This is the complete picture. What a swap! She included a tea cozy, tablecloth, cookies, tea, fillable tea bags, and royal plates, cupcake liners, and two-tiered tray.
You may find these pretty things on her website. Hop on over for a visit at Set To A Tea. Thank you so much, Kathleen, for such a delightful swap. I shall enjoy everything you sent. Thank you also to Heidi for being the hostess for this enjoyable swap.
Heidi at Foxgloves, Fabric, and Folly hosted a "William and Kate Royal Wedding Swap". My swap partner was Kathleen of Set to a Tea. We were supposed to spend a certain amount and put together a swap with a royal, wedding, and/or English theme. I had a great time scouring antique malls for pretties for Kathleen. I know Kathleen has a tea related business, so I tried to think of different things for her that she could not get through her business (other than those Walker cookies, I suppose...but can one have too many shortbread cookies?). What better things than those that are vintage and/or one-of-a-kind handmade.
I hope Kathleen enjoyed receiving her things as much as I enjoyed putting them together.
...and a royal one too! While I got up too late to see the actual ceremony (got up at 5:20 a.m.), I was able to look back at what had already happened and then saw William and Kate leave the church...the carriage procession (gorgeous carriage and Kate looked absolutely radiant)...the dress (love all the lace, but I thought it was a little distasteful in that it was too low--not to mention Pippa's!!)...the jewels (that sparkling crown!)...that wonderful balcony kiss (TWO of them--how wonderful!). The kiss could have been a bit *longer*...but that's just me! I thought the queen looked absolutely fabulous. She is just all class, and the "True Lover's Knot" brooch was a nice touch. I'm truly happy for the couple, and they look like they are beaming and soooo happy. It's great that this has been a wonderful day for them.
Inspired by Heidi's swap, I put together and Etsy treasury entitled "A Royal Wedding for William and Kate". I thought it would be fun. Here is a picture of it, but to see all the details you may click HERE to go to the actual treasury. P.S. I just LOVE the little gold and jewel embellished carriage! 
After saying to myself that I wouldn't again...I am! Can't believe I am, but Heidi is a fabulous swap hostess (i.e. very strict on "flakers", as she calls them), and I had such a great time in her Very Vintage Valentine swap a few years back. She has wonderful ideas, and her idea this time is a swap to honor the wedding of William and Kate at the end of April. This is a British and/or wedding themed swap. I already have some goodies that I have tucked away and am having a ball thinking up ideas. Head on over to Heidi's blog for all the details--HERE.
We had to include a wedding picture of some sort, so I made a hanging ornament out of a picture of my husband's maternal grandparents. I have always liked the picture...his grandmother looks just beautiful, I think. I added an embellishment and a rhinestone and put a white organza ribbon tie on it.
The "Something Old" was a vintage hankie.
For the "Something New" I made Cathy a brooch with my favorite pink flower beads and added two Swarovski crystal butterflies.
The "Something Borrowed" was a vintage piece of lace with an old pin stuck in it to secure it.
The "Something Blue" took me the longest to do. I embellished a perfume bottle with clear and blue rhinestone vintage jewelry bits and "pearls". The settings were all silver tone metal to match the silver on the stopper top. It certainly had lots of sparkle.
Oh, and this was the packaging. I wrapped the gifts in some greenish turquoise tissue paper then put ivory netting over that and tied the gifts with sage green ribbon. The tags identified the different parts of the saying and what to expect inside each gift. The tags were made of some very pretty paper I found...and the colors tied the whole gift packaging together.
Everything came wrapped in pretty tissue with glistening pink ribbon.
"Something Old" was a lovely teacup and saucer with pink and yellow flowers. I love teacups!
"Something New" was a cupcake book. Who can resist a cupcake book? I'm looking forward to taking some time and giving it the proper reading over! 
"Something Borrowed" was a little porcelain box with roses on the top and "lace." It reminds me of the dainty ladies with porcelain lace dresses that my great-grandmother used to have.
"Something Blue" was the most amazing...not to mention sparkly...sign! I just love the color blue Cathy made this in. It says "Bliss" on the bottom and is a true show stopper. 
Lastly, we were each to include a wedding picture of some sort and in some form. Cathy did an amazing job on the sparkly frame. It's beautiful The wedding picture itself if both funny and elegant--the bride looks like she "got him". Of course, her dress has lots of sparkle too!
Since I tend to gravitate to sparkly rhinestones...and especially to brooches...when I go to antique shops and estate sales, I guess it was a natural thing for me to notice the trend of rhinestone bridal bouquets. Now, I was very pleased with my bouquet when I got married 20 years ago. It had dried roses that my husband had given me (that I saved) and other dried flowers to fill it out. My mom did an excellent job on it, and it was gorgeous--very romantic and it held a lot of meaning. I liked the idea that I could save it (I was on the edge of the new idea of preserving floral bouquets) for always, and I still have it today stored away. Also, there was a Victoria magazine article--one of the first issues of the "new" Victoria, as I remember, though I can't remember the issue--that had bride's maid dresses with sashes. On the backs of the sashes the bride had purchased beautiful vintage rhinestone brooches for her attendants to wear. They added beautiful sparkle to the dresses for the wedding and were her gift to her ladies for being her attendants.
Another favorite Etsy creator (and fellow Wisconsinite, by the way) is Very Tres Chic by Paula Stanton. Her brooch bouquet has a definite "wow" factor to it and has lots of gorgeous, sparkling color. For anyone planning a vintage wedding, her shop is a must visit. Here is one of her creations.
The last Etsy shop is Croska which offers bridal bouquets with sparkles nestled within the bouquet for a unique look.
Whether you are looking forward to the big day yourself soon or know someone who is...or, if you are like me, and can't help just looking at beautiful, sparkly pieces created by very talented people, I'd like to suggest these three shops and the consideration of their handiwork. I can imagine a bride placing a favorite lady relative's brooch (perhaps the relative has passed away) inside her bouquet as a remembrance of her on the wedding day. Perhaps the groom gives his bride a special brooch that is then incorporated into the bouquet. The romantic and nostalgic side of me just bursts with thoughts of what could be done with these beautiful bouquets. 
A Swap for All Seasons is hosting another fabulous sounding swap--"Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue." It sounds like a fun one for sure with its vintage wedding theme. Want to join in? The more the merrier! If you do, you may just click on the link at the beginning of this post, and you will be taken there. 
