Milton Keynes Handmade and Vintage Fair

Well, what a treat I was in for yesterday.

I nipped into Milton Keynes to pick up a few birthday surprises from good old reliable John Lewis. I expected to be parked, into the shops, and out again within 30 minutes. Little did I know that the Milton Keynes Handmade and Vintage fair was all set-up ready to go IN FRONT of John Lewis. I couldn’t miss it! I wasn’t expecting it, and neither was my bank balance…

There were a true array of stalls – from old vintage fabrics, to sumptuous and ever-so-tempting cupcakes, handmade ceramics, plates made of out of old records, handmade bags, skirts, the list goes on…

There were lots of stalls that I spent a considerable amount of time perusing (I had to top up the car parking meter, twice) however, there were two stalls that really had my attention. The first was Grace Face Boutique – a wonderful mix of inspirational quotes, ditsy fabrics, fab and fun vintage inspired clothing and cute-as-a-button homemade jewellery. To top that off – they were a fun, friendly mum and daughter combo who I discovered (happily for me!) live locally to me in Northampton – and I hope to visit their studio soon!

The second, was the most amazing jewellery stand – Stapleford Silver. She put up with me for an hour (yes, a whole HOUR) trying on thumb rings. These aren’t just any old silver rings – they are upcycled. The particular one I bought in the end, was an upcycled cake fork. Just how perfect is that. I can now happily go around with a cake fork as a ring – which to me symbolises pretty much everything I stand for. It’s beautiful, it’s vintage, it’s baking related, it’s classic and stylish, and do you know what? It’s now mine.

PS Very happy that by absolute chance I had a manicure yesterday at Beau Ideal. What are the chances of then finally starting a blog, and wanting to write about your latest jewellery purchase – that just so happens to include a photo of your well manicured nails. Winning at life right there. (It’s the simple things!)