The Vintage Tea Party Book

Every now and then I come across something I can't wait to share with the world, or at least the lovely folks who stop by here from time to time . . . . 

The Vintage Tea Party Book by Angel Adoree of The Vintage Patisserie is what I'm writing home about in this post.  A friend and I found ourselves in Waterstones last week, our tummies full of her birthday lunch, our eyes peeled for promising paperbacks on the 3 for 2 table.  We then passed various piles of books waiting to be shelved, and balanced on the back of the counter were a couple of copies of this!  It was love at first sight.  We simultaneously picked up a copy apiece and began flicking through, excitedly admiring the sumptuous photography, the stunning illustrations and the gorgeous typography throughout.  Sold!

I couldn't resist reading it on the bus back to Ashbourne and the first thing I did on getting home was boil the kettle then set up camp on the sofa, cup of tea in hand, to devour the rest. Packed cover to cover with creative, delicious, beautiful ideas for hosting your own vintage tea party it is one of the loveliest books I own!   

Angel kicks off with a great introduction/memoir before launching into how to organise your own tea party - helpful suggestions on location, invitations (with brilliant templates), sourcing props and tying the perfect headscarf then give way to the four main sections; Brunch, Afternoon, Evening and Style.

Rather than a formulaic dozen-recipes-per-section type arrangement each quarter is quite literally crammed, the Brunch section alone has around thirty recipes (hello Plum & Honey Tea Bread) plus scrumptious drinks and some great craft projects;  making aprons with a choice of three silhouettes, decorating china with ceramic paint, flower arranging, making butterflies.

The spread on Coddled Eggs was one of my favourites - I'd always wondered what egg coddlers were when I'd clocked them in various charity/antique shops and now I know - will definitely be on the lookout for a couple in future!

The gradual evolution of the food ideas from light and elegant for Brunch to richer, more indulgent fare in the Afternoon and Evening sections is very well done and while there are plenty of twists on the traditional as you'd expect, there are some fabulous new ideas.  The Style section (placed after some tea-based cocktails I can't wait to try!) holds some sage advice when it comes to wardrobe additions along with hints to help you find the perfect vintage dress and step-by-step instructions on teasing your hair into some classic vintage styles, I fully intend to sport Victory Rolls at some point! 

All in all, if you're someone like me who loves tea parties, vintage generally and trying new recipes then I have a sneaking suspicion you'll be all over this like cream on scones!

Little amend: after a couple of people have sent Twitter messages asking the price I thought I'd better double check; Waterstones currently have it at half price on their website for £10.00 and Amazon also have it at £10.00.

P.S Pardon the gushing enthusiasm!
P.P.S Friend mentioned is the lovely Sara of plus-sized fashion/musings blog Scriblings of a Brit Girl.