Results of the elephant perfume bottle giveaway!

Source: Wikimedia Commons (via Editor 5807)

So Saturday night's deadline for the highly desirable(!) elephant perfume bottle prize draw has passed, to the rather timely accompaniment of Bonfire Night fireworks. The name of anyone who met the entry criteria and didn't explicitly exempt themselves themselves went into the trusty Random.org virtual number generating hat. Now if the winner actually meant to exempt themselves but didn't say so in so many words, I shan't be offended if they decline the prize, and have taken the liberty of drawing the draw twice so that I have a back up contestant to whom I can offer this most prized pachyderm(!) instead. For I am mindful that it is a rather singular ornament, and when it comes to adding the finishing touch to your home interior, it may not have quite the impeccable style cachet of a Fornasetti candle, for example.

Ooh, I could spend hours deciding which one or half a dozen of those I would choose if money and mantlepiece space were no object.

But back to the giveaway...

The winner is:

BLACKNALL ALLEN!

Let me know if you would like to accept your prize and I will get it off to you!


UPDATE: Blacknall has kindly offered to pass her prize along to the second person whose name I drew, who happens to be:

The elephant- and perfume-loving CYNTHIA!

A worthy (and entirely fortuitous) runner up! Will try to contact you, Cynthia, as I am mindful that you may no longer be checking this post after the initial result was announced.

Elephant Perfume Bottle

On a whim the other day, I bought this elephant perfume bottle on Ebay. (It is unusual, but doesn't quite qualify as a "bonkers flacon" like this one).

You see, I couldn't resist the bluntness of the seller's sales pitch...

"Not your cheap tacky tourist muck, but made by our own workshops in Cairo."

Or the cute elephant design...

Yes, I have a penchant for pachyderms - I own a cuddly toy elephant called Delhi, whom I rescued from a bargain bin at Pforzheim services, and a tiny, bean bag-style elephant called Dansak, who was a souvenir from a holiday in Majorca.

Or the craftsmanship...

"Each bottle is completely hand blown (rather than being blown into a mould, which is not quite the same thing), and each bottle takes approximately 40 minutes to one hour to complete - decorating time is extra."

Or the unexpectedly sumptuous materials...

"The gold used, which we always assumed was gold paint, is, in fact, 12 carat gold."

Or the humane working conditions...

"Everyone who works for us is over school leaving age and the working conditions are good."

Or the seller's quirky sense of humour...

"It will, of course, be carefully packed in industrial quantities of bubblewrap in order to foil our postmen."

And it WAS - "copious" doesn't come close to describing the generous wodges of bubblewrap involved, the whole packed snugly in a cardboard box that had once housed 32 Double Deckers (as in the chocolate bar).

Or the price...

Just £4.99 + P & P!

I have no plans to put perfume in it for the moment. The seal on the stopper doesn't look particularly hermetic and I can just see the elephant making mischief with his trunk.

Top photo from phileasfox1's Ebay listing, bottom photo my own.