On Sunday I went to one of my favourite craft fairs
The Fairy Tale Fair organise whimsical craft markets held in various locations in Sussex. They have won several awards, including Top 100 small businesses in the UK for Small Business Saturday 2014 and top Market & Community Event in the UK in the 2016 Business Awards.
I’ve done a lot of fairs now, this was my fifth Fairy Tale fair, and I’ve learnt to take a lot of stock. (Which is great exercise as those jars weigh quite a bit!) I’ve done a fair bit of experimenting with my stall layout but this is my current favourite.
I find Ikea really handy for display inspiration. This is their Lack TV Stand and it works perfectly to give height to my display. I also found this cute fish-shaped chalkboard in Tiger (I need to work on my calligraphy skills though!). Once my stall was set up, and my little helper was occupied, I set off to explore.
Pretty Finds at The Fairy Tale Fair.
With over 70 stalls at the Easter Fairy Tale Fair it would be impossible to show you all the delicious things I found, but here is a round up of my favourites.
Cat-a-Cake creations
As well as organising the Fairy Tale Fairs, Claire also runs a business called Cat-a-Cake Creations (seriously, how does she find the time?!). Her designs include incredibly cute brooches, customisable laser cut jewellery and greetings cards. I love how she used some astroturf to add a pop of colour to her display.
A is for Alphabet Design
Mel was my fair buddy. She runs A is for Alphabet Frames creating handmade, personalised framed pictures for special occasions. She also sells on Not on the High Street and we had really productive chats about the handmade craft business, our plans for the future and more. I suspect she has a very bright future ahead of her.
Bear Clause Designs
Andy of Bear Clause Designs was the other side of my stall with his bright and colourful afterwork. The tagline of his business is ‘Flooding The World With Colour, One Triangle At A Time’ which I absolutely love. My little helper came away with one of his framed bunny pictures as an alternative Easter gift.
Wild Whiskers
My favourite illustrator of everything adorable is Lucy from Wild Whiskers. Just look at that bunny’s face! My little people already have some of her work, the mirror and badges made amazing stocking fillers at Christmas. Everytime I see Lucy, she has added a new product to her range (just to tempt me I think!). That gorgeous guinea pig mug is high on my wish list.
So Much to Love!
Beautiful spring flower baskets from Rachel’s Wreaths and Flower Crafts. These looked popular, and I’m not surprised as they’d make the perfect Easter gift.
Delicate flower impressions from Owl Light
Retro upcycled lighting from Lost and Foundry
More Than Just Craft
One of the things that makes The Fairy Tale Fair so well thought out is that it is more than just craft. There is always somewhere you can get a coffee and a decadent sweet treat like these rather tempting rainbow meringues from Bunston Bakes. (Incidentally, my helper swears that their creme egg brownies were to die for).
The Easter bunny made an appearance courtesy of Magic Martin.
As did the Sussex Ghostbusters, who were opposite my stall. I can assure you that the Dads were just as excited as their kids to get their photo taken with them.
Tick Boom Facepainting was as popular as ever. Her work is amazing so I’d recommend checking out her photos on Facebook
In Aid of St Barnabas Hospice
The Easter Fair was run in aid of St Barnabas Hospice, who are a charity who do amazing work providing palliative care to adults with advanced progressive life-limiting illnesses, both within the hospice and in the comfort of patients’ homes. If you would like to know more about their work, please visit www.stbarnabas-hospice.org.uk/
If you would like to take part in future Fairy Tale Fairs, please visit their website for details of how to apply.
