Monday 26 October 2015

Kirstie Allsopp's Handmade Christmas Fair Giveaway




Hey Readers, I have a great opportunity for one of you to win a pair of entry only tickets in association with Mollie Makes to Kirstie Allsopp's Christmas Handmade Fair! in Manchester Central, November 20-22. 

Grand Group Makes all together

Wonderful stalls and shopping!




You can choose which day you want to attend, there are masterclasses, talks, brilliant stalls and some great Christmas inspiration. 

The fair features appearances from some crafting heroes and heroines of mine: 
Annie Sloan, Kitten Grayson, Zeena Shah, Jane Means, The Ministry of Craft, Lucy from Attic 4, Corrie’s Martin Platt (Sean Wilson) who is now a cheesemaker - and Kirstie of course! 

Beautiful details and design across the fair!

If you want to be in with a chance of winning the tickets to this brilliant Christmas event, just tweet me @harrietdewinton using the hashtag #harrietschristmasgiveaway and share your favourite Christmas Craft Project. 


The winner will have their name drawn out of the pom pom hat on Friday 6th November. I will contact you over Twitter to arrange your prize!

Here's a great Christmas Craft project of my own to get you in the mood. I know Kirstie loves pompoms,  so this will be right up her street.

Kirstie and the world record breaking pompoms!



As a contributor to the Mollie Makes Christmas Issue, I am thrilled to be able to offer a reader two entry only tickets to the Handmade Christmas Fair in Manchester 20-22 November at Manchester Central.

This is a cute take on the classic bobble hat, I've seen them all over the place on the highstreet but thought it was a prime opportunity to teach you all how to make pom poms or…just to jog your memory from Junior School.


Do you remember making pompom robin Christmas decorations at primary school? You’d bring it home and your parents would have to feign joy at their little cherubs effort and then hang it on their Christmas tree for the next 15 years. 

This is a classic black and white combo, but why not mix it up and add more pompoms!

You will need:  
  • Ball of black wool
  • white plain beanie
  • Cardboard (a cereal packet will suffice) 
  • Knitting hook  
  • Scissors
  • Needle and thread to attach finished pompoms 
How to:
  1. Draw and cut out 2 cardboard rings.  Follow our pattern as a guide. 
  2. Cut a length of wool about 2 metres long and fold in half.
  3. Tie the2 cardboard rings together with the length of wool and continue wrapping this length of wool around the 2 rings. Feed the wool through the hole in the middle of both rings each time. 
  4. Continue this process, cutting new lengths of wool as the last runs out.  Use the knitting hook to pull the wool though as the hole becomes full.
  5. Once you cannot pull any more wool through the centre of the ring, cut all the way around the outer edge of the ring.
  6. Wrap a length of wool between the 2 cardboard rings and tie a few tight knots. These will secure all the wool in place.
  7. Tear the 2 cardboard rings to remove them from the centre of the pompom.
  8. Trim the pompom to size.






Good luck!