2014 American Cancer Society Think Pink Tea

This years Think Pink Tea

might have been the last one.

Unfortunately there were only two

of us hosting a table that weren't 

part of the volunteers who work

at the ACS thrift store.

This year, there were even fewer tables

than last year.  Just four tables.

It wasn't hardly worth the work it took to

put this tea together for the ACS volunteers

or the hostesses.

This year I used an 

Autumn Sunflower theme.

I started getting everything together

in late September 

 as the ACS didn't let us

know if we were even having a tea

until then.

We were wondering and waiting.

I didn't want to go to the expense

of buying everything I needed,

if we weren't going to have the tea.

This year I reused the tablecloths 

that I had sewn for a previous tea.

I also reused the chargers, 

but the matching napkin holders

were used for the first time

along with new napkins.

 You can't really see clearly

what's inside the gift box,

so I added this sign to entice everyone

to use their raffle tickets on my centerpiece. 

The tea was held at the

 Win River Resort and Casino. 

 They supplied the room as well as the 

tea and food served.  They didn't charge us

for the room or the tea service, so 100%

of everyones entrance fee and raffle ticket money

went to the American Cancer Society.

They also let us use their chair covers.

You can see the difference between these

two photos with the chair covers

off and now on.

We got to choose between black and white.

  

The gift bags hold coupons

for the ACS thrift store, the program,

and a sandwich zip baggie 

in case my guests want to take  

 leftovers home.

 I also included extra napkins 

and a thank you

note for each of my guests.

The tea plate included four 

 little sandwiches of egg salad,

 ham and grainy mustard,

smoked salmon and a cucumber sandwich.

There was also a tiny scone.

The sweet side of the plate included

a chocolate covered strawberry and

a nut cookie.

We had to work around the table legs

for place settings so that's why

the chargers aren't spaced evenly.

It really shows in the above photo,

so I wanted to explain why it looks

a bit off.

 

Joyce is my husband's cousin,

but we've always called her Aunt Joyce

because she's a generation older than us.

This is her Gingerbread Man Table.

She used  gingerman cookie cutters

for a napkin holder.

  

The last two tables were put together

by the lady who took over the Think Pink

Tea after someone else retired from the job.

She used a Candy Land Game theme for this table.

I like the clear plates that let the placemats 

show through.

Her centerpiece was a collection

of candies from a local candy shop.

Her other table was a garden  theme.

Those windows in the background

let in a lot of light, making taking photos 

in this direction a bit difficult.

That's it for the tables.

Kinda disappointing because

there used to be from

 28 to 34 tables in previous years.  

 Getting to see everyone's ideas for the tables

was what I really enjoyed.

I miss that.

Here's the sales table

they set up with items from the thrift store.

This is were the ACS volunteers shine.

I think they set up beautiful displays

of the merchandise.

Everything here was donated

 to the ACS thrift store.

They also put on a terrific fashion show,

using models of all sizes and each was wearing

clothing and shoes that were from the thrift store.

That was a lot of fun to watch.

Afterwards Joyce and I talked with

a member of the ACS team.

She said that the tea would be canceled 

next year if they were unable to get

12 people to host the tables.

I think that's for the best.

It was disappointing to see only four tables.

So, it's going to be a wait and see

if we can do this again next year.

That in itself leaves me in a bind,

not knowing whether to prepare for

next years tea or not.  I'd like to try for

a woodland Christmas theme

using whites and browns.

Now's the time to find the stuff 

I need for it, but I also don't want

to be spending money unnecessarily.

We'll see what happens,

but I do think it's time to give it up.

ACS Think Pink Tea 2013 (part 2)

This is my husbands cousin Joyce's table. 

She's a cousin by marriage, but we've 

always called her Aunt Joyce as that's 

what Rick called her while growing up.

Joyce got me involved with the ACS

Think Pink Teas. At first I was an invited guest.

 One or possibly two years later,

 I was hosting my own table.

Each hostess is responsible for a centerpiece

gift to raffle off.  We also provide the tea cups

 and saucers for eight, napkins and

a carafe for hot water,

 and a teapot to serve tea with.

Fun but completely optional items to add

include chair decorations, place cards,

favors for your guests, silverware, 

small plates for lemon, jam, butter, teabags,

silverware and water glasses to go with your 

table theme. 

It's up to each hostess,

how much to invest in the table settings.

Everyone is charged $25 to attend,

with 100% of the money going to the 

American Cancer Society. 

The hostesses are responsible for inviting

 guests to attend and sit at their table.

~~~

Pretty and Pink 

Isn't this rose china with gold trim pretty?

The centerpiece included this hatbox,

champagne (I think), two champagne glasses,

a box of See's chocolates, and a novel. 

Aunt Joyce won this basket,

but I'm not so sure she'll find the 

reading material to her liking.

Ha, enough said about that,

the china is pretty right?!!!

I like how pretty and feminine the 

pink tulle looks on the table.

~~~

Holiday Gingerbread Table

The hostess used Christmas cookbooks

as gifts for her guests.

She used cookie cutters as a napkin ring.

The Gingerbread themed centerpiece looked

perfect for an afternoon in the kitchen

crafting a gingerbread house for the holidays.

~~~

Mr Roger's Neighborhood.

Our coordinator for the ACS Think Pink Tea

Denise was took charge of the Tea just two

months prior to the Tea.  She was also in charge

of the Relay for Life event that recently happened

as well.  This was her table, and she was 

going with the theme of Mr. Roger's neighborhood.

She ran out of time to find the  Trolly train set

that she wanted to surround the castle,

King Friday and his companion puppet.

Denise covered each chair with a sweater

in honor of Mr Rogers.

~~~

  Garden Party Table.

Wouldn't this be a nice 

setting outside in the garden

or on the lawn?

A coupon from ACS Thrift store

and a packet of seeds are tucked into the napkin.

A chocolate coated teaspoon is nestled inside

a vintage napkin.  What a sweet idea.

These Chai tea cupcakes were baked

in cute silicone baking cups.

I don't know if the hostess baked them,

or purchased them from a bakery.

The looked delicious.

She had chair covers with light blue

ribbons tied in the back.

That was it for this year's tea.

Just six tables, but we had a really nice time. 

 Now it's time to settle on a theme

for next years table. 

My Tea Table for the ACS Think Pink Tea 2013

This year my ACS Think Pink Tea 

table theme was hot cocoa and snowmen.

The place mats were from Kohl's 

after Christmas sale last year.

I sewed the brown tablecloth,

along with the brown and cream napkins.

The maroon red napkins were purchased

at Kohl's for half price.

I also stitched together the napkin rings

using brown velvet wire edged ribbon,

rustic bells, berry wire trim

and Velcro closures.

Gifts for my guests were decorated with

large rustic bells, and red ribbons.

Inside there's Christmas note books with matching

pens (Mary Englebreit) from the craft store.

Holiday scented candles from Kohls,

a bag of hot cocoa mix to tie into my theme,

a truffle and a candy cane for extra color.

Underneath the gift box,

there's a twig wreath with red berries

and rustic~rusty stars.

I twined in a string of battery powered

lights, but forgot to turn them on for 

photo's or during much of the tea... oops.

I used a quart size can of  

paint to lift the centerpiece above

the wreath. I covered the can

with some brown fabric to hide the can.

Inside the centerpiece raffle gift box

there's a large ceramic bowl,

two snowmen hot chocolate mugs.

A dip bowl with matching spreader.

I found these at Kohl's two years ago.

I was hoping to purchase eight more

of those snowmen mugs for the 

table, but all I could find was the two

I used in the centerpiece gift.

I printed out a list of all the goodies 

included in the raffle prize.

The pink decorated jar were 

provided to us for the raffle tickets. 

 My jar ended up being stuffed

by the time the raffle drawing took place.

A gift bag was placed on each chair.

Inside there's a coupon for the ACS thrift store

for $5. off their next purchase.

I also included a plastic baggie

for take home goodies,

an extra paper napkin (just in case)

and a thank you note for each guest.

The little square dish holding truffles

were a new purchase this year.  

I thought they'd be good for holding

used tea bags.

I searched for red water goblets in 

September, but couldn't find any.

The holiday tableware wasn't out in

the stores quite yet.

Then the furlough worries

  started and I stopped

looking for them and decided that my

gold goblets would fit right in,

and they did. 

 As good luck would have it though,

there was a perfect set of eight red goblets

for sale at the ACS boutique there at the tea. 

  I just had to have them, and now I do.

I'll use them in a future tea 

and probably here at home as well

for special occasions.

The china I used belongs to our cousin Phylis.

   Her grandfather (a merchant mariner) 

brought them back from Japan 

for her grandmother. 

Win River Casino provided our food for the tea.

Sorry about my photo quality.

The room lighting was hard to work with 

as there was a bright wall of windows 

on one side of the room.

The tea plate includes

little sandwiches of egg salad,

cucumber and thickly spread cold butter (eww),

a delicious smoked salmon,

and thinly sliced ham

 with a whole grain mustard

that was really good.

There was also a little cinnamon scone,

a nut cookie and a chocolate covered strawberry.

The Think Pink Tea almost

got canceled last year due 

to volunteer burnout.  

Then Denise stepped up to 

revive the tea as she just couldn't

let it drop after 14 years.

She also heads up the Relay for Life

benefit as well.

   

They did hold a tea last year. 

 The participation though

fell way off due to a lack of enthusiasm

from many participants.

There was also a lack of

time to put every thing together.

Our cousin Joyce and I didn't participate

last year due to such short notice

that they were actually going to have the tea.

Last year there were ten tables

which was down from 30 or so tables

the prior year.

This year for economic and personal reasons

there were even fewer tables.

Quite a few people objected to having

the tea south of Redding at the Casino.

 Oh well.

They missed out on a fun experience

and a chance to support the

15th Annual

American Cancer Society Tea.

There were only six tables this year.

  I'll show you the rest in the next blog post.