Kirstie's & Garlands, Glitter Glue!

Christmas connoisseur Kirstie Allsopp is back and she’s having herself a merry little cross-stitch as she hosts a new craft show…

- Vicki Power

Kirstie Allsopp is Santa’s greatest ambassador! On Kirstie’s Handmade Christmas, currently showing on Channel 4, she’s working harder than a gaggle of elves to get us all in the festive spirit, showing viewers how to turn their homes into Santa’s grotto and fill them with beautiful handmade trinkets.

And it’s not an act. Kirstie is so keen on the magic of Christmas that she still goes to great lengths to convince her sons Bay (12) and Oscar (10) that there really is a Father Christmas.

“We’re only recently slightly on the edge of them believing in Father Christmas, which breaks my heart,” sighs Kirstie (47) when we meet to chat about her Handmade Christmas. “But I did everything humanly possible – apart from hiring an actor to appear at our house on Christmas Eve! – to keep them believing. They want to believe, but it’s the other kids at school who tell them.”

Kirstie’s ruses have included throwing carrot tops around the back garden.

“Then we say, ‘Oh my goodness, those reindeer have spat the carrot ends from the roof!’ And I use different paper for the children’s presents from Father Christmas than on gifts I give.