Happy Holly Daze Chabako 

Yesterday I stopped by one of my favorite resale shops and found this cute holiday recipe box (Size: 5 x 4.5 x 6.5 inches) and a set of nesting wooden snowmen boxes. It will be a perfect holiday chabako to take on my trip to visit my parents and sister in Illinois next week, where it's probably more like winter than here in Austin.

Luckily I already had a very small tea whisk and a snowy white teabowl made by Angela Rogers. I will paint the round wooden box (tea caddy) to look like a piece of red & white peppermint candy; varnish the inside of the snowmen - the larger one for hard sugar candy, and the smaller to hold the chakin (white wet cleaning cloth). The red & white cloth underneath will become the kobukusa (small napkin) and tea scoop cover.

Chanoyu is a meditative practice, but I think that it's ok to create some child-like cheer on a cold dreary day. Have fun this winter!