Do-It-Yourself Wooden Tea Coasters

Going into each new year, I always choose a word that embodies how I hope to live that year. I’ve had a range of words over the years that applied to varying parts of my life. I’ve focused on one area and then another but earlier this year, as I thought through my world of the year, I realized that I’ve been missing something. I’ve been missing balance. I’ve spent so much time focusing on my family or my kids or my fitness or my business that balance has gone right out the window. I’ve missed doing so many of the things I want to do by thinking that I’m a mommy machine or a wife machine or a business machine. But this year I’ve been doing things differently. I’ve been making time for the things that in the past I thought were silly. I’ve been crafting. And reading entire books from cover to cover in less than six months (trust me, this is an accomplishment). Basically, I’ve put the things that I enjoy back in the picture and while, yes, there is still a focus on my children and my husband and my health and my business, there is also a focus on myself. As I’ve discovered that making balance my word of the year is leading to a much more fulfilling life, I’ve also discovered that there are so many things that I enjoy doing….like reading books, drinking tea and making easy do-it-yourself wooden tea coasters that are perfect for my own reading nook or giving to friends and family as gifts.

By allowing myself to discover this balance in life and giving myself permission to do the things that I love, I’ve been able to totally rethink the way that I look at my busy days. Yes, there is still a lot that I need to fit in and I know I’ll never regret the moments spent packing lunches, fixing breakfasts and loving on my family. But I’ve also discovered that I don’t regret time spent on myself. With this word of the year at the forefront for everything I do, I’ve been on the lookout for better ways to balance my life and make my own interests a part of the picture. So when I was recently shopping at Publix for my newly-prioritized afternoon essential of hot tea and my eyes landed on the new Bigelow Benefits line which just happens to have a variety called (wait for it) Balance, I felt like someone was reinforcing my goals to achieve balance in my life.

Much like my new goals of the year, the Bigelow Benefit line of tea is designed to support everyday wellness; to benefit the overall person so to speak. Since this tied in so closely with my goal of living a balanced lifestyle, I was intrigued. It didn’t surprise me at all that the Bigelow brand which I’ve loved for years is putting a focus on how important it is to put good things in our bodies to help us stay strong and it made sense that this desire was the inspiration for the Bigelow Benefit line. Through everyday teas that fuel the body with good for you ingredients while boasting flavors that will leave you dreaming of your next cup, I knew without a doubt that these teas needed to be a part of my newly balanced lifestyle.

But the benefits of Bigelow didn’t stop there. Since they are designed to support clean eating and a healthy lifestyle, they pulled in goals of my past years and helped me pair them perfectly with my new desire to live a more balanced life. With seven new teas that combine premium quality, all-natural herbs traditionally thought to ease the everyday issues in uncommonly delicious ways, it made sense that these amazing teas can help me achieve balance and go beyond! Inspired by the amazing flavors and unique names of the Bigelow Benefits line, I picked up both the Balance to help me define the life I want to live this year and the Radiate Beauty….what can I say, I just had to have it….and headed home to rethink the way I take my afternoon tea.

Once I had arrived at home, I pulled out my tea and was inspired once again to do the things I love and live the lifestyle I want to live. Since I adore crafting and it makes me super happy, I wanted to create some do-it-yourself wooden tea coasters to pair with my Bigelow Benefits Balance tea. After easily making my new favorite cup of tea, I decided now was the perfect time to make time for my interests.

So often in the past I would have put this idea aside and instead washed clothes or cleaned the house but this year, I’m doing things differently. Knowing that this was the day to change, I enlisted the help of the hubby (he was totally supportive) and got to work creating beautiful coasters that make me happy each time I look at them. To start, I found a few pieces of wood in our back yard that were just the right size to turn into do-it-yourself wooden tea coasters.

After getting the hubs to cut them into sections that would create the perfect wooden tea coasters, I spent the afternoon listening to my favorite music and finishing my awesome craft. After laying them out on the table in our work room, all that was required was a little sanding to create smooth surfaces that would hold my cup of Bigelow Benefits tea.

Then, as the sweet and spicy cinnamon top notes with a smooth balanced sweet and tart finish wrapped itself around me, I added several layers of clear finish to make my wooden tea coasters a part of tea time that I could enjoy for years to come.

After allowing my wooden tea coasters to dry so that they were sealed to perfection, I added them to the front porch, right next to my newly discovered favorite reading spot.

When paired with a light blanket, a good book and a cup of my Bigelow Benefits Balance tea, it’s the perfect afternoon escape to help this mama feel like there’s a little balance in her crazy life.

Now, the addition of this Bigelow Benefits tea is helping me remember on a daily basis that not only is it OK to put myself in the picture but it’s a step in the right direction to a more balanced life. I’m still making time for my mom duties, my wife duties, my business duties and of course my fitness. But in addition to that, I’m making time to add things that I love to my daily routine, ensuring that each and every day is rewarding, fulfilling and above all balanced.

Whatever your goals are for this year, let Bigelow Benefits inspire you to achieve them one cup at a time. With flavor combinations like Turmeric, Chili & Matcha Green Tea to help you recharge and renew, Lemon & Echinacea to stay well, Cinnamon & Blackberry that’s so hearty and satisfying you’ll want to skip the addition of sweetener and help balance your sugar intake and the beautifully radiant combination of Blueberry & Aloe, this line of six herbal and one green tea (Green Matcha Tea contains caffeine) is the perfect inspiration for living a balanced and healthy lifestyle. Pair them withe the over 130 blended and produced in the USA Bigelow specialty teas that are gluten free, non-GMO and boast exceptional flavor and it’s easy to see why these teas have been delighting tea lovers for over 70 years! For this learning-to-balance-life-mama, it’s a tea lovers dream….the perfect cup of tea for every moment of your balanced life.

Tell me, which of the Bigelow Benefits Tea Blends are most in line with your goals for 2017?