May/June 2023

Ideas

Packed with creative ideas and inspiration

Ideas2 min read
From The Editor
All the kitchens of my childhood had a table in them. Whether it was a small green formica one or a wooden breakfast nook, we children always sat there chatting while my mom cooked. And just before every December holiday she would organise her young
Ideas1 min read
At Some Point It's Clear
SO LITTLE OF LIFE'S SWEETNESS CAN BE PLANNED. OH, MEALS, OF COURSE, AND SOMETIMES CHILDREN. BUT MOSTLY, JOY LOVES A SURPRISE, LOVES WHEN SCHEDULES GET SHUFFLED AND AGENDAS UNRAVEL AND SUDDENLY THERE'S A SPACE FOR BLISS TO SLIP IN DRESSED IN CALAMITY'
Ideas3 min readDiet & Nutrition
What's New
The Vineyard Collection from Perdeberg Wines offers a range of wines each made from specific vineyard blocks in an elegant new-world style, traditional but with a twist. Try the Pinot Noir Chardonnay 2021 (R95), fruity, crisp and delicious paired wit
Ideas1 min read
Ideas
EDITOR Terena le Roux EMAIL terena@ideasfactory.co.za STUDIO AND STITCHCRAFT Dala Watts MARKETING AND FINANCES Marweya Smal INQUIRIES marweya@ideasfactory.co.za COPY EDITING Diana Procter and Marié Smidt STYLING Hannes Koegelenberg, Dala Watts and Ca
Ideas3 min readArchitecture
Let's Cook!
This kitchen with its double doors leading out to the garden has a lovely country feel to it. It's chockablock, but it works because white has been used everywhere – from the lovely old display cabinet to the shelves built into the recess in the wall
Ideas4 min readArchitecture
Room To Grow
With all the requisite characteristics of a modern industrial barn conversion, from lofty pitched ceilings and corrugated roofing to raw brick walls, Hannes and Tina Maritz's home is a former dairy that has had a new lease of life. ‘Old buildings hav
Ideas1 min read
How To Draw A Moka Pot
Take a photo of the item you want to embroider (we chose a moka pot), print the photo out, use a red pen to trace the outlines of the item. This is now your pattern that you can transfer to your fabric to embroider.
Ideas6 min read
Rench Kitchen
NOTE: If you use linen for your projects as we have done, wash your fabric before you start. Set the machine on 60 °C and tumble-dry the fabric afterwards, so that it has already shrunk and is softer when you start working with it by MARIETJIE VAN WY
Ideas5 min read
Ode To The apron
From fig leaf to designer fashion … Where there's an apron, there is creative action. Whether it's in the kitchen in front of the stove, behind a woodworker's lathe, in a butchery, a blockman's cold room or chef's gourmet stainless-steel kitchen, at
Ideas5 min read
Tea Towels
by DALA WATTS DIFFICULTY: easy TIME: half a day ♥ white linen (the size of a tea towel) ♥ fabric paint in the colour of your choice ♥ wide craft brush ♥ sheet of cardboard ♥ wide masking tape ♥ craft knife and cutting mat ♥ metal ruler ♥ matching mac
Ideas5 min read
Easy One-pan Dinners
Soup can be cooked on a gas hob and can also be prepared ahead of time, making it an easy and healthy one-pot solution, especially when the power is out. This hearty vegetable soup is made using buckwheat, which can be found in the health section of
Ideas2 min read
Let Them Eat Baguettes!
Makes: 3 x 40cm baguettes Preparation time: 1 hour, plus rising time ♥ 500g cake flour ♥ 10ml salt ♥ 5g instant yeast ♥ 350-375g lukewarm water (just a little warmer than room temperature) Mix the dry ingredients together well. Use a bowl large enoug
Ideas1 min readArchitecture
Cook, Eat, Art
We set up our small kitchen corner simply in black and white and added warmth with touches of pink and copper. Recycle old ceiling tiles and use them as a splashback behind the sink and your work top. For extra storage, add a rustic floating shelf an
Ideas7 min read
Preserve The Season
Makes: about 3 litres Preparation time: 30 minutes 1 Wash the plums and rub dry. Cut in half and remove the stones. Carefully wash the raspberries and pat dry. Carefully mix the fruit with the sugar. Set aside for 20 minutes to draw. 2 Take a large j
Ideas3 min read
Put Your Stamp On It!
Make your guests feel at home with these pretty cards. 1 Cut the paper into 11cm x 16cm rectangles. 2 Use the brush pen to write ‘Welcome’ on the cards, or write the names of your guests for a more personal touch. 3 Press a sage leaf onto the stamp p
Ideas2 min read
Pretty Organised
DIFFICULTY: medium TIME: one hour All you need to make these easy-to-access produce bags is tube netting, ribbon and a sewing machine. Cut your desired length of netting then fold one end back into the tube and use your ribbon like bias binding to fi
Ideas1 min read
Parcel-tape Labels
DIFFICULTY: easy TIME: 30 minutes ♥ labels printed on computer paper ♥ clear parcel tape (wide) ♥ 500ml water in a bowl ♥ scissors ♥ glass jars Cut away most of the white paper around your label. Stick a piece of clear parcel tape over the label. Smo
Ideas8 min read
Brain Dance With A Mop
I immediately shared the good news with the man on the stoep of our new house at the coast. ‘I think that with all the packing and cleaning and painting involved in our move from the mountain farm to the sea, I have now reached my full potential for
Ideas8 min read
Beauty From The Pantry
Years ago I had a gorgeous neighbour, already nearly 70 years old, but you would never have guessed it and she would also never admit it. What she did reveal, however, is that her youthful appearance was thanks to the concoctions she mixed up in her
Ideas4 min read
Creative Travels Around Paris
Before we left on our adventure to Paris, I thought about the poet Mary Oliver's words: ‘Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.’ My husband Hugo and I both have a huge passion for travel, art and creativity. We'd
Ideas1 min read
A World Of Ideas
FOR AN ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION OF R484.50 YOU WILL RECEIVE YOUR PRINTED COPY OF IDEAS EVERY SECOND MONTH.* USE ANY OF THE FOLLOWING METHODS TO SUBSCRIBE: OR OR * Your subscription is provided on a pre-paid basis and is available only to South African res
Ideas6 min read
BOOKS TO READ in May/June
REGULA YSEWIJN (MURDOCH, R595) Acclaimed food writer and historian Regula Ysewijn turns her attention to her native Belgium for an intimate look at its culinary traditions and classic baked goods – including carnival treats, pastries, pies, biscuits,
Ideas5 min read
You Said It
WINNING LETTER Think before you get divorced, a family member said. A woman of your age (about 54 at the time) will battle to find a man. Men prefer younger women. I suddenly felt rather insignificant. I was defined by whether I had a man? I had a qu

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