Former Dragon's Den entrepreneur hits the Halifax Victoria Theatre with her Christmas craft show

The crafting entrepreneur and Dragon’s Den brings her tourCraft Your Christmas to the Victoria Theatre, Halifax, on Wednesday November 30.

The genesis of the idea came about totally by chance. Following her run in Strictly Come Dancing last year, she was invited to take part in the arena tour that followed. Sara's connection with a live audience was immediately apparent and the producers talked to her about doing her own tour.

"When I explained my day job was in crafting, they suggested putting a show together.”

They then gave her the example of the chef James Martin who toured his own show which involved him cooking on stage and sharing with the audience anecdotes about his back story.

“I went to see James’s show with a couple of girlfriends. We had a few drinks first – we were all a bit giddy – and we had the best time.”

Sara said: “It made me realise I could do the equivalent with crafting as my theme. But I thought the tour should be in the run-up to Christmas because that’s peak season for decorating your home.

“I’m the biggest fan of Christmas and overflowing with tips on how you can do it yourself.”

From gifts to garlands, from cards to crackers, wrapping paper to mantlepiece decorations, the queen of crafting will show audiences how to craft their own unique Christmas with a range of practical demonstrations.

“Christmas decorations around the house. I’ll show how simple it is to upcycle gift bags and turn them into beautiful snowflakes you can hang around your home in only five minutes.”

A more sophisticated task would involve marbling festive baubles. “You can buy kits that will produce that effect,” she said, “but they’re expensive. So, I’m going to show the audience how to produce your own marbling using nail varnish.

“There’s a lot of card, glue and glitter that has gone into this tour. Whether it’s making a wreath for your front door, creating unique cards, decorating your festive dinner table or perfectly wrapping individual presents, I’ve got Christmas covered – on the cheap. And I can’t wait to share this with audiences all around the UK.”

She’s also a great advocate for making personalised Christmas presents for friends and family. “That way, you’re dedicating love and time, creating something homemade and giving a little part of you to loved ones. Anyone can go and buy something but not everyone makes time to create something.”

And, throughout it all, she’ll be sharing her personal story of how she became the UK’s undisputed crafting queen. It’s certainly some story.

Sara’s journey starts – and remains – in the northeast growing up in what she calls an entrepreneurial environment. Her parents, Frank and Susan, ran their own decorating shop, in a village outside Durham, subsequently taken over by Sara’s sister, Helen, and her husband.

Sara and husband Simon have two boys: Charlie is six; Oliver will be nine in December. It’s not every man who can stand by and watch his wife’s vertical success. “Listen,” she says, “I could not do what I do without Simon’s support.”

He’d worked as an accountant for a large Dutch pharmaceutical company as his wife’s crafting business went through the roof.

Then the day dawned when he returned home, announced that he’d handed in his notice and that he’d be joining Sara to look after the finances.