Look out – there may be a crocheted toilet roll holder or knitted tea cosy heading your way soon.

Arts and crafts are on the rise and the trendy Christmas gift this year will be homemade.

It no longer screams “cheapskate” but shows you care enough to lavish time and energy to create something special for a loved one.

But as more women – and even a few chaps – channel their inner housewife from the 50s it’s time to admit not all of us have the patience or skill to knock up a passable alternative to, well, whatever our dearly beloveds really want for Crimbo.

Retro Woman – a super homemaker who could turn out a perfect souffle, while reading the children a bedtime story and darning the hubby’s socks, wearing heels and a twinset and pearls – probably only ever existed in US sitcoms and advertising campaigns anyway.

So if you want to surround yourself with homemade goodies, there are easy ways to cheat: find out when your local church will be holding its Christmas bazaar, look out for WI sales or go along to one of Rosie Jacobs and Hannah Richey’s craft fairs.

They held their first East Oxford Gift & Craft Fair last month and encouraged by the response – more than 350 people attended - are planning two more before the end of the year, on November 23 and December 13, both at the East Oxford Community Centre.

“The idea is that we create a forum for designer makers and small businesses in and around Oxford to come together to showcase their collections and create a community amongst the stall holders,” said Rosie, 30, who also runs an online gift shop offering British made products.

She thinks there is a renewed interest among women for traditional crafts and that more people are setting up small businesses to trade at fairs and online.

“I think to a certain extent the recession had an impact on our spare time and there was a move towards crafts as something to do at home that didn’t cost too much but was still fulfilling and gave you the satisfaction of creating something,” said Rosie, a keen crafter herself, who previously worked as a buyer in the gift industry.

“There is also the bond between people that comes from sharing in a craft whether it be knitting, jewellery-making or baking.

“Market place websites and social media make it much easier to get out there and be heard by a wider audience, so it is much easier for people that are passionate about their craft to find a customer base.

I think people also want to get back to the idea of community, and craft offers this through shared passions and experience.”

Rosie met Hannah, who runs the Fir Tree pub on Iffley Road with her boyfriend and is a speech and language therapist at Unicorn School in Abingdon, through the Oxford Drunken Knitwits group which meets every Wednesday in a different pub around the city to indulge twin loves of twine and wine.

“We both discovered a mutual love of craft and wanted to create somewhere to showcase it,” said Rosie. The first event featured seven stalls and a workshop and the next two will be run along similar lines.

“We’ll slightly change the stalls each time to keep fresh. At the moment we’re keeping it small to create a nice atmosphere but we hope to expand next year,” she said.

The November 23 fair will run from 11am to 4pm and, as well as the stalls, there will be a jewellery workshop by Amy Surman from The Oxford Bead Shop in East Oxford.

The December 13 event will be held from 7pm to 9pm and will feature pamper sessions along with mulled wine, carols and mince pies. Both are at East Oxford Community Centre. “It’s a fresh twist on craft fairs,” said Rosie.

“From my point of view, we want people who offer something unique and edgy with good price points - not too high, best selling items will be between £5to £20 - and are dynamic and proactive when it comes to talking to customers and visitors to the fair.”

See www.facebook.com/ EastOxfordGiftCraftFair for more details