A simple, bone china tea cup turned into this expensive addiction.

I have a bone china tea cup addiction that seemed to get expensive, then I turned things around. If you share my bone china tea cup addiction, then we will be the best of friends.

I have always sipped my tea from a ceramic mug. Ceramic mugs are great for heat retention. There are countless days that I make a cuppa tea and it takes me awhile to get to it. My ceramic mug and lid keep it warm.

For Christmas, a dear friend gave me a porcelain tea cup and saucer with the words ‘Merry Christmas’ across the front. It was beautiful and light weight. The tea had a more notably crisp flavor. Although, I did find I needed to sit down and drink it right away as it would cool rather quickly in the thinner cup. The gift was the nudge I needed to fall off the deep end into lovely new addiction. I began searching for porcelain cups. I wanted a new cup that I could use year round. The more I searched, the more I learned about the different types of tea cups, which are bone china, fine china, and porcelain. They each can look very similar, but there’s a definite difference in what they’re made from. Bone china is made from bone, typically a cow bone. Bone china has the same manufacturing processes are used in making fine china, but without the bone content. Porcelain is also created in much the same way, but it’s fired at a higher temperature and the end result is much harder. But then there’s the creepier side of bone china. American artist Charles Krafft has found that it doesn’t have to be cow bone that’s used for the bone component in bone china but human bone. Yuck. Yes, he will turn your loved ones into a bone china tea set! With new information steeping (punny!) my attention turned to bone china. As I searched bone china I finally found my true love. A rare, vintage Wistaria, Royal Standard bone china cup, saucer, and plate. It was purple, need I say more?! That find took me down a road. A road, I was please to follow but quickly became expensive. Thankfully, I had some Christmas cash from a family member to fund the new exciting bone china tea cup hunt. When I came across a Memory Lane, Royal Albert bone china cup, saucer, and plate, I stopped. The design was a blue floral that reminded me of my oldest daughter. This continued as I found a Brown Eyed Susan and Ramona, Royal Standard bone china sets that reminded me of my younger two girls. I had to do it. I bought all 4 sets! One for each of my daughters and myself!

Little by little I checked thrift shops and tiny boutiques searching for beautiful vintage tea ware, specifically bone china. I have since collected 13 luncheon place settings. Most of which are not valuable in the eyes of the true collector, they just bring me joy. All my sets are mismatched but each setting has the matching cup, saucer, and plate.

Bone China Tea Cup Collection

I made it clear to my girls the bone china sets I bought with them in mind, are still mine. However, on special

occasions they will get to use their set.

So we started a new tradition.

Every Sunday (as often as possible) we will take tea together after church. During this time they can use their special set and we get to enjoy 30 minutes of time together. My plan is as they grow old and take flight with their wings of life, tea time will bring them home.

I pray our Sunday tea time will be a tradition that will bring my girls back home to visit.

Tea unites people, and slows us down so we can enjoy our conversations.

Blooming With Joy where friendship blooms over tea.

If you are new to Blooming With Joy tea I invite you to try our new 12 Single Serving Sampler Set. You will get to choose 12 of our teas or I will send you an assortment of our best sellers, plus I’ll pay shipping. You might also consider our full cup infuser to give your tea ample room to infuse.