Lunchbox Liz

I have a penchant for hot drinks. Right now that means black tea and chicory root beverages. Over the years I have traded in my habits for what I think are increasingly better ones. Coffee to tea, diet soda to soda water, sleeping in to going to bed early. My habits are obsessions that take new forms. With each new obsession comes new ritual. I experiment until I find my favorite kind of my latest obsession and then I stick with it. For instance, my dad gave me a box of Bewley’s Green Label tea that a friend brought him after she took a trip to Ireland. I was hooked and I order it online from teadog.com.

Since the company I work for ordered Pizza yesterday and I have no lunch to report, I’ll give you another food-related craft project that involves my latest favorite obsession. Black tea makes a fine tan dye and does not require a mordant (see post from April 8). I have an extensive collection of antique hankies from great aunts of yesteryear. My attic is the family repository of all heirloom linens. Most, like my great grandmother’s wedding gown I keep tucked away in layers of acid-free paper for safekeeping. The number of hankies though is overwhelming. I decided to dye eight of them and make a kitchen curtain with the sewing assistance of my friend Stephanie.