Hats, How To Store and Display Them Mostly.

How Can I Display & Store All My Hats?

Between me and Yogi we probably own over a dozen hats.  Plus we sell them on the stall and currently all of them are homeless or in need of inspirational and cheap display ideas. Storing our hats when living on a boat is a bit of an issue. Space is tight and they can get crushed and bent out of shape. Plus we don't have straight walls that we can hang them against, so  they are left all over the place getting damaged,in the way and on my nerves.  Time for project sort the hats out.

We also have a similar issue on the stall, space is at a premium and we need a cost effective way to display the hats we have to sell. We want them to go home on peoples heads and not in the back of Monty (Our trusty motor home). 

I had a look on Google and found Hat Rack Ideas on a page by www.donpedrobrooklyn.com. There are some cracking ideas there, the picture above is a contender :0) There are a couple of other ideas there too, that I might have a go at.

I just need to find a bit of chain, or perhaps curtain wire, if I can remember where I have put it......and do I even have any hooky pegs things? 

Awesome Hats

I only really sell one style of hat, I do have others but this one is by far my favourite.

I have christened it the AWESOME HAT.  It is the first hat without a brim, that actually suits me!  I have never been able to carry off a bobble hat or beany style.  The laughter of people around me tells me that when I am wearing one. 

But for some reason these hats look good on me!! It was a revelation for me and I think they are magic and totally awesome.  

They are made from recycled silk and wool, are lined with a wide belt of felt for comfort and come in a multitude of colours.

I always have a lot of fun on the stall trying to convince folk to try them on.  They give the same argument that I have been giving for years. 'It won't suit me!'. but once I have given them the secret on how to put them on, 9/10 will purchase immediately when they see themselves in the mirror. Its brilliant :0) 


I sell them for £12 + £3 P&P Hopefully I will have time to put them on the website soon, but in the meantime, if you would like a sneak peek at what I have available, EMAIL me and I will send you some photos.

Getting The Stock & Stall Ready For The Season Ahead

The last few days & weeks have been devoted to preparation.  Finding & ordering lovely new things.  Unpacking and checking deliveries, which is always exciting!!  Making new items for the coming season & testing out ideas for new ranges.  

Unfortunately, with a lot of Fair Trade Clothing, size is an issue, a lot of the clothing items do come up on the small side.  Extra Large is not very Large, and Small is very, very small.  With this in mind,  I have tried my best to get as many 'Free Size Items as I can, I want to be able to cater to the more voluptuous customer and have ordered XL/XXL & XXXL where ever possible (hoping that some of the lovely things I have purchased to sell may even fit me)!

Some do, and some don't, but as I said, the manufacturers idea of XXL and mine are still a long ways apart.  'One size fits all' - fits not quite all unfortunately.  

So, to the first goal of my new blog.  To reduce my body so it will fit into 'one size fits all' clothing.  Today I ate my first grapefruit in approximately 15 years! Well, its a start.....

That said, having spent the last 15 years or so of my life as a big girl I have learned how to adapt and overcome. This is why I am a big fan of the Poncho.  It will pretty much fit anyone, comes in many different weights of fabric, hides a multitude of sins and is comfortable to wear. 

I have a few different styles and designs available and will be making them available to purchase online in the near future.  If you can wait that long, just make a comment or send me an EMAIL and I will send you some photos.

I have also been making a lot of stock items and as I have a very short attention span as well as 'tangentitis' (prone to heading off on a tangent every 5 minutes).  I spend my days flitting from one thing to another, to another, to another and so on. 

Today I have mostly been playing with tumble stones.  I have been experimenting with different ways of fixing my handmade wire pendant bails to different tumble stones and am quite pleased with the results so far.  I use non tarnish silver plated artistic wire to make my bails.  

This is one of my designs on a piece of Tigers Eye.  I just need to pull it about a bit in a week or so, make sure the glue is up to the job.  Once I am happy I will make an adjustable knotted cord to hang it on and it will be available to purchase.

Tiger eye is the birth stone for Gemini and is a warm stone with rich sunny, golden and brown colours.  

I find it a hard one to resist picking up.  It is said that it can help with boosting your strength of conviction,  courage, self-esteem and confidence in your abilities.  Which would make a lot of sense to me.  Being self employed can be stressful at times and perhaps the Tigers Eye just offers me that boost at times when I need it.  

New WitchCrafter Blog Update New Style, New Posts, New Start

Trading From The Boat

First New WitchCrafter Blog - The last few years have been very busy and a lot has changed since I last posted on here.   We have a different boat, we have now been self employed for a few years and I think, we are finally starting to get the hang of it!!  

I have been filling out my diary religiously for ages instead of posting here and as I appear to be spending more and more time on my lap top lately and the diary pages are becoming emptier and emptier, I thought it might be a good idea to transfer my diary online.  

So, this is what my blog is going to become. Basically, my warts and all diary. This introductory post is a bit wordy, but I thought it was in order for those of you who don’t know me.  So, with no further ado, this is who I am and what, most likely I will be talking about and sharing with you in the coming blogs.  

My Mental & Physical Health - Although to all intents and purposed from the outside looking in my life would seem idyllic, my brain is always churning stuff about and worrying about stuff that hasn't even happened yet.   I am currently a very overweight 50-year-old female with a 20-year history of chronic depression. Sounds lovely doesn’t it lol,

I thought if I shared my trials and tribulations and mad hatter schemes to lose weight , keep sane and keep food on the table on here you may find it an interesting read.  Possibly even helpful, but more likely just bizarre.  

My Lifestyle - My lifestyle is completely different to the 'norm' and I think I am pretty different too, but I am hoping that once I start to share my thoughts, problems and fears, I will soon find out I am not that different to a lot of you in truth.  Which is why I actively encourage you to comment with your views and experiences too :0) This is a two way blog. 

I have always found it impossible to stick to anything for more than a few days so am trying a new plan. If history is anything to go by, this blog could be short lived, but am going to give it a go anyway.  You never know, this could be the start of a whole new chapter in my life.  :0)  Basically, I aim to find and combine lots of little things that I enjoy doing, and that I can stick too that will help with my weight loss and improve my mental health.  All of which will be shared with you.  The good the bad and the ugly!! 

My Work  - My other half and I are self-employed.  We own and run 'The WitchCrafter Fairtrade Clothing & Giftware Emporium' and we travel around the country, visiting all kinds of outside Festivals, Events & Rallys in our motor-home 'Monty'.  We sell Fairtrade Clothing, Giftware and Accessories as well as my ropework and jewellery creations.  If you would like us to attend your event please get in touch.

Illustration of Our Stall

We have an events page HERE where you can find of where we will be trading next, as well as seeing all the years coming events in one place.  

I am a Knotter, (not sure if that is the correct terminology but that is basically what I do lol).   I make decorative knotted rope work items for narrowboats. As well as; bracelets, key-rings and other items.  

I can often be found giving demonstrations of how to work with rope at  the festivals I attend.  These are very popular with kids and adults alike. I show folk how to splice & make loops in rope, as well as how to make bracelets and keyrings.   

I also enjoy making my bespoke and unusual accessories out of tumblestones, cord, rope and wire which I am working on making available on the stall and online.   

My Lifestyle  - My partner, dog and I live on and sometimes  trade from, our narrowboat The Great Escape.  The boat provides all of us with just under 57' x 7' of living space to house stock, materials and worldly possessions.  We live what is commonly referred to as an 'off-grid' lifestyle and you will be hearing more about what that is like to live without water and electricity on tap. 

As we live and work on our narrowboat, we are what is known as 'Roving Canal Traders' and have been for a few years now.  It basically means that the license we have, which is provided by the Canal & River Trust, allows us to trade from the side of the boat anywhere on the UK canal network.   If you would like to learn more about becoming a Roving Canal Trader try out RCTA (Roving Canal Traders Association). 

Well, now you know a little about me and what you can expect from this blog, I hope you will keep an eye open for it popping up on your Facebook timeline, or in your inbox.   Please feel free to leave your comments and subscribe to this blog. I would love to know what you think xx