Haberdashery...

After sleeping in late this morning, I arose to get ready and run some errands. I must mention that I slept especially well because I utilized my cozy hot water bottle. Even if last night was the only night I got to use it, and it most certainly will not be, it would have been worth 10 pounds. My sheets and toes were so cuddly warm. It was ridiculous. Anyway, back to today...I have come to appreciate errands (at least the ones I elect to run, not the ones I have to) because they get me out of the house and they help me interact with people. People with cool accents nonetheless!

So, I went to the tourist information center first to register for a tour we are taking tomorrow. Stonehenge and Bath, here we come! (Pictures will be up sometime this weekend.) Then, I went to pick up a couple small items for Matt's birthday... shhh, don't tell. After that, I decided to relentlessly ask questions until someone could point me to a Hobby Lobby-like store. Too much time on Pinterest has led me to believe that I need to create something with embroidery floss, yarn, tissue paper, or card stock in order to have a complete life. Well, I guess British people just don't have much free time or maybe only old ladies are allowed to be artsty craftsy ninnies, but they do not have a store on the awesomeness scale that even comes close to Hobby Lobby.

Ahhh, a little slice of heaven on earth. Just by looking at this picture, I can already hear the instrumental hymns playing over the PA system and smell the gobs of potpourri. Bliss.

Entire aisle of color coded, neatly organized, 50% off paper. Your creativity can absolutely run rampant.

Upon inquiring of a tailor who was hemming someone's trousers in the middle of the outdoor market, I learned that there was a store called Cally Co. that might have what I was looking for.

Although it was an adorable shop, it was focused mainly on fabrics and sewing. If I could have brought my sewing machine along, I would have spent a ton of money in this store buying fabric. It was extraordinarily cute, but not what I needed.

So, the Cally Co. till worker (like how I'm throwing in British vocab like it's nothing?) recommended that I try John Lewis, which is a giant department store. With my hopes of finding craft supplies diminishing, I rounded the corner, went through the Grand Arcade shopping mall, and went straight to John Lewis at the far end. My eyes scanned the signage telling me which department was on which floor. Seeing nothing that said "Arts and Crafts," I had almost resigned myself to a dismal existence of reading or sleeping or eating myself into oblivion...until... I read more carefully and found the department labeled "Haberdashery and Sewing." Hope restored! Despite the fact that I had no idea what 'haberdashery' meant, I practically ran up the escalator, followed the little arrows, and ended up here:

This is what one corner of the John Lewis haberdashery and crafts section looks like. Minuscule and expensive, but as close as I'm going to get to my beloved HobLob. It will do.

 

 

Needless to say, I spent the rest of my afternoon stooped over our table, involved in card making. I would show you pictures, but it would ruin some Christmas gifts! Yay for a growing collection on my craft shelf. Now it's time for a break and some dinner. Hope all is well in the US of A - the land of the Hobby Lobbys and the home of the people we love the most!