Have you got a "Fiver" to Spend ?

You may or may not have realised there are only 2 pay days before Christmas ! Quite a scary thought for those of you who have loads to buy and even more scary for those of you who haven't given Christmas a second thought. But fear not the Hope Emporium are here to give you an ongoing suggestion list making the whole Christmas shopping process alot simpler. Over the next few weeks we will be posing gift suggestions for you. We will be doing it by price, starting this week with "Around a Fiver', so sit back and enjoy and be sure to keep up to date with future posts.

"Around a Fiver" We all have someone to buy a little something for at Christmas time, just a token gift nothing too expensive but something worthwhile. It may be for a teacher, a school friend, a work colleague, a friend, a neighbour. Lots settle on some random Christmas gift set, some sweets, a box of chocs, a tin of biscuits or a bottle of wine, well forget all that this year and go for a unique handmade item from the Hope Emporium.

VOTIVE CANDLES 60P, FLOWER ON A STICK £1, MICKY & MINNIE SOAP £1, FELT BROOCH £1.25, 2 BATH MELTS £1.50, SOAPS IN A CRACKER £1.50, PILLAR CANDLES £1.60-£1.80, JAR CANDLE £1.75

KEYRINGS £2, BOOKMARKS £2, SOAPS £2.50, RAGGEDY HEART £2.50, SHEA BUTTER £2.95

6 TEA LIGHTS £2, FELT FLOWER PIN £2.50, FELT HANGING FLOWER £2.50, HEART BROOCH £2.50, TREE DECORATION £2.50, GIRLS BRACELETS £2.50

DOTTY HEART £3, FLOWER HAIR BOBBLE £3.50, GIRLS NECKLACES £3.50, ROBIN £3.50, BEAD BRACELETS £3.50-4.00, EARRINGS, £3.25-3.95, 5 BATH MELTS £3.99

BROOCH £4, HANDPAINTED PLAQUES £4.00-£4.50, BABY BOOTIES £4.50, BASKET OF SMELLIES £5

COAT HANGER £5.50, PORCELAIN BOWL £5-6.00, FAIRIES £6, EGG COSY £6.50

PORCELAIN BOWL £5-6.00, TRINKET BOX £6, FELT BROOCH £6.50, BABY HAT £6.50, TISSUE POUCH £6.50, EGG COSY £6.50

GIRLS ARM WARMERS £5.50, BABY HAT £6.50, WEAVING KIT £6.50

I hope you have found this interesting and it has given you a few ideas. Alot of the products featured do come in other colour ways so do pop in the shop to see even more items like these.

Finally please tune in next week for our next feature on "AROUND A TENNER"

Christmas is coming and a BAT has landed !!

For those of you who came in the shop last week you may have noticed a bit of Christmas sneaking in, yes its here even though its only mid October. You may be like me and think Christmas before Halloween that's madness ! but not in the world of retail I'm afraid. Yes 5 of our crafters have made Christmas stock an its there for you to buy, and believe it or not some has already sold !

Clare Beale had made a batch of cute and colourful reindeer cards, Molly Pepper has been busy on her sewing machine running up some embroidered Christmas cards and I too have made a dozen cards. Jane from Plain Jane has made lovely robins and some red and green dotty Christmas fairy's to hang on your tree, the detail on them is great and that hair is just fab ! I too have made tree decorations, hand painted red and white dotty hearts and stars combined with wire, rusty bells, gingham and Cinnamon sticks. Heavenly soaps have packaged mini soaps in Small Christmas boxes and silver cracker boxes. All the items mentioned start from as little as £2.00 so come and take a look. More tree decorations are due by the end of the month by Recycled Hippies and Raggedy Revival.

Now for the bat............ If you have walked or driven by since Saturday you cant miss the pumpkin and bat cape hanging in the window. These are the latest capes by Sana of Raggedy Revival from her 'superhero cape' range. They are great and any little one will want one. My little boy has already put an order in with Santa for a blue superman one and a batman one ! They are very well made and machine washable and priced at £7.00. We only have 2 of each so if your little one still needs something for Halloween come and see us. I must just add if you don't come quick Sana's son will be in with the contents of his money box to buy the lot as he would rather they were all kept and home for him as opposed to mummy trying to make a

living !!

Ttfn, Jo (Muddy Puddle Crafts)