used.  I wasn't sure of the best option, until I decided to use one of my old Melitta cone style coffee filters.
 
What you will need (From back left clockwise):

Wax linen (cut about 4 inches, or length of your choice)
A tag you make or reuse from store bought tea
White pen (optional, but I couldn't help but use my new pen, which is a gem)
Stapler with colored staples
Herbs for brewing (I used spearmint that I dried)
Cone shaped coffee filter, your choice of brand

Remove herbs from bag and crush through your hands to release the oils.  Ball up herbs and place in cone shaped filter.   Create your tag.  It can be as individual or plain as you choose.

Staple cone filter together at top, then add string and tag.  Try to hit the string with one staple only instead of three (grin).  Place cone in a large pot and cover with (add) boiling water.  Allow to steep for five minutes, then enjoy.

Now it's time to share your link.  When you do, Bleubeard and I will be by to visit, as will other like minded T Stands For Tuesday artists.  The rules are simple.  Just come up with the post of your choice that spotlights, in some way, a drink.  As Bleubeard would say, photos can be taken any time, not just on Tuesday.



Please note this is also Day 11
of AEDM.

25 thoughtful remarks:

Hettie said...

Great idea to use your home grown herbs Elizabeth. I will try and remember that for next year. As for my everyday tea, I always use leaves anyhoo.
Happy Tuesday.
Hugs
xx

massofhair said...

Great to see you make your own tea bag, what a wonderful pressie that would be for a tea drinker.

Personally the smell of tea, any type of tea makes me feel quite nauseous. My OH drinks tea and it is a huge effort for me to make a pot for him, i know he appreciates my making his tea.

I am a coffee drinker, like it weak and so haven't joined in because i don't think i fit the criteria for T on a Tuesday. I do however really enjoy reading your posts.

Thank you for the tea inspiration and more:-) xxx

TwinkleToes2day said...

Fabulously creative creativiTEA Elizabeth :D I have steeped herbs from my garden but never in a bag. It would be nice not to have bits floating about in the cup and using a bag sems to be the answer. I think it was Carol's blog I first heard of buying empty bags. Amazing. Learn something new every day :D
I'm happy to say I visited everyone last week, even tho' I didn't have a T post of my own. I think it will be the same this week too; my Wee Man has been sick from school with an awful cold, and has been quite miserable with it. Hopefully he's on the mend now.
Happy T Day Elizabeth :o))

Karla B said...

Love, love this, my friend!

Ariel said...

Wonderful idea to have our own tea bags Elizabeth-:)
I hope to be here tomorrow with my post.
Have a lovely week
Susan

Linda Kunsman said...

You have made this so very easy and do able Elizabeth-thank you!! And happy T day!

dawn said...

Hello and Happy T Day! What a great tea bag you made. How did it taste? Love that you always try new things, glad you do and share them with us.
I'm linked up and ready to see what everyone's doing on Tuesday. Have a great day!

Robyn said...

love the idea of using a coffee filter to make a tea bag.
what white pen do you like. I'm not happy with any of mine.

Carol said...

Thanks for the Heads up on my blog Elizabeth ♥ I used to make teabags that way and I've even used bowl type coffee to make them. When I started growing my own herbs in abundance and making lots of teas I started buying the bags .

Krisha said...

Very clever to use a coffee filter and make a tea bag.
Happy T-day

froebelsternchen said...

So creative Elizabeth- I bought special tea filter-bags recently and a metallic tea clip... it's very handy for my loose teas - your idea is beautiful with the label... love it!
The teafilterpaper is such a fantastic paper for collages as well-
I recycle some of my bought and used teabags but since I bought the tea filters I am lazy and don't recyle any more--- shame on me.

Julia Dunnit said...

Well, that's gotta be the most practical creativitea that I've seen so far! Brilliant idea. Although, as your blog loaded and the first thing I saw was a scrunched up bundle of dried something-or-other, I thought we may be smoking, not drinking!! Well, someone had to say it!

johanna said...

clever method for the loose herbs! like Susi froebelsternchen i use tea filter-bags with an extra metallic Clip. i´m lazy;)

voodoo vixen said...

Love your home made teabag... what on earth did it taste like? LOL You know me... its got to be normal teabags, nothing fruity, herby or weird... tea with milk... in a cup and a saucer...

I amy have to go and put a drink in my post... you may kick me out for not following the rules!

Annie said...

What a brilliant idea Elizabeth. I have linked up today with my T for Tower pics. Hope you don't mind the lack of drink because I feel the poppies more than make up for it :-)
Hugs,
Annie x

Vicki Miller said...

I am impressed that you dried your own spearmint. Did you know I was a herbalist once upon a time?

Darla said...

Clever idea. We use those metal tea balls for loose tea. Your version would be nice to make tea to give to friends though.

Darla

~*~Patty S said...

Clever name for your tea post and what a fun way to brew your special home grown mint tea too!
Wishing you and Bleubeard a Happy T Day...
oxo

Unknown said...

Love this teabag idea, I need a tea now :))

Halle said...

Very interesting...Love that you made use of those coffee filters. Good thinking!

Dianne said...

Such a clever idea! that will be some delicious tea, and love the name! :) would be a lovely gift, thanks for the idea! ♥

Divers and Sundry said...

I'm impressed! I've never made my own teabags.

You're right about the statue on my blog post. It's of a WW1 Doughboy. :)

Julie Jordan Scott said...

I have never even thought of making tea before but wow, now I think I just might! What a fun gift/treat/creative adventure!

Rita said...

I'm used to infusers for individual cups and never thought about making my own tea bags, but this would definitely work. I didn't even know they sold empty tea bags. Always learning something new. Happy T- Day! :)

Craftymoose Crafts said...



By now you may have guessed what a hard time I am having trying to keep up with everything--challenges, Tea, and getting ready for two shows. Hopefully, I will be back regularly by mid-December.

Great teabag tutorial--how was the tea?