A Gift of Frugali-TEA and Magazines
Pip mentions a wonderful Adagio tea deal going on right now here.
You get a five dollar gift certificate to apply towards an order from adagio teas (and very good teas they are, too). You have to use it for a minimum order of five dollars, and shipping is 3.75, so you will be spending at least that much, but keep reading to see some ideas to really maximize on this deal and use it for a nice present.
Their teas are loose, full leaf teas which are better tasting than the broken odds and ends that find their way into most American tea bags, and, being full, loose leaf teas chosen with quality in mind, that means they are free of that typical American tea flavor, which I find has a tinny, bitter after taste that I personally think makes them taste much like dirty dishwater smells. Incidentally, I am from Arkansas, and for years, before my Razorback Daddy fell prey to Dementia, he swore I was a changling and not a true child of Arkansas at all, because he was putting sweet tea in my bottle when I was but a wee little mite and I was spitting out the bitter stuff even then.
But back to something finer in life- generally, the Adagio tea samplers make ten cups each and are only 2.00. They come in adorable cute reusable tins. Spearmint, peppermint, and chamomile herbal teas are only 1.00 per sampler (and make five cups each). When you place your order if you tell them your birthday (or be tricksy and give them the birthday of a friend or family member), they will also give you a free sampler for that month- it will be named with the corresponding sign of the zodiac.
These little tins make really cute stocking stuffers or part of a nice gift basket for a new mother or a friend's birthday- especially if you used that friend's birthday month for the birthday sampler!
So, you can get two regular samplers for 2.00 each, then choose one of the three 1 dollar samplers, and then get the free birthday month tea and you have four very cute little tins of loose leaf tea for which you paid only the 3.75 in shipping.
OR you could buy five tins of an assortment of spearmint, peppermint, and chamomile tea samplers. I don't know if you also get the free birthday sampler with this option- I tried to walk through another order to see (I didn't intend to complete the order), but it is supposed to be only certificate per household, and it wouldn't recognize my certificate. If you go this route, would you let me know how it worked?
If you do not need or want four sampler tins of tea, you could go really upscale and buy a five dollar sampler of one of the gunpowder blends or the dragon pearls (very pretty rolled teas), or use it to apply towards the purchase of one of the blossom teas (these are ten dollars for a package of ten blossoms). These are beautiful blossoms that unfurl in your teapot- so you want to have a glass teapot in order to really get the benefit, since with this tea the visual appeal is as important as the taste.
Once you place your order, there is also an option to purchase a year's subscription to your choice of four various magazines for only 2.00 each, and I chose some of those for gifts as well.
Basically, that means you can give each of four special somebodies a year's subscription to a magazine and ten cups of really quality tea, so they can sit down with a cup of tea when the magazine comes each month (depending on the subscription- some of them were for ten issues, some for 8, some for 12), for only 1.43 per person!
Now, the magazines only have the option of sending them to one address. I suggest choosing yours, then when the first one comes send them a change of address and update it to your gift recipient's address. Then wrap up the magazine you received with the tea for gift giving, along with a short note explaining that they will be getting the magazine sent to them.
Make this really fun (and special, but still frugal) and include, oh, a couple print-outs of crafts to make from old magazines, such as:
1. beads
2. dangly earrings
3. folded boats [glossy magazine pages float in a sink of water much longer than other paper boats],
4. envelopes for mailing snail mail letters or storing coupons,
5. collages
6. or even a magazine bowl [which I would not use for storing food, but would be fun for toys, storing balls of yarn and crochet hooks or knitting needles, keeping the remote controls in...)
7. suggest that when your recipient is finished, they could donate used magazines to nursing homes, a medical office, or care centers.
8. Shred magazine pages for packing material (including in gift bags), and use strips cut from old magazines for bows for packages (scroll down to bottom of this post for photograph and a link).
9. Make this cute heart pendant (I think I'd like it better as a refrigerator magnet)
10. Make a bracelet- this adorable project uses sheet music and guitar strings, but you could use anything the same shape, and coiled magazine pages instead of sheet music.
Add a sweet note explaining that each time the magazine comes you hope they can sit down, put their feet up and enjoy a cup of tea with their reading, and you have a thoughtful and fun gift that lasts all year long.
So get your tea.=) Either click through to read what Pip had to say about Adagio Teas and which samplers she recommends, or just click on the icon below to get started:
Advice from our Tea Aficionado Friend, known on our blog as The Tea Chemist:
Brewing Tea• Tea must be made with boiling (not boiled) water
• Brew tea anywhere from two to six minutes (for stronger tea, brew longer)
• Loose, full-leaf tea gives the best flavor
• If using a teabag, do not, under any circumstances, squeeze the tea bag into the tea (this releases tannic acid into the tea, which causes a bitter aftertaste)
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3 Responses to “A Gift of Frugali-TEA and Magazines”
November 20th, 2009 at 8:27 am
How do you get the certificate? I am not seeing an icon to click on and The Common Room is not showing me how to get it either. I think I am missing something…..
November 20th, 2009 at 8:29 am
Nevermind. When I refreshed the other site, the form showed up! Thank you for this deal!!!!
November 20th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
I didn’t get the magazine offer, but I did use the gift certificate and got a tea sample each for my daughter’s two teachers. I’ll package them up with a nice mug and a sweet note. Thanks for the lead, this was a great idea!
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