All the fun at the Handmade Fair
Last Friday I was delighted to spend the day at the first ever Handmade Fair hosted by the fabulous Kirstie Allsopp. Lucky for me I went along with crafting whizz Kate from DaphneRosa who makes incredible fabric flowers into bridal bouquets, head pieces and decorations, so we got to geek out together, check out her beautiful work here. I remember being surprised to find it was being held at Hampton Court Palace, a favourite place of mine, and, as it turned out, a wonderful venue for the day. We had ‘full experience’ tickets which cost £29 and included a craft session, a ‘grand make’ and a ‘super theatre’ talk, find out how we got on below.
On arriving we dived straight into the Lush tents as they were holding mini crafting classes and spa treatments. They gave us both a wonderful hand and arm massage using their Wiccy Magic Muscles bar that smelled of peppermint and cinnamon. It was such a treat and I kept catching the cinnamon aroma throughout the day. They also told us all about their spas which I intend to find out more about, spa treatments that involve rum or Jammy Dodgers sounds good to me! But for now we came to craft…
After a quick churros breakfast, shhh I know it’s naughty, I scouted the shopping tents while Kate attended a talk by Etsy. The Etsy tent had some fab stalls and I was thrilled to find Chamby and Cor there, I mentioned them a while back in my Neon Pink and Vintage round up post so it was a real treat to browse and I obviously couldn’t resist buying some sparkling washi tape and a beautiful gold and deep plum twine, perfect for Christmas!
Our first crafting session was a crochet class. I don’t think they had expected quite so many beginners in the class but there were a number of people on hand to help everyone out and we all got our flower projects started. I’m loving crochet as a craft, you only need yarn and a hook to get started and there are so many things you can make but having taught myself mostly using YouTube I would recommend finding a class or someone who can teach you in person, its much more fun that way. The hour flew by but we got to take our projects home to finish, here’s mine.
We had a short break to visit one of the shopping tents before our World Pomination class. I found the tents a refreshing change from the usual conference/event style. It was like stumbling across one of those hidden treasure shops but was in fact a tent full of them. From crafting products and materials to stunning works of art and beautiful handmade items.
After some, perhaps less than subtle, admiration of Kirstie Allsopp from afar, not stalking, yes, we really should have just said hi, we made our way to the World Pomination tent. This was a real highlight for me having never made a pom pom before and the quite simply stunning Rosy Nicholas was a fab instructor making it even more fun than I expected. Kirstie and Rosy were working on a Guiness World Record for the longest line of pom poms, needless to say they smashed the record and supported the charity Sense at the same time, if you didn’t get to donate a pom pom you can donate £3 by texting POMPOM to 70111.
Our final activity for the day was held in the Super Theatre, a cute big top style tent adorned in bunting, where we saw Kirstie Allsopp in conversation with Cath Kidston. It felt so cosy and friendly you almost forgot you were in a tent and it felt like sitting in someone’s front room with friends. I learned that Cath and Kirstie are actually cousins and both came across as genuinely lovely and passionate women.
We had time for some more shopping before getting the train home. It was a great day out and if you have even a passing interest in crafting and making I would recommend getting tickets next year. Did you go this year or is there a craft you’ve been dying to try out? I’d love to know.
Forget Rocky Road this is more like Death Valley
I love rocky road, who doesn’t, it’s a childhood party favourite but adults love it too and we’ve tried all kinds of recipes but always felt it needed something a bit…more? So, we’ve taken it to a whole new lethal level of indulgence adding all our favourite treats.
The best part about this recipe is that it requires no skill and only takes about 20 minutes to prepare, if that, but it does need about 2 hours in the fridge, sorry! Of course the ingredients can be played with and substituted to suit your taste and dietary requirements.
Death Valley Rocky Road bars
Equipment
Brownie pan 11×7 inches (we use this one)
Large Sauce Pan
Chopping Board
Bowl
Knife
Spoon
Parchment Paper and Foil
Ingredients
200g good quality milk chocolate
400g good quality plain/dark chocolate
80g golden syrup
100g unsalted butter
100g salted butter
100g mini marshmallows plus extra for the top
30g cornflakes (pop in a bag and smash up a bit)
10 Oreos
100g maltesers
1 Snickers Duo
1 Twix Xtra
Small handful of sultanas
5 chopped maraschino cherries
20g chopped nuts of your choice (we like almonds and pecans)
Method
- Line your pan with parchment paper, leaving enough excess to hold onto and put it to one side ready to fill.
- Measure and put the chocolate, butter and golden syrup in a large pan on a low heat and gently melt stirring occasionally.
- While they are melting on the hob chop up snickers, oreos, twix, cherries and nuts and put in a bowl. Add the cornflakes, sultanas, marshmallows and maltesers and mix thoroughly.
- Take the pan off the heat and wait for 6 minutes to allow it to cool slightly. Then add your ingredients to the molten chocolate mixture, stir to combine ingredients making sure everything is covered in the chocolate and pour into your prepared brownie pan.
- Sprinkle a few marshmallows on top to decorate, cover with foil being sure to avoid touching the mixture and place in the fridge to chill (at least 2 hours).
- Once chilled use the excess parchment paper to lift it out of the pan and chop into bars. Store in an airtight container for up to a week, if it lasts that long!!
We’ll be serving these at every opportunity. What are your childhood favourite treats?
Desired: Going Stag
Autumn is creeping in, leaves are falling, brollys and macs are back on standby and I’m hankering after deep reds and greens for my wardrobe but has anyone else noticed the stags and antlers? Deer and stags have a special place in my heart, especially as there were deer at our wedding venue, plus they have a vintage, rustic, historic feel . So I’m super excited to see them on pillows, jewellery, glass and print and I’ve had a rummage through Etsy to see what the UK sellers have on offer, here are my top picks.
Antler Necklace by PABJewellery
1. I love this statement antler necklace from PAB Jewellery, it would look beautiful with plaid shirts, chiffon blouses, tshirts and chunky jumpers and it’s got a great autumn/winter feel.
Toasted Glass Stag Schnapps Glasses
2. I’m a huge fan of Toasted Glass, Monique is so talented and has a fabulous range of hand painted glass items including these fabulous Stag schnapps glasses, but I’m sure you could get them painted on any of her items too.
Tori Gray Collar Clips
3. I need more collars in my life just so I can wear these gorgeous stag collar clips by Tori Gray. I think they’d be especially cute at Christmas too.
Stag Tree Illustration by Tracy Statt
4. I think beautiful hand painted art can really make a room feel special and this print by Tracy Statt is just gorgeous.
Stag Brooch by SketchInc
5. Who doesn’t need a stag brooch this winter?! I love that you can wear wood brooches with any colour item, jacket, cardy or jumper and I love this one by SketchInc and their pink fox notebook is worth a peek too!
Rustic Linen Company Stag Cushion
6. Stag cushion in berry but also available in chestnut and or hunter green. Rustic Linen have a fab range of hessian burlap cushions.
The Lucky Fox necklace
7. Now if you’re looking for something to add a vintage splash to your outfit, I found this Victorian feel necklace from The Lucky Fox. The designer sources vintage illustrations and antiqued brass fittings.
Dotty Dictionary Antler Owl Print
8. I know this is an owl but it’s an owl with antlers and he looks like one seriously cool dude. The best part about this print is that it has been printed on rare, genuine, antiquarian dictionary pages from the 1830’s! The range of Dotty Dictionary prints available is extensive and there is no doubt something for everyone.
Whinberry Antler Cushion
9. I’m so pleased I came across Whinberry Antler who are based in Frome. This Whinberry Antler Cushion is just one of many fab animal print products from mugs and tea towels to lampshades and napkins. Their pieces are heritage and British wildlife inspired and are screen printed by the designer onto fabrics woven in Yorkshire.
Paul Simmons Stag Ring
10. Finally this fab hand made stag ring from Paul Simmons is bound to give you a conversation starter at all the autumn parties from Halloween to Bonfire night straight through to Christmas.
Weekend Project: Painted Garden Furniture
Every now and then I get the urge to do a small project for our home, whether it’s printing and hanging photos, planting a hanging basket or a spot of painting. Now I know this makes me sound super domesticated but don’t the wrong idea, I generally stick to quick and easy projects to avoid the actual chores (shhh, don’t tell!). I just love adding personal touches and character because I think that is what makes a house a home.
A while back we were in need of a kitchen table and chairs and so picked up an unwanted table and benches on Gumtree for a bargain. We recently inherited a new kitchen table and so our old table and benches finally became our garden furniture. The only problem with this was that they are wood and while we knew they probably wouldn’t fair well in all weather we just popped them outside so we could enjoy the summer. Cue sun stained, weather beaten and not so lovely looking furniture (shown below on the left).
Bench before and after (paint only)
At the last Maddy B’s Vintage, Home and Handmade Fair in Whittlesford we spotted Thing Ma Jigs, a home gifts and accessories shop in St Ives, stall and they were selling Annie Sloan chalk paints. I had never heard of them before, yes I can hear some of you gasping at my ignorance, but after a short demonstration I was sold. We chose Louis Blue and the clear soft wax and I was raring to go.
The beauty of the chalk paints is that you actually don’t have to prepare the wood before you paint it, you can just paint straight onto it. I decided to gently sand the surface of our table and benches before painting purely because they had weathered and I wanted a soft finish. That is all I did before painting, it took an afternoon in the sun and before I knew it our table and benches were transformed. We chose to leave the bench legs unpainted and just waxed them. I love the finished look and it is all set for our next garden party in a couple weeks, weather permitting!
Finished table and benches (paint and wax)
The chalk paints can be used for all sorts of projects, painting furniture, plastic, terracotta pots, walls and even fabrics and they are perfect for shabby chic projects if you sand down the paint in places to give your project a ‘distressed’ look. Friends of our used it on their decking which looks great too. I’ll be keeping an eye for my next chalk paint project and hope this has inspired you too. Are you in the middle of a home project or looking for ideas? I’d love to know!
Please note this is not a sponsored post, all opinions are my own and I paid for all the products.