The Handmade Fair

From the moment I first heard about The Handmade Fair I knew it was going to be my idea of heaven.

Held over a weekend at Hampton Court Palace and run by Kirstie Allsopp it was a fair dedicated to all things craft.

We visited on the Sunday and I went straight to a talk about Etsy. Kirstie was talking about how creative classes in schools are on the decline and how important it is for kids to craft. This is something that I feel really strongly about especially as Cherry is really crafty, she sat happily the other day using blu-tack to stick beads onto an old receipt. She was there for nearly an hour and kept stopping to show us how amazing it was, I can’t get her to even sit for even one minute to practice writing letters! I am worried that mainstream schooling isn’t going to offer nearly enough, if any, of the things she will be want to focus on…

Anyway, after the Etsy talk we had a little walk around, Cherry had a flyer with a cake-pop on and it was all she was talking about so we headed over to the Yumbles stall for a go at decorating one.

After the kids had stuffed their faces with cake Cherry and I went for a little walk whilst Mr C sat with Tiger.

We walked around all the stalls and I bought some T-Shirt yarn from Wool and the Gang which I love!! I can’t wait to start crafting with it, although I’m tempted to buy it in every colour first!

I did quickly realise that bringing my family with me was a bit of a mistake, we had been in London that weekend so combined it with that but dragging around two kids and a bored OH meant I didn’t get to make the most of the experience.

There was so much to do, absolutely LOADS of workshops and talks from people over the weekend. Mr C found it hilarious walking past the marquees full of women all sat there in rows following instructions for their crafts.

I might not have made the most of it this time but I have decided to go next year with someone who is into crafting as much as me. We actually met through Mr C, her partner also drifts cars and we ended up being at a few of the same events this year. She’s lovely and has her own craft business (The Cotton Orchard), we instantly hit it off so I’m already looking forward to doing as many workshops as possible next year!

On the way out we had a little walk up the house, it was such a gorgeous setting to have the event.

So to sum it up if you love crafting then you will love this event, just make sure you go on your own or with people who will be happy to sit down all day crafting!!

You can find out more here.

Thank you to the Handmade Fair for providing us with tickets.