10 Things I Learned & Loved This Weekend

1. A length of candy cane stripe ribbon tied around my lamp is the ideal festive addition...
2. ... and the perfect way to recycle the beautiful packaging from my BerinMade parcel!
3. I found a super fun pair of yellow trousers while I was shopping with my Mum on Friday.
4. Saturated mint and yellow is a corker of a colour combo!
5. I has so much fun hunting out a Christmas tree on Saturday morning.
6. I baked Dala horse shaped cakes for the first time - aren't they cute?
7. These new London and Paris prints by Our Workshop are beyond adorable.
8. I'm considering making handmade tags like these Owl and Tree stamps from Papermash for this year's gifts.
9. Delicate and gently colourful baubles by Asleep From Day? Mr. Bazaar is in love!
10. I love the letters on these Alphabet Mugs at John Lewis.

Announcing: Mr. Bazaar & The Simple Things Magazine

Have you heard of The Simple Things magazine? It's a relatively new title that has launched in multiple countries across the World and Mr. Bazaar was lucky enough to secure a contributing role! This was a big step for me in my career, so I'm very grateful to the editors for believing in my work and trusting me to curate their shopping pages. I think many of you will agree that taking on a new project is always nerve-wracking - I sure do! All I could do was throw myself into the features and work my little socks off. I did just that and, well, I'm not only proud of the results but also to be working with the team from an early phase in the magazine's history. I realised the other day that the current Holiday issue of Sweet Paul magazine is my third, which means I've been working with Paul and his team for three years - time flies! I find it so rewarding to see how far the magazine has come and I know that The Simple Things is also destined for huge things; there's such a buzz about the title here in the UK. If you are in the States you can pick up a copy in Barnes & Noble; here's a list of places you can find the magazine worldwide.

Each issue is split into three sections - Dawn, Day and Dusk - which take you through simple ideas to make the most out of your day. The magazine is all about enjoying the smaller things; the things that matter most in life. It's about slowing down, making the most of where you live and enjoying the company of friends and family. So, yesterday, I thought about this notion and curated a small collection of simple little things that are making me happy right now. I'd love to know: what simple things in life are making you happy right now?
// Photography & styling by Will Taylor

10 Things I Learned & Loved This Weekend

1. Garlands adorned with clementine skins, cinnamon sticks, pine cones and twinkling lights make for very pretty decorations.
2. After weeks of trying to find winter berries, I finally found a florist with some in stock!
3. For the first time I saw a gold painted post box, which signifies a town where a British London 2012 Olympic gold medallist lives. Wasn't it such a lovely idea?
4. London is definitely at its best when it's decorated for Christmas.
5. I liked how this modern colour statement looked against the traditional architecture of London.
6. Fig2Design's holiday cards are perfect for Mr. Bazaar!
7. Lolipop Design's year planner is stylish and colourful is headed straight for my office.
8. I bet this Red Cedar Incense from Old Faithful Shop smells as good as the packaging looks.
9. I added West Elm's playful wash bag to my Father Christmas list!
10. These colourful and typographic espresso cups by Jamie at Home are very cute.

10 Things I Learned & Loved This Weekend

1. My first attempt at making a gingerbread house had a rather amusing result...! Things I learned: I need to be quicker at pipping the icing so it doesn't start to set in the bag, becoming impossible to pipe; I should remeasure and resize the pieces once they cooked; when planning on photographing it, I need to leave enough time so that I'm not racing to finish it before the goes down!
2. I can't go into IKEA just for a rug and come out without a trolley full of fabulous and super affordable Christmas decorations!
3. I laid down my new rug in the living room; the underlay makes it feel really tactile underfoot.
4. The type on Merci's paper bags is fab.
5. How sweet is the entrance to this florist's shop?
6. I can't help but smile when I'm wearing stripes!
7. I'm truly, madly, deeply in love with this festive Paris print!
8. This year's seasonal decor calls for stylish paper decorations.
9. Love this colour block watch.
10. This is my kinda Christmas card - colourful and typographic.

10 Things I Learned & Loved This Weekend

1. A cheery pink front door is a quick fire way to brighten up a dark and damp Saturday morning walk through London.
2. I walked past Bonnie Gull and the interior looked as though it would be equally as charming as the exterior!
3. Enjoyed looking through these inspirational quote postcards that Fiona at Flourish kindly gave to me as a present.
4. These owl placemats from Hester and Cook would be lovely for a woodland themed Holiday table.
5. Habitat have a super fun and colourful display for their Christmas windows.
6. This green and white stripe awning is a true delight!
7. I love the packaging on this Hope and Greenwood sweetie packet.
8. Moa Hoff opened her online store and I instantly fell for her delightful circus poster.
9. Lindsay Sherbondy makes these rather lovely hand-lettered Holiday prints.
10. I think my wardrobe would like to date a polka dot jumper!

A Look Back On Mr. Bazaar's Week

Do you ever have those weeks when you move so fast from one thing to another that you don't have time to take stock of it all? Well, I just had one of those weeks: in amongst a whirlwind of Spring/Summer 2013 press shows, I somehow managed to film a special video for Laura Ashley, interview the super talented Holly Becker as part of her Decorate Workshop book launch in Anthroplogie, and give a talk on blogging at Easyart's UK headquarters. Phew! As Bright.Bazaar heads into a new era (did you see the sneak peek of the new site design yesterday?!) I'm feeling so grateful for the genuine friendships I've been graced with and the creative projects that I've been able to work on. I truly love writing this blog everyday; it's such a pleasure to share my colourful view on the world with you all. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for following along on my blogging adventures. A big 'high five' to all my blogging pals!
// 1. Will Taylor | 2. Tina Bernstein | 3. Holly Becker | 4. Yvonne Eijkenduijn | Paint splash | Tape stripes

Mr. Bazaar Has Been Busy...!

... working on a brand new look for Bright.Bazaar! Yes, I've had my virtual paint brushes out to refresh Mr. Bazaar's online home. I've teamed up with the very talented freelance designer Amanda Jane Jones, who also designs Kinfolk magazine, to build a new site that's due to launch soon. I really hope the new site will make for a better browsing experience for you all. In the meantime, why not head over to what will soon be the new home of Bright.Bazaar and sign up to the RSS feed? If you follow by Google Friend Connect and wish to keep reading Bright.Bazaar you'll need to subscribe to the RSS feed here. If you have a link to Bright.Bazaar on your blog, please could you change it to: www.brightbazaarblog.com? Thank you! I hope you like this little peek at the new look? Change is always a scary thing but I think it's important to evolve. Let me know what you think, friends!

10 Things I Learned & Loved This Weekend

1. Old buildings with vibrant yellow doors look fantastic.
2. Seeing an old fashioned post box on a country lane means I screech the car to a halt to take a picture...!
3. This wrapping paper is very well designed.
4. Bark votives make rainy afternoons indoors very cosy.
5. Remember my School House Electric clock that arrived recently? Well, I finally put it up on the wall.
6. Visiting my Gran's thatched cottage always makes me smile because I have so many great childhood memories from time spent there.
7. I think this woodcut print is beautiful.
8. These tea cups have a lovely shape.
9. The red hue of this storm lantern gives me flutters of excitement for forthcoming festivities.
10. I discovered this rug - yet more evidence that yellow and pink are best buds!

10 Things I Learned & Loved This Weekend

1. I had the most amazing time with IKEA in Sweden and experienced so many super things, which I'm really excited to blog for you!
2. I love how peaceful it feels when you are flying above the clouds.
3. The leaves are quickly becoming a beautiful shade of auburn.
4. Freshly made chocolate chip cookies look great in a Kilner jar.
5. These colourful rolling pins are one of my favourite pieces in the new West Elm Market collection.
6. How super sweet are these little scent diffuser milk bottles?
7. I learned how to make spider web style topping on my Halloween cupcakes.
8. Emily Isles makes colourful illustrative prints.
9. I would like to add this fair isle sweater to my collection!
10. I love the colourful buttoning on the Wilmot sofa.

10 Things I Learned & Loved This Weekend

1. I decided to pair my Cammeo Containers with this super fun carafe.
2. I love Gabrielle's stationery club idea - who wouldn't enjoy surprise paper delights each month?!
3. Treating myself to a Pain au Chocolate on Sunday morning.
4. Jimmy was such a great instructor at Jamie Oliver's cooking lesson on Friday night, where I learned how to cook Mexican street food with Rachie.
5. Making hot chocolate in my pastel milk pans on chilly evenings.
6. There's something incredibly cosy about these colourful foutas.
7. These velvet ribbons from Aura Home would be ideal for the approaching holiday season.
8. I love opening parcels at the best of times, but even more so when I find one of Schoolhouse Electric's yellow clocks inside!
9. I fell for Montana's pastel shelving unit.
10. I'm going to start saving up for this rug.

10 Things I Learned & Loved This Weekend

1. I definitely know it's autumn when I get my fairisle jumpers out of storage!
2. I felt inspired by Kazuo Umezu's staircase that I saw in Sarah Bagner's new book Wonder Walls.
3. A cosy yellow throw is a must for cold, autumnal afternoons working on the couch.
4. I learned that I need to use more dough when baking bread in my new 'loaf' tin.
5. Pairing up my Jonathan Adler pillow with this cushion from Designers Guild worked a treat.
6. Starting a new notebook will always be one of life's simple pleasures.
7. Loved this cute and colourful little print.
8. Rifle Paper Co.'s celebration card made me smile.
9. Zara Home's Degrade mug is very pretty.
10. My kitchen would like to make friends with this tray.

Mr. Bazaar's Retro Kitchen Barber Board!

Welcome, friends, to a little peek inside Mr. Bazaar's kitchen! Are you wearing spots or stripes today? If you are, cocktails are on me; that's the deal! Isn't my new retro barber board fun? I like to have a little fun with the interior of my home, so I wasn't surprised when I was immediately drawn to the playful and unusual feel of this piece from Rose & Grey. It reminded me of the boards you see in small barber shops or above the counter in a burger joint. I think it works really well with the yellow accents in my kitchen, especially after I made over my kitchen cupboards with yellow vinyl last weekend. I'm really happy with it as it pulls together the items upon my freestanding kitchen unit a treat! What do you think, folks?
// Photography by Will Taylor

10 Things I Learned & Loved This Weekend

1. Grouping together these perspex candlesticks makes for a lovely autumn vignette.
2. I learned how to update my kitchen cupboards by covering them in yellow vinyl; a super affordable way to achieve a new look.
3. A pair of stripy straws makes Saturday night cocktails even more fun!
4. I made cake pops for the first time on Sunday.
5. Seeing a model wearing a yellow jacket in At Your Leisure's fourth zine reminded me how much I like this look.
6. Jamie Oliver's food range packaging design is spot on - and too good to resist!
7. I really enjoyed watching The Perks of Being a Wallflower on Friday night.
8. I fell head-over-heels in love with these dipped plates.
9. Amy Borrell illustrates charming prints like this Fat Cat.
10. This yellow twill blanket is winging its way across Europe to my office as I type!