Summer Fun and Getting Crafty at the Handmade Fair
Last Saturday I was lucky enough to be invited, along with my Grandma, to spend the day in total foodie, crafty heaven at Kirstie Allsopp's Handmade Fair.
The event was held in the beautiful grounds of Ragley Hall in Warwickshire, right by the river, which made for a truly picturesque setting bettered only by the bright sunshine that finally came out as we were eating lunch!
The event was held in the beautiful grounds of Ragley Hall in Warwickshire, right by the river, which made for a truly picturesque setting bettered only by the bright sunshine that finally came out as we were eating lunch!
Now if you've ever read my blog before, you'll know that I am very into my food and I was not at all disappointed by the options available at The Handmade Fair. So, I'm going to tell you all about that before I get into what was previously totally unknown territory to me arts, crafts and creativity.
There were so many foodie possibilities that it took us AGES to decide on what we wanted for lunch. And even after much deliberation I went for two (or three, depending on how you look at it) separate meals. A girl's gotta eat, right?
I'm a total sucker for Spanish cuisine, and so the offer of authentic Spanish paella was too much for me to resist. I went for the 'bi-ella', a few scoops of the chickpea, butternut squash and summer vegetable paella and some more of the traditional chicken and chorizo. Then I had hand-cut, rosemary and garlic chips from the Hippy Chippy van. Both 'dishes' were absolutely DELICIOUS.
So, we had great weather and great food - I was already seriously happy. Then we got to wander through the dozens of stands of wonderful, homemade crafts, art, jewellery, food and so much more, before having a go at designing our own coasters.
I have never been an overly creative person; I love writing and I am one hell of a daydreamer, but that's about as far as it goes. However, I was hugely inspired by all of the business owners who had turned their daydreams into realities and so were ultimately living their dreams!
Every stall owner was friendly, chatty and so happy to talk about their work. The atmosphere inside what I'll call the 'shopping tent' was lively and bustling, I treated myself to the most gorgeous, handmade ring and also treated some friends to birthday presents, which I won't say too much about as I don't want to spoil any upcoming surprises!
As well as shopping, we also had the opportunity to get creative ourselves, in a workshop run by Mollie Makes. Grandma and I had great fun using ink and cotton buds to form some pretty little flowers, and our new coasters now have pride of place in our respective dining rooms. It might not look like much but I'm pretty proud of mine, especially as the workshop was only half an hour long!
We finished off our afternoon with tea and cake in the Mollie Makes pop-up cafe, which was crazy busy all day and quite rightly so - the traditional china sets, pretty tablecloths and deliciously huge slices of cake made for a fabulous little mid-afternoon break.
My Grandma and I had the best day at The Handmade Fair and I am so grateful to the team there for inviting us over and giving me the opportunity to blog for them. I know that tickets for the second leg of the event in September are still available, so if you are interested book yourself in and I guarantee it'll be worth it, it's a really great family day out!
Haze x
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