I’ve bought a few really fab craft kits as presents lately, so thought I’d start sharing them here. I think kits make great presents for tweens and teens – always good to encourage a bit of creativity away from screens and, although they may complain initially, they nearly always enjoy crafting and love the results.

First up is this gorgeous little project from the fab Leather Needle Thread. Founded by leatherworker Esther Keen in 2016, Leather Needle Thread started its life as a series of in-person bag-making workshops and now offers DIY sets, so people can create their own leather goods at home. Alongside bags, there are DIY card holders, glasses cases, purses, and even clogs – each offering the chance to choose your own colour combinations.

I spotted the paintable mini wallet kit in a few gift guide, looked on the site and ended up buying the new Marble Your Mini Envelope Wallet kit for my 12-year-old niece. It comprises a pre-cut leather piece, brass closure, six colours of specialist leather paint (you choose your own), carageenan powder to create the marble effect, six craft sticks and a pipette for mixing and measuring, scrap leather to practice on and step by step instructions (plus an access code to an online tutorial). It was beautifully wrapped and looked gorgeous when it arrived (I nearly kept it!) – can’t wait to see the results.