Live it: Bath Christmas Market

On Sunday Sammy and I popped to Bath for the day.  We have been meaning to go for ages and are planning a full weekend trip next year - famous last words!  But we decided that with the Christmas Market on, it would be a good time to go and have a cheeky day out.

It also gave us an opportunity to check out The Makery Emporium (more about that next week) and a few more shops, including December 25 - can you guess what they sell???  Before settling in Bill's for some well earned Dinner.

It was nice to do something a bit different and have some lovely bestie time.  What with running the blog and our day jobs, it sometimes feels that we forget to hang out!  So this was a great way to do it,

The Stalls were scattered around the main City Centre, around the Abbey, the Roman Baths and throughout the cobbled streets.  They were the little wooden huts that we are so used to seeing these days but why not, when they make the place look so good.

It was very busy and so whilst winding ourselves through the (over 150!) stalls we managed to get some pictures for you guys to explore too.  You can find a list of all the stallholders here.

With the Abbey in the background, the stalls looked so Christmassy!

The Makery also had a stall in the Market selling their books, gifts and Make Away Kits.  They have plenty of Kits to choose from, my favourite is the Stag Head kit.

How cute are these biscuit badges!  Good enough to eat - always thinking of my stomach!

The Vintage Inspired Jewellery shows no signs of disappearing anytime soon and these from Elsie Belle Jewellery did not disappoint.

Some of the Stall holders products made such beautiful Christmassy displays, especially when it started to get dark.

You get to meet such great characters when walking around a new City, the Bird Hotel was a lovely feature outside the RSBP shop - which incidentally had some beautiful gifts too.


One thing that both of us wish we had more time for is drawing and sketching.  When we saw this guy sketching using some big old fat Pastels, we couldn't resist having a little look.

You just have to love an old style Carousel and this huge one was right in the middle of the cobbled streets, just ready for everyone to have a bit of a break midway through shopping.

We will be back The Pump Room - we have heard about your treats and will be back!

These drawings and prints from Pitch26 were amazing.  They are all done by architects and the level of detail is beautiful.  The Build your own house was a great touch too and it definitely is - as they say - the only house I could afford!

The Christmas Market really was a great mix of the old and new with plenty of decorations to spruce up your home.

Or you could just make a Gingerbread home - much tastier!  These beauts are from Bickie-boo.

We found these themed Russian dolls, with all sorts of characters from Father Christmas right through to Mick Jagger!

After all that, we had to pop into the Fudge Factory for some sugar intake before taking on some of the other shops Bath had to offer.  I think we will definitely have to have a long weekend here to be able to explore Bath fully, but it was a great taster for another visit.

The Market is still on Until this Sunday (15th) and so there is still time to have a visit this weekend, but be warned, it will be busy!

Which markets have you been to?  Have you been to Bath Market?  H used to live in Lincoln and the Christmas market there was great too - the Ostrich Burgers are a particular pull for people to visit.

H & Sammy

Top Ten Tips for Feeling Festive

This time next month it will be Boxing day, Scary or what! I'm not a person who need to be forced into thinking Christmassy thoughts, pretty much from the 1st of September I'm already planning my Christmas tree theme for the year, but I know some people find it hard to even think about Christmas before November is over. If you are finding it hard to get into the Christmas spirit here are my ten tips for kick-starting all those fuzzy festive feelings.

1. Plan a Christmas meal with Friends.

Every year our girls meet up for a Christmas meal, it is always a highlight for me as I don't get to go to a work Christmas do because it would just be me and Mum, so we do that on Christmas day. It's really lovely to meet up with our girls and have a catch up and a giggle. It's a nice excuse to get dressed up, Oh and there is always wine...lots of wine!

2. Shop for festive food.

In my opinion a Terry's chocolate orange is not just for Christmas, I love comfort food and I love it when all the Christmas flavoured goodies and party foods are available in the supermarkets. Anything orange or mint flavoured, Hot chocolate, Sausages in bacon, lindt chocolate reindeer, chocolate logs, mince pies, Christmas cake, gingerbread men, You name it, it's on my shopping list as soon as it hits the shelves! Mr Kipling sent us some of their festive treats recently and the Winter Whirls are just delightful! If you like cinnamon-y ginger treats you will love them.

3. Head to a department store Christmas decorations department.

I always love my yearly trip to London especially to visit Liberty's, Harrods, Selfridges' and John Lewis' Christmas departments. It is always guaranteed to get me feeling festive. I don't always buy anything, but it is great for getting ideas for decorations.

4. Plan Your Christmas Day Meal

If you are hosting a Christmas day meal (like I am this year) then plan that one, but if you are heading to family for the day, plan a separate festive meal for yourself and your best friend/ boyfriend/ husband. Steve and I always have a special meal on Christmas eve, just the two of us, I go all out, cook his favourite meal, decorate, and we get to open one small present from each other. If your not up for cooking, get a special takeaway or go out to a nice restaurant, make an evening just for you.

5. Shop for and write your Christmas cards.

I hand-make Christmas cards for family and close friends but for people living further away I will buy some. I make sure I get them early and write them right away so they are ready to post come December the 1st, this means I get the best choice of cards in the shops and it leaves me time for other things come December. 

6.Visit a Christmas market.

I Love a good Christmas market and there are loads, all over the country to take your pick from. H and I are heading to Bath this year and I am really excited as I haven't been there for ages. It's a nice reason to visit a town you haven't been to before. Check out christmasmarkets.com for one in your area, or an area you want to visit, why not make a weekend of it?

7. Go Ice skating.

I Love Ice skating, especially at this time of year, it is great fun, even if you are not very good at it. There are loads of indoor and outdoor temporary rinks put up all over the UK, but especially in London. Head over to Time out's site to check out where and when you can get your skates on.

8. Make an advent calendar 

Get your craft on! There are so many great ideas for making your own advent calender floating around sites like Pinterest, get some inspiration and get making.  Surrounding yourself with all things sparkly is a great way to get into the spirit.  If you don't want to make one for yourself or you don't have kids, make one for a friends children like the girls at A Beautiful Mess did.

9. Visit some spectacular Christmas lights.

When I was young my Dad used to drive us up to London to see the Christmas lights, one year we went all the way to Blackpool for the weekend to see the illuminations. I am going to stay in London late this year on my decoration shopping trip just to take a look at the Christmas lights and shop window decorations on Oxford Street. This is one thing sure to get the festive feelings flowing! 

10. Bake some Christmas treats.

there is nothing like the smell of Christmas baking, if you are not great at it, cheat like I do. Most supermarkets now sell ready-made gingerbread dough, just roll out, cut into shapes and bake!

I hope these tips have given you some good ideas to get your festive motivation going.

I would love to hear how you get in the Christmas spirit, let me know in the comments below.

Sammy xxx