It's that fun time of the year again: Halloween! Around our house we really love this holiday and celebrate it by doing fun projects, decorating the house, all leading up to that one extra-special night of spookiness when all of the ghosts and goblins come out, knocking on the door to get a treat (or, if Mr. V is answering the door, a handful of treats) for their trick-or-treat bags!
This year, some of the Doll and Animal Family have gone out trick-or-treating too! It's quite chilly tonight, but luckily, most of the family are bundled up against the chill. The autumn leaves crunch under their feet as they make their way back to The Tearoom, bags full of Halloween goodies.
Teddy and Mr. Bear are dressed as Gentlemen Bears tonight!
Tulip asked to go as a Black Cat.
She says she likes it because it keeps her warm!
Thursday is wearing her favorite Doe Princess costume.
Mr. Mookie just chose to wear a bow.
He thinks he looks scary enough already!
(It's entirely possible he's not as scary as he thinks he is,
but no one has the heart to tell him!)
Eadwig is happy to see you and
he's glad you've come along
trick-or-treating with them!
Look!
IceBat and BigToe are on their way to the Tearoom,
so they can all walk back together.
Meanwhile...
Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and Hyacinthe are getting things ready for
a warming snack when everyone returns.
Brownie is getting ready for an evening of playing the piano!
Plinka Plinka Plink!
And with a swirl of cold wind and blowing leaves,
the trick-or-treaters arrive home,
ready for a warm evening together with the rest of their family!
The Trick-or-Treaters will be sharing their treats with everyone!
While the water is heating for tea, we'll take some pictures
of their costumes.
(I used one of the backdrops from my Edward Gorey Dracula
Toy Theatre for this corner of The Tearoom tonight!)
Even though Eadwig did not wear any special costume, he seemed to be already Halloween-ish already, don't you think? And he just seems to have been made to live in this Gorey room tonight!
And now tea is almost ready!
We're using our favorite tray from Chambord and
bird claw tongs for serving.
Eggsy can't wait!
It's time to serve the treats!
Our tea tonight is very special! I ordered this "Cacao Tea" from Oliver Pluff & Co. in Charleston, South Carolina! They specialize in teas with some history behind them. They sell a sampler of the teas like the ones that were dumped in Boston Harbor during the Boston Tea Party. They also sell this special tea, made only from roasted shells from cacao pods! It was a particular favorite of Martha Washington. When brewed in a tea ball for 5 minutes, it results in a light brown colored tea, which is very chocolate-y and is so good with a splash of milk (would be decadent with a splash of cream instead), a generous spoonful of demerara sugar and, for just that tiny something extra, the smallest sprinkle of sea salt (because we love how salt brings out the flavor of chocolate)!
Scrumptious!
Our treat to have with our chocolate tea is a homemade one. They are Spider Cookies from Mars and what they lack in visual appeal they more than make up for in taste! They are inspired by something that ladies made for church get togethers when I was little (and one of my aunts probably made them at some point as well.) They are made of melted chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and peanut butter, and then mixed up with a can of chow mein noodles! They are sweet, salty and really, pretty irresistible!
Everyone is grateful for a warm and yummy treat
after being outside in the cold trick-or-treating!
Hyacinthe is looking forward to trying the tea!
A festive Halloween table, including a fun bat garland
from Mizna Wada's DIY site:
miznadiy.com
A close-up view of one of the floral arrangements.
Hyacinthe says it's a good thing the trick-or-treaters came home
when they did! She can hear the thunder and lightning begin!
How good it is to be cozy with family on this stormy night!
Brownie plays cheerful tunes on the piano.
Yay! Eggsy has his treat! Now, we know that real-life dogs
cannot eat chocolate, but this is the advantage of being a toy dog!
You can have all of the chocolate you like!
We are so glad you were able to join us here tonight
for our Halloween tea!
(P.S. I made my super cute trick-or-treat bags with some repurposed items from Ben Strawn of Turtlehouse Press on Etsy! I used the topper of one of the packages for the decorations I bought from him, a treat bag he sent and even the top of one of his business cards and constructed the bags myself from a used brown paper bag, some ribbon and some kitchen twine!)
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