Spring at Hobbycraft

You might remember that one of my New Year’s resolutions is to get crafty so I was very excited to have been invited to the Hobbycraft Spring Press Day. My favourite forms of crafting are baking and crochet but I love all creative projects and really looked forward to attending the event to explore the offerings from this well known crafting brand.

I arrived at the event bright and early, being the second person to walk through the door and found myself in a creative person’s heaven. Tables laden with fun projects to get stuck into upstairs and downstairs a little Aladin’s cave of goodies. Having accepted a very British cup of tea I spent a long time browsing through the displays ranging from Easter baking treats, bonnets and toy kits to cushions, papercrafts and crochet materials.

There was so much to take in for someone who loves crafts, but my top picks were:

• The ‘home made’ stamp for putting your mark on your baked goods.
• The DIY Easter wreaths which would be a great activity to get kids involved in.
• Origami bunnies!
• Silicone plant pot cupcake cases
• Easter egg chocolate and moulds
• Boodles textile yarns
• Home made paper crafts for Wedding stationary and decorations

I had been given an Easter basket all of my own to fill with little treats and I was excited to find a number of Easter baking goodies available, I helped myself to a Wilton Comfort Grip Bunny Mini Tail Cookie Cutters 2 Pack*, 2 packs of Renshaw Decor Ice Ready To Roll Icing* (one orange, one green) as well as 2 packs of adorable Easter inspired cupcake cases*. I look forward to making some lovely Spring inspired cupcakes to share with my friends and work colleges as Easter comes around.

Having explored the displays downstairs I popped back upstairs to take part in some of the activities which included making chocolate eggs, decorating a jam jar as well as helping to put a teeny button into a charm bracelet from the new range of Kirstie Allsop crafting kits. I really enjoyed making the chocolates – we melted some Wilton Light Cocoa Candy Melts down and poured the chocolate into some mini Easter egg moulds, once cool we popped them out of their mould I stuck them together using some warm chocolate and the Hobbycraft man put them in a little bag with a ribbon and a name tag. I think this is a great project for anyone who wants to have a homemade Easter and it’s quick and easy!

I must admit that I had forgotten just how magical and creative Easter is – when I was a child we’d have events at school like the Easter egg hunt, Easter bonnet competition etc and attending the Hobbycraft press day really made me feel nostalgic. There are certainly lots of ways to get crafty this Spring and I can’t wait to get stuck in. In particular I will be giving some serious thought to some chocolate moulding equipment and some Boodles textile yarn – I really fancy making some sturdy cushion covers or even my own bag!

If you want to get some lovely crafty projects going for this Easter, check out Hobbycraft’s Easter zone: http://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/easter