1.) Customized Jewellery Boxes
Every year, it always seems to be a challenge to find the most perfect gift for my in-laws. My mother-in-law, in particular, already has a large and varied collection of perfumes, bags, and shoes. Jojo's sisters (ie: my sister-in-laws) always give her watches and jewellery so that's out of the question too. She's got all the cooking supplies that she needs and she's not much of a techie person so gadgets might not be appreciated. What else is there to give?!?? ;-) Well, I had a big lightbulb moment when I passed through this particular stall at the Marche bazaar. The nice red texture of the jewellery boxes caught my eye. Heyyyyyy, why not give her a jewellery box?!?? ;-) I looked through the set and found them in many different sizes and uses. There's one for watches that come with small pillows inside already. There's another particularly for bracelets and bangles. And there's another where you can specifically store rings and earrings. And the best part of it all? They customize!I spoke with the nice lady that manned the booth. I'm pretty sure she's the owner. She's so pleasant to talk to and she even gave us a discount! I told her I wanted a whole jewellery box set. One would be a really large one with a window and compartments inside -- 2/3 of the box with large compartments for bangles and bracelets and the other third, with much smaller compartments for necklaces. I wanted two smaller jewellery boxes too. Each of these will be half the size of the larger jewellery box so you can pile them all up perfectly. Anyway, one of the smaller jewellery boxes will be for watches -- 3 compartments with pillows. The other would just be for rings and earrings. To store them, you'll just have to stick them in these slots. All of the jewellery boxes will match, of course. They'll be in this bright red color --- my mother in law's favorite! Your jaw will drop after hearing how much everything is. They're all only 1,000 pesos ($40 USD roughly). She asked for a 50% deposit and she'll have them delivered for free too. That is, as long as you're in the Makati area. I got her to have them delivered at Jojo's office. The lady promised that by Friday (6 days later), Jojo should have the jewellery box sets already. Super cool! ;-) I regretted not having a whole set customized for myself too. Well, the good news is that although they don't have a physical store (except at these bazaars), you can order from them anytime. Here's her contact info if you want to order some for yourself or as gifts too! ;-)
Name: Kath Bautista
Website: santafactory.multiply.com
Email: kathbautista888@gmail.com
Phone: (632) 506-2523
Mobile: (0917) 587-5250
2.) Notepad Sets, Notebook Sets, Recipe Organizer, Calling Card Organizers, etc.
This is another stall that we found at the Marche Bazaar. It was one of the first that we saw, actually. Being a sucker for everything cute and pretty (of course!), it was the polka-dotted and damask boxes that caught my eye. They came in different colors too. The stall also sold box sets with pad paper in them. There's this cute green and pink box that had 6 small pads of paper with the heading "Things to Do." There's also another set that came in a different box with the heading "To do," "To Buy," and "To Call" right at the top. You can circle one of the three and there you have it -- a multi-purpose pad paper. I guess any pad paper can have multiple purposes. But isn't it neat to have it come with the heading already? ;-) Just one of those things...;-)
There's a bunch of other stuff there. I took a minute to browse through the stall and within that time, 2 ladies came by and bought in bulk! Between the two of them, I think they bought about 20 or 30 of these notebook sets that they had. A set came with three notebooks in a box for only 100 pesos! What a deal! I think they also bought a set of 10 handcrafted any-occasion cards that also came in a box. I didn't buy any of those so I don't have pictures. Although it was tempting to get them, frankly, I didn't have anyone to buy it for. I'm done with the girls on my Christmas list and I had to practice restraint. Boy stuff is what I needed to get. Anyway, you can order from them year round. Just give them a call, send an email, or purchase online! Interested? Check out their contact info below:Name: Lilit Almendral
Website: boxesandprints.multiply.com
Email: lilitalmendral@yahoo.com
Phone: (632) 890-6954
Address: 3300 Zapote Street, Makati City
3.) Sugar Plum Bath Sets, Lotion, and other Toiletries
We found this stall over at Karl Edwards. Karl Edwards run their bazaars every weekend, I think. So if you want to, I'm sure you can still catch them and purchase straight from this stall. Anyway, it's really impossible to miss this stall. Not only will your nose lead you there (the stall smells very fruity and fragrant!) but the decor will catch your eye because it's really as girly as girly can be! ;-) Out of a better adjective or comparison, let me say that it was very 'Crabtree and Evelyn' but in a more girly and whimsical sort of way. I literally hyperventilated when I saw the stall and my husband can attest to that. ;-) You see, I'm also a sucker when it comes to bath sets, lotions, and anything that smells nice. And this stall had all of that. To top it all off (which is the reason why I hyperventilated a second time!), the stall was on sale too!!! Oh my! ;-) Let me just give you a rundown of the prices from memory. Their lotions were only 80 pesos each, bath sets (soap, lotion, and bath gel in a metal case or this small porcelain tub) were only 120 pesos, sprays and mists were only 150 pesos, and larger bath sets started at 200 pesos, I think. Everything was presented nicely with ribbons and all. Best of all, I found out that Sugarplum does not test on animals as it said at the back of the bottle. The scents range from Strawberry cream (my favorite among the lot!), Raspberry Vanilla, Sweet Pea, Cherry Blossom, and many others. I've had the chance to try their lotion and I like how the scent is not too overpowering. It smells very nice and it does stay, but it's not one to overpower your perfume. It absorbs fine and isn't greasy at all. I like it! ;-) By the way, they also sell scent diffusers for only 200 pesos. From our visit there, it seems that this is their most popular item. I'll just have to remember to come back and buy this next time. ;-)
4.) Inexpensive Perfumes, Lip Balms, Mists, Make up, and Gift Sets
You'll have to forgive me because I didn't get the name of the stall and we weren't able to take pictures as well. We were in a rush to go because we were trying to reach the credit card payment booth which closed at 7 pm over at the Karl Edwards bazaar. So how can you find this booth? If I remember correctly, it's near the middle part of the bazaar. You won't miss it because it's the stall that sells Burt's Bees lip balm, lotion, and other Mary Kate and Ashley make up at 3 for 120 pesos!!! They sell Victoria's Secret mist and lotion at 2 for 550 pesos! I also bought these mini-travel sets from Victoria's Secret and Jessica Mclintock (for the reason that this scent reminds me of my Mom!) for only 450 pesos each or 3 for 1,000 pesos!!! It was just crazy!!!! Sorry for all the exclamation marks, by the way. ;-) Oh, another way to find this booth? It's the one with a lot of people crowding around it. I really wanted to browse some more but I was peeved with all these girls crowding around the table like they're the only people in the world. Like, seriously! Don't they know that there's a hyperventillating shopaholic behind them??!?? ;-) Hahaha! ;-) I browsed through their stuff quickly and decided to come back to wait until everybody's gone. But when I came back, there was another group of people crowding around it! Well, as any crazy shopaholic would do, I squeezed in or at least tried to stick my arm between all these people and grabbed at all the items that I could. ;-) I ended up buying 6 things from the 3 for 120 pesos box and 3 of the travel sets. Apart from the 2 Victoria's Secret and 1 Jessica Mclintock travel sets, I mostly stocked up on the Burt's Bees products and this eye serum for eye bags. Check out the rest of my loot below. Sadly, I didn't get a business card either. I'm pretty sure this stall is a mainstay at the Karl Edwards bazaar. So check it out before the sale is over! ;-)
Happy shopping, everyone! In the spirit of the Christmas season (well, the 'commercial' gift-giving part of it, that is), my coming entries will revolve around gift ideas and themes that could help you in finally completing that list! Merry Christmas! ;-)
