Christmas is always a popular time for crafting and it's been a successful festive period for art and craft retailer, Hobbycraft.

The retailer, which has stores in Gloucester and Cheltenham, reported an increase in like-for-like store sales of 7.1 per cent the six weeks to 24th December, as reported by Retail Gazette. Online sales over the same period rose by 28 per cent.

Hobbycraft said its success was down to a series of workshops held in all of its stores, which a total of 21,000 shoppers attended.

Figures also showed a 119 per cent increase in sales of Christmas Eve boxes during the week they were on display in stores. Hobbycraft said this trend was driven by social media and that its overall results proved that creating a thoughtful gift or decoration is an 'enriching experience'.