Are you a tea drinker? Do you ever wish for a floating tea ball? Well, here's your chance. This is a 5-minute, $2 craft, but it will bring you hours of joy.
This little project comes from mikeasaurus, a member of the Dollar Store Crafts website, where people show off projects made with cheap supplies from the dollar store. This charming little tea gadget is especially fun!
The only catch, of course, is that you probably want a BPA-free, food-safe plastic duck, which probably can't be found at the dollar store. But if you can — hey, floating tea ball!
• Man Crafts: tea duck at Dollar Store Crafts
What do you use to steep your tea? Is it as cute as this duckie tea ball?
Related: Boil Buoy: A Gadget for an Unwatched Pot
(Images: mikeasaurus/Dollar Store Crafts)
Straw Mat from The ...

Cute but I imagine it would make your tea taste foul.
Do they taste the plastic-y way they smell? Ugh...
and sitting in hot water leaching BPA and whatever other scary chemicals chinese manufactured toys contain into that delicious, plasticky-tasting tea you're about to drink. ;)
Cute, but, umm... maybe not.
disgusting.
LOL.
But really, there are other things out there that float and could serve this purpose. I can't think of any, but, you know...
No way...the hot water will make the rubber ducky melt!
Or what about just having something of the appropriate size/weight that you could hang over the edge of the glass, not making contact with the tea but suspending the tea ball?
I'm going to do this!! So cute..
Gross.
VERY unhealthy
I would LOVE to do this, for the cute factor, if only I were making tea for someone who I didn't care about.
Maybe the perfect gift for the boss...
Mould with your tea, anyone?
I thought this was an extra-early April's fool....um, fail.
I agree with fergmelk...plastic--and possibly lead--leaching out in hot water...not a good idea. i'd save the cute for somewhere else.
It's cute, but all I can think of(as others have said) is that "slow death by rubber duckie" book. :(
Please don't use a header telling us to make an unsafe item that will bring us hours of joy.
Between this and the post on ohdeedoh suggesting we clean our kids' lunchboxes with melamine foam Magic Erasers, I wonder if anyone at Apartment Therapy ever took high school chemistry.
A small glass float would be absolutely beautiful in this application, and wouldn't be leeching plastics into your tea.
There's a PVC (and hole-free) duckie here: http://www.thesoftlanding.com/product-p/boon-duckjane.htm
just stick a thin chopstick through it and let it sit on top of your cup. doesnt kill you and touch your tea.
Well, I guess everything I wanted to say has already been said -- but just love that "slow death by rubber duckie" quip!
ew, doesn't seem safe to have paint chemicals from a non-food-grade toy leaching into your tea.
I have a tea ball that has a small hook at the end of the chain - I just loop the chain around the top of the mug handle to keep it in place. easy, and safe.
Rubber Duck Floating Tea Infuser (Safe version):
http://www.thegreenhead.com/2010/12/rubber-duck-floating-tea-infuser.php
Ew. You should actually take this post down, yo, srsly.
Plastic that is not food-safe in a hot liquid? No thanks. You can have all mine.
"The only catch, of course, is that you probably want a BPA-free, food-safe plastic duck, which probably can't be found at the dollar store. But if you can — hey, floating tea ball!"
It's interesting how Faith made that point clear and yet, almost everyone here ignored it... Another interesting thing: nobody answered the question "What do you use to steep your tea?"
If you're hot to float your tea ball, how about a similar thing attached to a wine cork... or even a duckie on a wine cork raft? Or, just drink coffee instead. :)