Posh Purpose DIY: Tea Party Favor

I hope you got a chance to read our How to Host: A Tea Party! and our tutorial on styling a low flower arrangement.  I wanted to share with you the super easy DIY favor I gave to the girls I invited over.  I wanted a cute tea party themed favor, but I also wanted to be something useful and also something that my friends probably didn't have.  I found these tea bag rests at World Market for $1.99 each and I had a 20% off coupon, so I got them for $1.59 each (plus tax) for a total of $7.95 (plus tax) for favors for 4 guests and myself.

I decided to glam them up a bit using some leftover Martha Stewart glass paint from my painted jewelry bowl project.  I laid down a bit of newspaper to protect my table and I cleaned up the tea rests with a bit of rubbing alcohol before washing them as well.  I drew the first initial for each girl in the center of the tea pot and then added gold details to the "pot."  I had a hard time getting some of the initials on and centered, but each time I just wiped the surface clean and started again (I waited until I had the letter placed perfected before decorating any other part of the tea rest).  I waited until the next day and then I put all the rests on a lined cookie sheet and baked them according the the Martha Stewart instructions to seal the paint.

I used the personalized tea rests to mark each girl's seat at her place setting.  Aren't they cute?

"A" is for my friend Amy!

Although I had a bit of difficulty getting the initials on straight and centered, it still only took me about 30 mins to decorate the 5 tea rests.  I'm extremely happy with how they turned out.  I'm even happier that my friends are actually using them!  I went over to one friend's house this weekend for dinner and saw that she was using it as a spoon rest on the coffee and tea station she has set up in her dining room.

Super easy, cheap, pretty, and useful...can't ask for more out of a favor!