The Festive Gift Fair at the NEC, yes Christmas started here…

NEC Festive Gift Fair  16-19 November 2017

The Festive Gift Fair was our first ever four day show and our first experience of the massive crowds who attend this event every year. With live music, gift ideas for all tastes and pockets and entertainment at every turn, the Festive Gift Fair was an experience and a half.

We received some amazing feedback about our candles, the stand and our packaging. We were also showcasing a selection of candlesticks by Pedal to the Metal, Ross is a young, innovative and talented blacksmith and our customers just loved his excellent, hand-forged work, especially his traditional spiral candlesticks (which we now call the Wee Willie Winkie candlesticks! (sorry Ross but the name is catching on).

We wanted to pass on a few Thank You’s…

– to all the people who visited our stand and talked to us about candles (and hares)

– to everyone who purchased our candles, we hope you enjoy them (it didn’t sound as if many candles were actually going to be passed on as gifts. We saythats OK as it’s always good to treat yourself when you are supposed to be buying presents for others!)

– to Nicky, Sharla and the lovely Viv from Orchard Events for all their help and assistance with the show

– to our fellow exhibitors, especially fellow candlemaker Warren and his lovely wife at Candlebury, Naeem and his team from The Oud Shop and Vicky & Fran from Crafty Little Prints.

Also thank you to our stand neighbours; Gill at Diamondsareforever, the team at The Sunflower Shop (thanks for the turbans) and of course, the legend that is Norbert from Carneol Glass who we thank wholeheartedly for keeping us thoroughly entertained for four days.

It was great to meet you all and we welcome all the great event recommendations and all the help you gave to a couple of Festive Fair rookies.

We are already planning for the next show…

We will be at the inaugural Frost Fair at Ragley Hall, Alcester, Warwickshire this weekend, the show opens on Friday 24th and runs through til Sunday 26th, opening times are 10am til 5pm daily.

Events List

We will be exhibiting at many shows through the year – some are planned in advance some are more short-term, please look at our facebook page and twitter account for our very latest events but we will update this page regularly to let you know where you can find us.

Our Next Event:

Huntington Xmas Fair, Town Hall, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire

Dates: Friday 1st December, Saturday 2nd December, Sunday 3rd December 2017

Open times: Friday 12pm – 9pm, Saturday: 9am-7pm, Sunday: 10am-5pm

Huntingdon Christmas Market is sure to get you in the festive spirit.  The market will feature festive food and drink including mulled wine and spiced cider, carol singing and live music as well as children’s fairground rides and a variety of stalls selling seasonal crafts, gifts (including Hopping Hare Candles) and groceries – perfect for those Christmas gifts, hamper ideas and stocking fillers.

 

Forthcoming Events

Woodlands View School, Grange Park, Northampton

Date: Friday 8th December 2017

Open times: 3.15pm – 5pm

Woodland View’s Christmas Fayre. Please come along for some festive cheer for the whole family.

 

Quinton House School, Upton, Northampton

Date: Saturday 9th December 2017

Open times: 3pm til 5pm

This wonderfully festive event with ice-skating, live reindeer, Santa’s Grotto, Christmas gift stalls, music from the School choir, mince pies and other refreshments as well as a chance to enter a competition to win a fabulous Winter hamper.

Entry is free and open to all.

To book please visit https://www.quintonhouseschool.co.uk/winter-wonderland/

 

Victorian Xmas on the Green, Harrold, Bedfordshire

Date: Sunday 10th December 2017

Open times: 11am – 5pm

A one day Christmas Market. Mulled wine, mulled cider, mince pies, carols, loads of gift stalls (including Hopping Hare Candles) and the opportunity to meet the man himself.

Christmas Fair, Delapré Abbey, Northampton

Date: Saturday 16th December 2017

Open times: 11am til 4pm

A festive fair at Delapré Abbey with craft stalls, a food fair, Santa’s Grotto, an ice rink, raffle, reindeer and carols sung by a local childrens’ choir.

Free entry.


 

For our 2018 dates please hop back to this page in the new year or email us:

info@hoppingharecandles.co.uk but remember our online shopping cart is open 24/7.

Candle Advice

Candles are beautiful, evocative and help us to relax, unwind and feel good. However, they need care and attention and always have a mind to safety.

Enjoy your candle and treat it with due care and attention, and please follow our burning tips to help you get the most from your Hopping Hare Candle so that it can fulfil its maximum potential.

How to look after your candle

Follow our simple steps to look after your candle:

Trim your candle wick to 5mm (before you burn your candle for the first time and ensure that you position it on an even surface at least 10cm away from other candles.

Burn your candle for at least 2 hours each time, this will help prevent tunnelling and make your candle last longer. Ideally, you should allow the wax pool to touch the sides each time you burn your candle. You are not ‘saving;’ your candle by only lighting it for a short period, all that does is encourage tunnelling so by burning your candle til the wax pool meets the glass you will get the most burn time. This advice is not just for our candles but for any candles you buy.

To keep your candle looking good and burning well you need to keep the wax pool free of wick trimmings, the end of matches and other debris.

In the event that your candle wick starts to smoke, extinguish your candle, trim it, and then relight it – never trim a burning or really hot candle.

If you have any questions about your candle or it’s care, please email us at

info@hoppingharecandles.co.uk.

Safety Information

We all like to think we have common sense and understand that a naked flame can be dangerous, so please take care and read through our safety advice:

Candles are a fire hazard. Never leave a candle unattended, failure to follow instruction may result in fire or injury so make sure you extinguish it before you leave the room and especially when you leave the house.

Keep out of the reach of children and pets. Can be harmful to aquatic life with long lasting effects.

Positioning your candle – please place your candle on a heated protected or non heat sensitive level surface.

Keep away from draughts, other heat sources and flammable materials.

Always keep the wick trimmed.

Keep candles approx 10cm apart.

Your candle container is made of glass and will become hot during use so please allow it to cool before handling or moving the container.

Can cause skin irritation and serious eye irritation. If affected, please discontinue use and seek medical advice.

Hare raising stuff at the Hensmans “Big Hair Do”

What a great evening, put together by Hensmans of Northampton, our fabulous hairdressers!

Over 160 people attended the evening, where hair and fashion shows, demos, taster beauty treatments, make up demos where enjoyed by all.

We were there to conduct some research on our new blends and to road test some of our new presentation pieces. We received some excellent feedback, although the aim of the research was to reduce the new range, we have ended up adding to it as a result of the excellent, very detailed and thorough feedback we received on the night.

Thanks to everyone to spent time with us and bought candles, we really appreciate your time and special thanks to Gemma and Julie Hensman for letting us take over their training room.