Tea crafts: Fold an origami teapot!

The finished model, folded with stained-glass origami paper:

Looking for a little creativi-tea? Feeling craf-tea? Here’s a fun project! Fold with foil or other light paper — six-inch square seems to work best, but use whatever size is easiest for you. (You can always fold more!)

Makes a charming bookmark, greeting card decoration, or doll’s teapot.

Or fold several in different colours, then glue a string on the back of each one, loop through a hook, and hang as a decoration on your Christmas tree or anywhere.

Some experience with folding will be helpful. This model starts with a bird base and requires knowlege of the technique of sinking. Once you’ve got those techniques down, the rest of it is easy … follow the images below the instructions. Be sure to have a good cuppa nearby to sustain you while you’re folding.

Model: Teapot
Created by: N. Montero, Spain
Variation by: Janis Badarau (a.k.a. TeaGuide)

Begin with the bird base. (Click here for instructional video of folding a bird base.)

1. Sink the blunt end. (Click here for instructional video of performing a sink fold.)

2. Valley fold the front flap downwards. (Click here for instructional video of valley fold and mountain fold.)

3. Reverse fold the two points as shown. (Click here for instructional video of reverse folding.)

4. Valley fold the top flap of the spout on the left. Mountain fold the handle on the right inwards.

5. Open out the top of the teapot and tuck the point into itself.

6. Valley fold the edges of the spout inwards, then valley fold the bottomflap upwards. At the top you see the point tucked in. Reverse fold the handle again. Spout and handle are finished. Valley fold the bottom flap and tuck the arrowed point into the pocket, following the arrow, to complete the teapot.

You now have a teapot with a flat top. I don’t really care for that, so I created a variation that looked more like a real teapot with a “knob” on the lid.

My variation:

Before tucking the top point into itself (Step 5), valley fold the point about one-third of the way up so the tip stands above the top of the teapot. Flatten the point, refold the original fold that was opened out, and tuck as above to complete the model.

From bird base to the almost-finished teapot.

Here’s how a friend designed a charming greeting card with a teapot folded from a textured silver metallic paper :

Happy folding!

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All content Copyright 2013 JP Badarau; all rights reserved.

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Crafting with tea: The Gilded Lily Soaps & Scents

Facebook can be so much fun. And so broadening: You get to “meet” all kinds of people who are involved in all kinds of businesses, hobbies, and activities.

Because of my own interest in crafting with tea — tea-dyed textiles and tea-bead jewelry via CrafTea Designs — I’m always delighted to find fellow tea lovers and crafters whose products feature genuine tea.

Ocean Surf and Chocolate Masala Chai soaps.

One such person is Kim Williamon, proprietor of The Gilded Lily Soaps & Scents, who handcrafts luscious soaps that incorporate tea in their chemistry and their design. I recently had the opportunity to ask Kim a few questions about her business, her craft, and her teas.

How did you get started making soap?

I’m very lucky to have my 92-years young grandmother still with me today. She was a big part of my life growing up. Raised on a large sugar cane farm in South Georgia with her mother and grandmother, she learned to make soap at an early age, along with many other farm crafts. I had the great pleasure of watching her make soap in my youth, and my love for the craft grew.

When did you start adding tea to your soaps?

I started adding teas and tisanes to my soaps in the early 1990s, inspired by my husband: He has very dry, sensitive skin, and is prone to seasonal breakouts. After many trips to our family doctor for creams and shots, which provided no help, I began to research the health benefits of tea and herbs.

What are some of the benefits of adding tea to soap?

The benefits are numerous! Skin is the largest organ in the body, and absorbs everything we put into it or onto it. Tea — especially green tea — is rich in antioxidants and various minerals which help rejuvenate skin cells and heal wounds, and in the treatment of skin conditions such as psoriasis and rosacea.  Caffeine helps tighten the skin. Polyphenols aid in increasing skin’s elasticity, reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, and also act as an anti-inflammatory for sensitive skin. (This is not intended as medical advice; for specific maladies please consult a medical practitioner.)

Do you make any products other than soap? Do they also incorporate tea?

Currently I’m working on liquid soap and body “butter” formulated with tea. These will be added in time for the summer season.

The soaps are beautiful (be sure to visit their Pinterest page) and smell even better!

What kinds of teas do you use in your products?

I use only organically-grown whole-leaf loose-leaf teas: whites, greens, oolongs, and blacks. For soaping I grind the dry leaves myself; I’m not a fan of teabags or pre-packaged teas.

How do you decide which teas to use for specific soaps?

I choose teas for their particular benefits to a skin type: dry, oily, sensitive, etc.  And I also create seasonal and holiday soaps with the scents I add.

How can customers find and buy your products?

At the moment I’m still working on a website and hope to have it up and running soon. Meanwhile, anyone interested in beautiful soaps made with tea can find The Gilded Lily: Soaps & Scents on Facebook; if you “Like” us and add us to your newsfeed you’ll be notified of new products and when our website goes online. Send me a Direct Message (DM) to order. For product photos and pricing, visit our Pinterest page.

What are your favourite teas to drink?

In my cup I like oolongs (Formosa Spring Dragon, Ti Guan Yin, and Se Chung), Japan green teas (Gyokuro kenjyo, Ho-ji Chi Kamakura, and Gen-mai Cha), and white teas (Moonlight and Yin Zhen Bai Hao Downy White).

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All content Copyright 2013 JP Badarau; all rights reserved.

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That’s wild! Black tea from Taiwan

As I do with Taiwan oolongs, I used a small two-cup pot for this Taiwan black tea.

There once was a time when black tea came from India, green tea came from China or Japan, and oolong tea came from Taiwan. It was very simple. But then the different regions — terroirs — began to experiment with processing different types of teas.

The first time I sampled green, oolong, and white teas from Darjeeling it was a revelation … who knew that at the source for arguably the best black tea on Earth they were busy processing their teas other ways besides fully fermented/oxidized? Well, they were, and it was a great success. So great a success that other growing regions in India, as well as in neighbouring Nepal, followed suit. Now “alternative process” teas from these regions are readily available.

More recently, the source for arguably the best oolongs on Earth — Taiwan — began processing black teas. And the results are amazing.

I rarely say “always” when it comes to tea, but every Taiwan black tea I’ve sampled has been ethereal, elegant, exquisite … always.

Case in point: This Yuchi Wild Mountain Black Tea. While everyone knows about Camellia sinensis’ wild Indian cousin Assamicus, and many of us were aware of wild tea plants — actually trees — growing in China, I just recently learned about Shancha, the wild tea plant of Taiwan.

Processed as a black tea, the Yuchi is nutty. Flowery. Smooth. A very easy drinker. The subtle qualities of the leaf will appeal to sophisticated palates, and it’s also a light and lovely cup by which to introduce a newbie to high-quality teas.

The dry leaf is quite large and dark, and I obtained the best results in a small two-cup teapot using water brought to a boil and then cooled down to oolong (“fish eyes”) temperature, then steeped for no more than four minutes. A truly delightful black tea from Taiwan.

~ ~ Special Offer for TeaGuide readers! ~ ~
~ ~ Only 24 hours left to take advantage! ~ ~

Taiwan Tea Crafts very kindly invites you to try their teas by offering a 10% discount. This offer is good until March 18, 2013 and includes their already-discounted teas. Enter the discount code TEAGUIDE at checkout — and you can even use the code multiple times until the expiration date.

So if you’re a lover (or aspiring lover!) of beautiful oolongs — whether green, roasted, oxidized, aged, or scented — the elegant black teas of Taiwan, and lovely tea ware, do stop by before the offer expires!

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