A Christmas Tea: Teacup Ornaments

Welcome to my 5th annual Christmas Open House! All week I'll be sharing tea-themed Christmas ornaments, both stitched and crafted. Brew yourself a cup of tea and meet me here every day for some Christmas cheer!

This adorable Christmas visitor is a Casey Buonaugurio design from the December 2008 issue of Just Cross Stitch magazine. He's stitched on 28 count mystery linen with DMC.

These sweet teacup ornaments are not difficult to make, although if you've never worked with epoxy resin, they can be a bit tricky. I was inspired by this post and used the supplies she recommends. Any small teacup can be used, doll or child-sized.

We can't have tea without something to nibble on, so I'll be sharing a few recipes this week, too. Today's recipe is for Lemon Stars. 

The original recipe says it makes nine dozen using a 2" cookie cutter. I cut the recipe in half, and then used only half the dough (so, 1/4 of the original recipe), and used a tiny 1.5" cookie cutter. I got 40 tiny stars out of it. This is a very versatile recipe as it makes a ton, but scales down easily, and can be flavored any way you like. If you make these tiny, as I did, beware! You're more likely to just pop them in your mouth as you pass by the cookie tray!

Lemon Stars (original quantities for nine dozen)

1/2 c. butter-flavored shortening
1 c. sugar
1 egg*
1 1/2 tsp. lemon extract
1/2 c. sour cream
1 tsp. grated lemon peel
2 3/4 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Glaze: 1/2 c. powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp. lemon zest, 2-3 tsp. lemon juice

Cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and extract. Stir in sour cream and lemon peel. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Divide dough into three balls; cover and refrigerate for 3 hours or until easy to handle.

Remove one portion of dough from the refrigerator at a time. On lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4" thickness and cut with floured 2" cookie cutter. Place 1" apart on uncreased baking sheets and bake at 375 for 6-8 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool. Glaze when cool.

*To scale down a recipe that uses one egg: break the egg and lightly mix it (don't beat it as you would for scrambled eggs); pour into a small liquid measure and divide as needed. I used about 2 Tbsp. of the mixed egg in the halved recipe, but that will vary depending on the size of the egg you're using.

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Thanks for dropping in... see y'all tomorrow!