When Christmas came early

Christmas in August

For someone who loves Christmas as much as I do, the chance to celebrate more than once a year is…. well, it’s like being a kid at Christmas!

And that’s exactly what happened at the Trimcraft Christmas Bloggers’ Event where crafty minds from across the UK descended on a winter wonderland in Nottingham on a Saturday in August!

Christmas in August? What could be better? Actually, Christmas in August at Trimcraft, that’s what.

A life size fireplace crafted from card and foam

Melted snow water bottles

Tasty gingerbread man – I couldn’t resist!

Snowman popcorn tubs

The hugely talented marketing team pulled out all the stops including a life-size fireplace made from cardboard and foam – complete with marshmallows toasting – gingerbread men at least 18 inches tall, as much hot chocolate and cinnamon sugar topped popcorn as you could ever wish to consume and, of course, hours of Christmas crafting using the brand new collections.

I made the snowflakes to hang from the ceiling! A vital element in the event planning I feel.  OK, I didn’t even hang them up, but they did look awesome!

Ready to craft

Bloggers stations ready for crafting

A number of crafty activities were arranged for the crafters. The first was a Deco Mache wreath. A few of the ladies I was talking to said they hadn’t done decoupage before so it was lovely to introduce a new craft to them. They picked it up really quickly and made some amazing eye-catching projects.  There were some really fantastic techniques from everyone in the room and I might take inspiration from a few of these later in the year.

Collection of crafters’ wreaths

Bloggers crafting

Paper flowers on a wreath

The second activity was to make a Christmas card for charity. I couldn’t resist joining in this one.  My card will go to charity eventually – first it’s going to appear on set during the launch shows for this collection. (More of that in a future post.)

Handmade cards by our blogger guests

Handmade cards by The Crafty Gentleman

My handmade card

There were also templates for crackers and felt tree decorations. I made a few before the event to show how they came together. I have to admit that sewing is not my strong point so I did reach for the glue gun on a few of them! I am really pleased with them though, the templates were so easy to use.

Felt tree decorations

Felt snowflake bauble

Making felt tree decorations

Hopefully through the pictures I’ve included in this post you will have seen a huge selection of Trimcraft’s Christmas goodies. I promise to share more with you over the coming weeks in previews for the Create & Craft TV launches. But if you can’t wait that long then there are a few links below that could help.

Santa left a sack full of crafty goodies for each of the attendees and many of them have shared them online using #TCXmas17 on social media. I’ve rounded up a few of the articles summing up the day here too (sorry if I missed anyone).

Please pay each one a visit and then start preparing your Christmas wish list.

Vlog from My Green Cow:

Blog from The Crafty Gentleman

Tutorials from Iced Images – http://iced-images.blogspot.co.uk/

Vlog from Scrapbook Bex

Vlog from Helen Griffin

Emma Jewell Crafts Vlog and blog

Vlog and blog from Ms Paper LoverMs Paper Lover