Saturday was the Christmas Market and after a day to recover, I can now objectively reflect on the day.

As anticipated the venue was amazing. The market was held in the Arts Centre at Bolton School. This building wasn’t there when I was at school, but it is truly stunning. The main hall would make a fabulous wedding venue. We had plenty of room and it was very well attended.

My lovely new crafter friend Jill shared my stall for her very first craft market.  She makes the loveliest hairslides, hairbands, badges and bookmarks.  Great stocking filler ideas for girls (and boys) who are into Hello Kitty, Peppa Pig, One Direction, Minecraft and Monster High (to name a few).  Contact me for more details of her stock.

The Santa Raffle proved a draw to the stall, as did all the hairbands.  It was a fairly successful day for both of us.  A shame I wasn’t able to display my cards as I think they would have sold well.  My gift tags, little stockings and knitted characters were popular.

Of course, I ran into an old school friend at the fair.  Nice to get the opportunity to look round the old place in a less formal situation than the organised reunions.  Can it really be 23 years since we left?

The market was a fun day and again I have learnt a lot about displaying on the stall, and what items are popular.  There is definitely something in the theory of appealing to small children, and I think Santa and Jill’s hairband characters helped a lot!

Time now to get back to the orders and think about another stall in the next couple of weeks.  I’d like to have an opportunity to show my card collections.  But there’s the local community group Christmas Fair and a couple of visits to friends and family to fit in as well before the Big Day!

Thanks to Jill for coming along and keeping me company for the day, and huge thanks go to Hubby and daughter for being so patient, helping out and driving!    Here’s to the next one and a Happy Christmas for all.

Happy crafting
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