uk | attic.

Boxes have been unpacked, stock has been displayed and shelves have been re-merchandised. Hard to believe, it’s that time of year again…

Christmas is such an important time of year to a small business like ours; more than ever in these unpredictable times! Therefore it’s vitally important to give ourselves the best chance for a good season.

We ordered a lot of our Christmas stock months ago (some of it in January and February) so we always get a little anxious when it arrives, and we start to unpack it. Is it as nice as we thought? Have the collections worked together as well as we planned? And, has what we ordered, actually turned up. Being a small retailer, sometimes what we order isn’t always what we get. The bulk of a wholesaler/makers stock can be swallowed up by much larger retailers, with what’s left, served out to the small independents. Leaving us with a diluted collection!

Anyway – all our fears were forgotten this year. In fact most of the stock we ordered was nicer than we remembered. And the things we thought wouldn’t arrive – did. Result!

So, with just over a month to go, we thought we’d take some photos of Phase 1 – and show you what we’ve been up to. We’re pretty chuffed with how the shop is looking, so we thought we’d share it with you. Hope you like it too!

We’ve photographed most of the Christmas stock, and consequently the website has been very busy this year, with nearly everything being online. So if it’s still available – it’ll be on there. Click through for links to website and product pages…

We’ve also just had in a new delivery of toiletries and skincare products from Priddy Essentials. All handmade in Rutland, England. Beautiful scents with gorgeous packaging.

These metal Christmas trees are probably our favourite product this season.

Every year we sell more and more of the beautiful decorations from Walther & Co in Denmark (probably best known for their little house lanterns) They are becoming quite the collector’s items. People come back year after year to see what’s been added to the collection…We’re open everyday now until Christmas (open Sundays 12-4pm) so do pop in and say hello if you’re near!

On the way back from our trip to Cowley Manor, a few weeks ago, we had a quick whistle-stop tour through the Cotswolds. We had never really been to this part of England before, so we thought seeing as we were down there anyway, it would be rude not to explore, at least a little!First stop on the way to Oxford, (where we were staying for that night) was Stow on the Wold, a pretty market town that centres around the market square at the top of the hill. As i’m sure most of the thousands of tourists that visit Stow every year would agree, there are plenty of photo opportunities…

After a couple of hours in Stow, we headed off to Burford, another popular destination in the Cotswolds. Again, a beautiful town with the typical Cotswold stone built buildings and quaint English charm….

Although the whole town is lovely, particularly worth a stroll down is ‘Sheep Street’ off the main high street. This is where we took the majority of the photos. A street with as many beautiful cottages and houses would be hard to find…