Downton goodies

Remember I told you I was creating a Downton Abbey basket for a gala Doug and I are attending?Tonight's the night and Doug took the basket in to work yesterday. He runs the hospital foundation and the gala is the foundation's annual black tie event (which means I have to get dolled up and wear pinchy shoes tonight!).

I had a great time creating this basket, and if you have an event like this in your future, I highly recommend putting one together, if for no other reason than the fun. The foundation event is not an auction, so guests don't have to bid on baskets. There are a dozen or so nice prizes and guests have tickets they can place "in the hat" for the prize of their choice. There are some nice pieces of jewelry and a trip among a few others.

When Doug asked me to create a Downton basket, I thought I would just purchase some period "fakes" to have fun with. But once I got into it, I decided to assign several of the main characters an item to represent each.

Here is what I ended up with:

Lady Mary Crawley’s necklace 

(costume piece similar to a necklace Lady Mary wore)

Earl of Grantham's cigar

Countess of Grantham's black satin gloves

DowagerCountess of Grantham’s tea set

(I found this darling tea pot and a set of matching cups and saucers 

at a little antique shop in our little city)

Lady Edith Crawley's stationery 

(that wicked letter Edith wrote to the Turkish ambassador!)

Lady Sybil's biscuit decanter

(remember when Carson caught Daisy with it?)

Matthew Crawley’s egg cups

(there was a scene this season with 
Matthew enjoying a soft boiled egg in an egg cup)

Lavina Swire’s fascinator

(because Lavinia was from London, 
I thought she should be most fashionable!)

Isobel Crawley’s Earl Grey Tea and tea strainer

O’Brien’s bar of lavender soap

(that wicked O'Brien!)

Mrs Patmore’s cookbook

(this book looks like a lot of fun -- and a lot of good recipes)

You may have also noticed Downton Abbey 
paper dolls in a few of the pictures -- 
you can download and print them here, 
but they are not for little girls!

Now I'm off to have my hair and nails done -- it's a girlie, girl day!