Thinking of Gifts

It is that time of year when minds turn to gift giving.  Because my mind was headed in that direction this morning, I remembered that I had never shared the gift I put together for my daughter's birthday last spring.

After seeing this darling tea tray above from Martha Stewart's website she decided she would love to have one like it.

Since I've collected ceramic and pottery planters for years, this request delighted me to no end.  Most of my planters are shaped like animals or people.  They are mostly whimsical.

I started collecting them for nostalgic reasons.  My mom had two that I remember growing up.  One of the was a little duck and it was in our bathroom.  She told me it was the first thing she bought when she had her first job and made her first money.  Now I'm probably the most sentimental person you know.  So every time I see those little planters something about them connects me to my sweet momma.

I have never really gotten into the little rectangle planters, but I saw them everywhere when I shopped for the other kind.  They were usually very plentiful and a good bit less expensive than the kind I was looking for, so naturally, I thought this was going to be a breeze to put together.

I'm thinking everyone else must have come across Martha's ingenious  use for these little gems, because the moment I began to look it seemed they were nowhere to be found.  When I did find one they were a lot more expensive than I remembered.  Not outlandish at all, but still 2 to 4 times what I remembered previously seeing them priced.

I began searching antique shops, thrift stores,  Etsy, and Ebay all looking for pieces to make it work.

Finally, I found enough to put it together.  I wanted to use all green planters, but believe it or not, I couldn't find enough green ones before her birthday.

I improvised with a yellow planning to switch it out for a green later, but honestly, I didn't think about it again until I saw this picture.  I think I need to remedy that.

My daughter was really pleased with her gift, and we had a little tea party with the children that very afternoon.

One particular little one had a hard time waiting until I took the pictures.  Those cookies and sugar cubes were calling her name! Notice the little hand in all of the pictures, always close to the cookies?

Finally, she could resist no longer.  There she goes right in the middle of the snap!

By the way, I have started a new collection.  This one makes me think of my precious daughter.  Can you guess what it is?