Christmas Day in Pictures

A Very Merry Christmas!

Just popping in to say
"I hope you have a lovely Christmas Day"!

Decking the halls...and kitchen...and..

These last few weeks have been rather busy & I really haven't done much in the way of "Christmas" but now that Tamzin is back home it is full steam ahead as she wanted to be able to join in with the traditional decorating rituals in our country cottage!

Last Saturday was the beginning of me feeling festive when Michele & I attended a workshop to learn how to make felted rose pomanders & this is the result - they were great fun to make & we were both surprised & pleased to find that the teachers & most of the people taking part knew & loved the Vintage & Handmade Fairs!



Another thing I haven't told you about is that my baubles were featured in a decorating piece in the latest issue of Homes & Antiques....I really love this photo! Glass baubles can be found in my Christmas Shop.


So...back to our decorating...last night Tamzin made this lovely wreath using snippets of greenery, holly & rosehips, all from the garden & lane....I think she did a really good job!



The kitchen has had a makeover too including baubles, a forest of vintage trees & a herd of reindeer (of course!). We also had fun making & hanging up Union Jack paper chains (again I have a few of these in my shop)






Even my little Spaniel plaque has been trimmed up!


A close up of a few bits & pieces on my mantlepiece.


Last, but not least, the tree. Most of the decorations are vintage & every year we delight in unpacking & rediscovering these as we place them on the tree. The tree also has little red berry lights but it's always difficult to get a good photo in the dark so here is one I took today.


So, finally, I am truly getting into the festive spirit....now where are those mince pies??

Gloucester Antiques Centre

I popped into the antiques centre today to top up my stock so here are a few photos for you - it was a bit grey & rainy but the windows do look festive!






Here are a few photos of my unit & some of the new stock.









Afterwards we had to have a snack at the lovely coffee shop just across the way.

Fabulous Fair!

I can't believe it's taken me this long to get around to writing a blog post about the wonderful Vintage & Handmade Christmas Fair 2010!

After a very early (and very cold -6C) start the hall was abuzz with stallholders bustling around setting up stalls & unpacking boxes & bags of exciting goodies.

At 10am sharp the doors were opened to a crowd of eager (and cold!) shoppers all wrapped up warmly & ready to revel in the loveliness on offer.


It was busy all day with a most wonderful atmosphere & we received so many lovely comments about the quality of the stalls. We estimate that we welcomed well over 1000 visitors on the day.


The tearoom was serving warming cups of tea & coffee as well as delicious cakes all day & in the afternoon we were treated to carols sung by a local children's choir - I noticed a few tears in eyes!


I have included just a few photos of my stall (I was lucky enough to be by the big Christmas tree!) but you can see lots more on flickr here


I just want to say a huge "Thank You" to all the talented & creative stallholders who braved an early morning start to bring their wares to the fair, the hardworking Tea Trio who were rushed off their feet all day & of course all our lovely visitors, many of whom are staunch regulars who come to every fair from far & wide. It was reported back to us that the nearest bank cash machine actually ran out of money!

It wouldn't be the same without you all.

And finally, another thanks to my fabulous friend & partner Michele....we did it again! ;-)