The next Baking for Babies had been announced by the lovely Dolly Bakes and Mummy's Little Peeps. They announced a craft fair and before I knew it I had booked a table and signed mum and I up for a stall.
"This is not unusual", I hear you cry, but let me tell you all, this really is a BIG deal for me.
Growing up, I was always the one in the family who didn't have a creative bone in her body. Baby sister had her share as well mine I think. She even went on to do it at higher education, and trust me she is really talented. (There could even be a whole other blog post on her work!). Dad is a super talented drawer and painter and mum is an amazing seamstress and cook. And me,I was good at dancing, reading, writing and history. I inherited my families love of art and creativity, but not the capability.
Then I had J. I have had to push myself to be more creative, think outside the box to keep him and myself entertained. I have managed to achieve more than I ever knew I could. I have a re-found love of the great outdoors, I can bake, cook and am even teaching myself how to knit (this is where my cousins say "Katie, when did you get so old!!!!!").
So I think this is where the snap decision to book the table came into fruition. I have found that if I apply myself to something then after a few tries and errors, I can actually do it.
We had to think of a theme for the stall, and as it was a baking for babies event, I knew I did not want to have a food stall. Instead, it was a no brainer that we could do hand made sewn goods, that Mum could make and we could sell. Easy? Not so much so.
Mum did not mind making some of the items for the stall, but wanted to know what I would make to contribute to the stall. As I said earlier. I am not the most dexterous of people and found that whilst I was ok on a sewing machine, my finished products were not up to the same standard at all. So what to do?
That afternoon we went to the local barn sale and had a look round at the items on sale. I found a book by Thomas Hardy - "The Madding Crowd" and some old music sheets and some naval buttons. And a thought hit me. Pinwheels! So after a couple (ahem a week!!) of trying out different styles and methods, I managed to make quite a few different styles and shapes.
The strange thing is that once I started thinking about what to make, the ideas just kept coming, until we had a full to bursting little stall! Who knew I had the creative bug in me? Maybe it was just sat there lurking under the surface waiting for something to kick start it!
The day went well and the ladies did a phenomenal job and raised well over £1000 for the neonatal unit at the local hospital. The biggest thrill of the day was that we turned over a profit and people actually had really nice things to say about our things. Mum's bags and items sold brilliantly, so much so that we have decided to have a stall on a regular basis. All we need now is to decide which direction we want the stall to go in.
I am so proud of us and what we have achieved. So I am going to go and get my crafting hat on and get those creative ideas flowing!!! Watch this space!!
