#tea blends

Examples:

This is not an endorsement or a recommendation to purchase anything, but you can find a lot of great examples of tea blends based on media, characters, and even fanfics in Adagio’s fandom blends section, including Cara McGee’s Sherlock blends that started the trend. This excellent post by hyururirapappa lays out exactly how they connected the flavors to the characters that inspired their Rick & Morty blends. Sharing the recipe, like this post with an Our Flag Means Death-inspired tea blend, is an excellent way to present your tea blends. You can also design themed labels like these Eerie, Indiana blends or these Star Trek teas. (Note: If you’re using Adagio to make your blends, direct links to your blends on their platform should only be offered on request. Please present your tea blends using text and images in your post vs linking to the blend on Adagio. See our guidelines for commercial sites below!)

Perfumes are also a fantastic option, either making your own or simply designing a label/bottle and describing the scents, like these Transformers Perfumes and these perfumes inspired by The Terror, or rely fully on description like this perfume collection description based on a Katekyou Hitman Reborn fanfiction, or this Ghostbusters-themed perfume line.

You can use color, scent, and shape to evoke various aspects of a fic in both candles and soaps. Check out these Demon Slayer-inspired candles by BaloogaBrett, this soap themed around a D&D character, this Doctor Who soap, and this candle based on a Criminal Minds fic by blackbird-brewster. Decorated labels, interesting shapes, or added elements, like in this adorable pokemon candle by MysteriousAvocado550, are great ways to work in aspects of the fic.  Another way to tie soaps or candles into a fic are themed candle holders, like this 3D-printed Litwick candle holder, or soap dishes, like this Star Wars soap dish.

You can even make soap or candles that look like various foods, like these super cute cake soaps - a great option if you don’t enjoy cooking and the fic you’re working with is a restaurant or coffee shop AU, or otherwise prominently features food or drinks.

Resources, tutorials, and where to look for inspiration:

Don’t know anything about tea or how to brew it? Start with this video guide and this article on Serious Eats. For getting started with tea blends, check out this quick beginner’s guide from Martha Stewart. This video tutorial and this very thorough written tutorial also cover much of what you’ll need to know about flavor combinations and how to make a good blend. Specifically on the fandom side, this Fandom Tea Blend Tutorial covers how to connect flavors to different aspects of a piece of media. You can also find help and support, information on various types of tea, inspiration, and ideas on reddit at r/tea.

If you’re not a fan of tea, or if another food or drink would fit the fic better or be more thematically relevant, there are plenty of other options you can use the same techniques for. Hot chocolate or coffee drinks, ice cream sodas, cakes, charcuterie trays, spice blends, compound butters, flavored sugar cubes, pickles… Pretty much anything with flavors and scents you can apply to a fic can work. Check out our culinary arts post for more ideas, tutorials, and resources. Additionally, you can also simply draw any of these options - make a label for a spice blend, paint a charcuterie board, or design the packaging for a flavored coffee.

For hot chocolate mixes, this is a good base recipe to work from and can be easily modified to include different flavors based on your needs. Add spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, or cardamom for a warmer flavor, or various chili powders if you need something with a bit of a kick. Replace a bit of the milk powder with pudding mix for a creamier texture and added flavoring. Working with a coffee shop AU? Add a little espresso powder! You can also use ground candies to add in different flavors and extra sweetness, like caramels, peppermints, or fruit-flavored candy (though you may want to reduce the sugar and/or boost the salt if going this route). Pick flavors that fit the fic you’re working with, and get creative with it!

Scents work similarly to the flavor-based options listed above. If you’re making or designing candles, soaps, or perfume blends, pick scents that evoke the vibe of the fic, or those that exemplify the themes, settings, characters, etc. You can design perfume bottles in the shape of significant objects in the fic, or use those same objects to add ornamentation to your candles or soaps.

If you’re new to perfume, I recommend clicking around on fragrance sites and forums to get an idea of how it all works. Basenotes (a forum for perfumers) and Fragrantica (an online magazine with active forums, reviews, and more) are great places to start, and both will be helpful down the line if you decide to get into perfume making. If you’re just looking to design bottles, labels, and describe your blends, head to the reviews and look for perfumes that fit the vibe, themes, or genre of the fic you’re working with. This will help you find a good base to work off of, and an idea of which scents evoke the emotions and themes you’re working with. The subreddit r/perfumes is another great spot to look for ideas, advice, and inspiration.

If you’d like to make your own perfumes based on your ideas, this guide, So You Want to Make Perfume?, is a good starting point, as is this extremely thorough video tutorial, which will walk you through all the materials and information you need to get started. Check out r/DIYFragrance on reddit for quick help from other perfumers, examples, guides, and inspiration. Their resource list is a good jumping-off point, and I highly recommend reading their advisory against the use of fragrance oils. The site they suggest, The Good Scents Company, is an in-depth, searchable database of fragrance materials, supplies, and formulas - an absolute goldmine for anyone working with fragrances. 

This tutorial from Clayton Candle Co is a good place to start for candlemaking. You’ll also want to check out r/candlemaking, especially their equipment list, walkthrough, and troubleshooting FAQ. You can also find inspiration and ideas at r/candles!

Soaping 101 on youtube has thousands of video tutorials and lots of great information for beginner soap makers. This playlist by Bramble Berry also covers much of what you’ll need to know to get started. RoyaltySoaps, whose food-shaped candle tutorial we linked above, is a fantastic youtube channel for candle and soap making that features loads of in-depth tutorials, guides, and more. I highly recommend her video on making custom molds, which is super helpful if you’re looking to make shaped soaps or candles for the event.

Both soap and candlemaking can be a bit intimidating for beginners - if you’re completely new to it, you may be able to find classes you can take offered by local art or community centers, soap or candle shops, or local candle/soap makers that’ll help you get started.

As with any craft project, instructables is a great place to look for inspiration and detailed project tutorials - search for the specific thing you want to make or browse by category to get some ideas.

For more detailed instruction, never underestimate your local library. There are many excellent books written about tea blending, as well as perfume, soap, and candle making that can be acquired quickly and for free in physical or ebook form. Librarians are your friends and will not bite you - ask them for help in finding books and resources! Many libraries in larger cities offer additional resources such as 3D printing and laser cutting, or a ‘library of things’ where you can rent tools and crafting equipment.

If you find any tutorials or guides helpful when making art for the event, please show the creator some love and leave a comment!

What to avoid:

Be very careful on pinterest, tiktok, and youtube shorts - avoid ‘5 minute crafts’ style “whoa, it really works!” videos and other clickbait-y content designed to trick you. Many of these videos are deliberately short, sped-up, feature deceptive cuts, and recommend techniques that are both ineffective and potentially dangerous. These are often made by content farms, not individuals, and their goal is clicks and views, not to help people make anything real. When looking for instructional content, look for guides and videos made by dedicated individuals. A good tutorial will usually be longer, include lists of materials and resources, and show the full process with tips and tricks to ensure your success.

Additional notes:

Be sure to follow any safety guidelines listed on materials such as oils, chemicals, and lye. Use recommended protective equipment such as masks, gloves, and safety glasses. Work in a well-ventilated area and don’t use hazardous materials in ways not recommended on the packaging. Be very careful with any blades and other sharp equipment, and anything involving heat or fire. If you’re on the younger side, get an adult to help with anything hazardous!

Adagio and other commercial sites: 

To avoid being mistaken for a scammer, if you are creating your tea blends or perfumes on any kind of commercial website like Adagio, please do not share the link in your comment to the author or your art post. Include images of the blend, your illustrations, and/or descriptions instead. Please do not share any commercial links on posts directly associated with the event. If you would like to share links to anything you’re creating for sale either by you or a commercial site, please post these separately and without fanart frenzy tags. If the author or anyone else asks for the link, you are welcome to share it with them privately.

Stuck or confused? Drop a reply here, or check out our discord server and subreddit for help from other participants!