Country Living Christmas Fair 2014

Saturday morning saw an early start for me.  I was heading off into London to meet up with Gemma from Musings of a Gem.  We were long overdue a proper catch up and being such huge fans of Christmas, the Country Living Christmas Fair seemed as good a place as any to do it.

The Country Living Fairs are the only ones I'd not yet visited so I was keen to see what they had to offer.  I really enjoy reading their magazines and admiring all the gorgeous images.  Seeing this come to life at the Business Design Centre on the many stands at the fair was a real treat.

As we entered the main hall the sound of Christmas music and the smell of cinnamon and oranges filled the air. I felt as though I'd arrived in heaven.

The stunning sights and smells courtesy of Pollyfields

Myself and Gemma are very similar so we had no problems planning out our day.  We headed straight for the top floor where the lifestyle theatre was located as there was a particular demonstration we were wanting to see.  We were early so took the opportunity to check out the stands on the top floor.  It seemed as though arriving early and heading away from the entrance was the way to go, it was practically empty, giving us space and ease to explore what was on offer.

Gorgeous candles from Bright Ideas

After having a mooch about we made our way back over to the lifestyle theatre, where we could see Cherry Menlove setting up, and in mid conversation with her husband and 2 children.  It felt so surreal seeing them in real life, as opposed to in photos on Cherry's blog and on Instagram.  I was a bit unsure what to expect but she really was so, so lovely.  We had a good chat about blogging, crafts and of course Christmas.  She took a real interest in what we had to say and what I found really nice was how we were able to chat about some of our favourite blogs, hearing her say such sweet things about fellow bloggers really was lovely.

I loved her demonstration.  For me it was the highlight of the day.  It was based on table decoration.  Everything she covered was easy to follow and totally my style.  In fact I made up one of the little trucks with the tree last year but will be doing some more this year.  I shall be giving the other decorations a try this year too.  

The rest of the day was spent wandering round the fair.  There was a real variety of stands from home-wares to fashion to children's toys not forgetting Christmas decorations.       

I will be honest it wasn't as Christmassy as  I had thought it was going to be.  It would have been nice to of been able to hear Christmas music playing throughout the hall, although I understand this wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea and I'm sure would probably send those working at the fair crazy.  I was also expecting more Christmas themed stands, there was only really a handful of these and they were pretty similar.  All in all though it was a good day.  I'm already looking forward to seeing what their Spring fair has to offer.   

But until then, no matter how you feel about it, Christmas is on it's way and I'm ready to embrace it with open arms.  The Country Living Christmas Fair has finished now in London but is yet to be in Harrogate and Glasgow so if you can, do pop along and check out what's on offer for yourself.  

~ Gem x