One of a Kind Show, the final episode

I really got my money's worth with my One of a Kind admission this year (and actually it was free, thanks to Diane). On our final visit today, I spent more than the other days combined, but we got some lovely things and supported local artisans.

First, we went to Yasmine Louis Textile Printing where I bought a t-shirt for Darcy that said, in very subtle printing, "there were too many people so I went home". It was so him. Koto bought a couple of shirts while I stood across the way. The t-shirts were separated into small, medium, large, and extra large sizes so I was able to see the groups of women who clustered around each size. If I had a guess, there were about 20 different sizes of women, but only four sizes of shirts. If you're any bigger than a 10, you're pretty much out of luck.

Then we wandered through the food section again, of course. Koto bought a cucumber blush vinegar from Mr. Vinegar (Mr. Vinegar himself was there and he was very sweet), chocolate-covered tortilla chips sprinkled with chili powder from Heavenly Sweets, hummus, Greek garlic spread, pita chips, and baklava from from Sun Sweet Catering, Wild Saskatoon mustard from Forbes Wild Foods, and lavendar shortbread from Coach House Shortbread.

As for me, I also bought some shortbread, in lemon flavour, from Coach House. I sampled about 4 different kinds before I decided, so I was absolutely stuffed. I don't even like shortbread and I thought it was to die for. It must have a million calories in it because it does literally melt in your mouth. I also got something called cloudberry jam from Forbes Wild Foods. I don't think I'd even eaten a cloudberry (a.k.a. bakeapple) before and I thought it was interesting -- tart with crunchy seeds. I like to mix it up. :) And I too got some hummus, garlic spread, and pita chips from Sun Sweet Catering. Couldn't resist.

My most expensive purchase of the day was, believe it or not, a silk diaper bag from Posh Mom. Now, I'm not pregnant or anything. I just needed a bag that had a place for my water bottle and lots of easy-to-access pockets. It's very well made and the exterior is 100% silk. The sticker price was $250, but since I waffled so long about whether or not to get it, the man sweetly knocked the price down to $200. I'm sure I'll get lots of use out of it, and if I do have a baby, I'll already have a diaper bag.

Koto also bought a necklace from Constantine Designs, which is based in Halifax. They had very beautiful jewlery of excellent quality for reasonable prices. If you're into jewelry, you should check them out. And because you can never have enough soap, Koto also got some almond scrub soap from Ella's Botanticals.

After spending so much time at the show, I saw that even though everything is artisanal and made in small quantities, a lot of people make the exact same things. Very few things are completely original with some exceptions like the tree branch pepper grinders. But, I admire every exhibitor for making these things by hand, dragging them all to the show, displaying them attractively, and being incessantly cheerful for 5 days straight while selling them. They must be exhausted. And so am I. I'm spent. In more ways than one.