Tea Set Facts and Tips
| Pieces: | Back plate or tray, tea pot with lid, creamer, sugar container with
lid, 2 cups with 2 saucers (Val, LTD tea sets have a
few extra pieces: 2 teaspoons and a lid on the
creamer. Some Young's tea sets have a lid to the creamer).
There are some tea sets that have a plate, tea pot and 4 cups, but I am not fond of
them. I have recently found a tea set that had an extra
creamer and no plate, but everything else was there. All of my tea sets are the
first description above. |
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| Medium: | Polystone resin (polyresin) What is Resin? |
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| Price: | Averages between $10.00 - $15.00. I have found a some at craft
malls and on auction sites starting around $6.00. Some wholesale
shops sale tea sets for $3.00, but usually have only 2 or 3 sets to choose from. I
would pay more for the hard to find tea sets. |
|
| Measurements: | Back plate or tray 4 1/2"-6", tea pot 2"-2
1/2", creamer 1 3/4"-2", sugar bowl 1 3/4"-2", cup
3/4"-1", saucers 1 1/4" - 1 1/2".
These measurements are approximate. |
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| Other: | Polyresin tea sets have a theme. There are many distributors of tea
sets (i.e. Popular Imports, Young's Inc., Demar Products, Ranger,
Chadwick-Miller).
I would not recommend eating or drinking from polyresin tea sets
because they start out as a strong chemical mixture. You also might ruin
your tea set with moisture. The manufacturers state that their
products are for decorative purposes only. |
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| Display: | I display my tea sets in 3 jelly cabinets and an antique hutch. The
jelly cabinets are 4' tall, 8 1/2" deep and 1' 2" wide with
chicken wire walls. They have 5 shelves that can hold 2 tea sets to each shelf. I purchase
3" high gold painted plate stands (for 5" diameter plates) at my local craft store for $ .97 ea. You can buy them from
wholesalers, but they usually have a minimum $ for an order and it is not worth it for me.
Also, the craft store has small plastic stands that work and they are
clear! I have a picture of one of my jelly
cabinets and a plate stand below. I bought the cabinets
from a craft mall. The gentleman that made these said that he was not going to make
any more. I sure do need some more! |
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| Tips: | The best storage for your tea set, is the box it came
in. If there is no box, or the box has vanished, the best thing to use is
the box from blank bulk computer CD's. I have been lucky to come in
contact with enough for my missing boxes. They are the perfect size
(approx the same size as the green Popular Import Tea Set boxes).
Make sure that your tea set pieces are secure inside their box. Any allowed movement, can result in a chipped tea set! |
