The Sweet Smell of Success

I was quite excited setting out for the Grand Christmas Bazaar this morning wondering what would be on offer and what bargains I could nab.  Oddly enough I had forgotten that this particular Bazaar is really good for nice toiletries and smellies, but I remembered quickly enough when I saw the buzz around the toiletries table.  I was so pleased with the items I managed to get.

There was a large pump-action dispenser of Molton Brown hand cream, a large tube of Aveda body lotion, a bottle of Body Shop bath milk, and a tube of Elizabeth Arden Green Tea body lotion.  I particularly love the smell of Elizabeth Arden Green Tea products as they always remind me of the holiday my sister and I had in New York.  We sprayed ourselves with a sample of the Green Tea scent just before we left the duty free area at Heathrow, and the wonderful fresh fragrance stayed with us all the way across the Atlantic.  Ever since then whenever I smell Green Tea I'm reminded of that great holiday.

I also scored a lot of less upmarket, but equally nice, smellies. 

There seems to be quite a purple / lavender-scented vibe going on with this little lot - it wasn't planned that way, but I do love the smell of lavender.

I also perused the china / bric-a-brac stall which was beautifully, if somewhat precariously, laid out (there were a couple of incidents of falling china and sounds of things breaking later on!!).  I bought a little Peter Rabbit mug in perfect condition.

My sister really likes Peter Rabbit and has a couple of other crockery items with him on.  (S - if you're reading this let me know if you'd like this little mug.)

I picked up a sweet but rather sad-looking little china Scottie dog for myself.

He'll join my collection one day (when it's resurrected from the packing  case in the loft), but for now he's standing on his lonesome on the dining room mantlepiece.

But the piece de resistance was found on top of a pile of children's dolls on the toy table.  Have a look at this little beaut.

It's a large Nick and Nora gnome cosmetic bag.  I could hardly contain myself when I saw it and nearly did a poor OAP an injury whilst trying to grab hold of it.  I'd never heard of Nick and Nora before but after a quick check on the internet I see they are an American company who make all sorts of items in really funky prints.  The little gnomes on this bag are pictured in various countries around the world - America, Holland, Italy, France, Japan etc. and I love the pale blue background too - it's a very Cath Kidston shade of blue (if you know what I mean).

So, all in all, despite the fact that there were no home-made jams or preserves on sale (boo hoo), I had a thoroughly good time at the Bazaar, and have enough nice toiletries to keep me smelling sweet for quite some time to come.

Comments

[Sarah]

Liz,

I would really love to have the Peter Rabbit mug. The lovely rabbit mug that you bought me on the Gloucester Road got broken, so I would really love to have a special mug that's just for me again.

Thanks.

Sarah

[French Knots]

Love your gnome bag, what a great find. In fact looks like you had a great time at the bazaar - don't you find that they are usually very good with lots to buy or very bad with nothing you want to take home with you?? I'm off to a jumble sale later which is usually a good one with lots of fabric and tablecloths, fingers crossed!

[Heather]

You did really well at the bazaar, My sister loves lavender as well but I have to avoid it as it makes me sneeze, such a shame. The gnome bag is so cute.

[Gill]

Love the gnome bag Elizabeth, what a lucky find! I bet your heart did a somersault when you spotted it, trouble is it's really not the done thing to elbow everyone out of the way is it?! It was well worth going, you pikced up some nice things. I didn't have much energy to go out this morning, there were 2 jumble sales and a Christmas Fair on locally but I just wanted a day at home today. Now of course I wish I'd gone!