Inhaltsverzeichnis für June 2015 in Ideas

When I got my first dog nine years ago, a friend said, ‘You only want a dog so you can buy lovely little dog beds.’ He was right about the dog bed – it was gorgeous and a perfect match for my room, but anyone who has ever seen a Scottie pup will know that it was Sofie’s cute body and playful loyalty that stole my heart. And even when I had to compete furiously with puppy Zizou over who was the ‘top dog’ in the house, it was precisely that stubbornness that made him stand out from his brothers and sisters. It was all about their cuteness – the pretty extras were simply a bonus. With lots of dog and cat stories of love and sorrow being told in…

You will need duckboard paper or fabric with a flower pattern modge podge craft brush rough sandpaper craft knife, cutting mat and metal ruler varnish To make 1 Choose paper or fabric that matches your bathroom and photocopy it in colour, preferably on A3 paper. 2 Measure the width of the board’s planks and cut the photocopy into strips accordingly. 3 Paint modge podge over the board and stick the strips of paper onto the planks while the modge podge is still wet. Rub the paper with your fingers to smooth it, taking care not to pull the paper, and leave it to dry. 4 Paint another coat of modge podge over the top of the paper when the first coat is dry and make sure it is sealed properly.…

DO YOU KNOW OF A LOVELY NEW SHOP OR BEAUTIFUL DÉCOR OR CRAFT RANGE THAT WE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT? IF SO, EMAIL US AND WE WILL CONSIDER FEATURING IT ON THIS PAGE. NEW FOR AUTUMN Naartjie’s new autumn range is on shelf. With themes like Tribal Travel for boys and Electric Tribe for girls, your child will be at the forefront of fashion. • Visit one of their branches countrywide, or buy online from naartjie.co.za. HONEYCOMB SHELVES You can stack these hexagonal shelves from Leg Studios as you wish, to create your own design. If you need extra storage space, you can buy more shelves as and when your budget allows. Phone 021447 0820, visit the shop in Salt Circle Arcade, 374 Albert Road, Cape Town, or go to their…

To celebrate our third Trunk Show, we’ve decided to make it three days this year. So grab a marker and be sure to make time on your calendar to join us from Friday 10 July to Sunday 12 July 2015 at Simondium’s Country Lodge. We are pooling all our collective creativity to bring the magazine to life for the weekend; we are also going to ensure that you can buy all your favourite projects featured in the magazine. The creative entrepreneurs whose work you’ve seen and stories you’ve read every month will be taking part too, and you’ll be able to meet the team members and ask them questions. When your feet are tired and you’re feeling peckish, take a break from shopping and enjoy some of the food, wine…

Serving suggestions • Lancewood Medium Fat Cream Cheese is rich and creamy with a velvety texture. Try serving it topped with lightly spiced pears in syrup. Drain a can of baby pears. Halve each one and cut out the core. Heat 30ml butter, 50ml castor sugar, 30ml honey, 15ml water, 2 star anise and 3ml fennel seeds and simmer for 5 minutes or until the mixture starts to thicken. Add in the pears and simmer for another minute. Cool before spooning over the cream cheese. • Use firm and full-flavoured Lancewood Cheddar Cheese or White Cheddar to bake your own cheese straws or savoury crackers, or enjoy it on a cheeseboard with fresh figs or nut brittle. • Lancewood is the market leader* in soft cheese and has a variety…

Difficulty: medium Time needed: two hours You will need 2 x 15cm round cakes • 1 x dome cake • butter icing • fondant in the colour of your choice • rolling pin • cornflour • smoothers • pizza cutter (or sharp craft knife) • measuring tape • ruler • white fondant • CMC (not essential, but does make the fondant easier to work with) • round cutter (or use a small glass or lid) • small fondant flowers (make them or buy them from a baking shop) • sugar pearls or other edible decorations Stack the cakes with the dome shape on top of the other two cakes. Trim the sides so the cakes line up perfectly. Crumb coat, then coat the cake in butter icing, making it as…

Difficulty: average Time needed: two days We used our own paper placemats as the inspiration for this project. The size of the place-mat was perfect and the plate in the photo on the placemat just big enough to use as a ‘charger plate’ for our dog’s bowl. We used 22mm plywood and had it cut to the exact measurements of the placemat. To support the bowl, we cut out a hole where the plate is positioned, about 15mm smaller than the bowl, and we cut a matching hole in the placemat. We then used a router bit to hollow out 10mm around the edge so the bowl fits neatly inside the edge. For the ‘legs’, screw four shelf brackets to the base of the plywood and then fill in the…

Difficulty: easy Time needed: two days Size One size only to fit 2-3 years old You will need • 2 x 50g balls of Elle Family Knit DK in Light Grey shade no. 011 for the main hat and outer ears • 1 x 50g ball of Elle Family Knit DK in Fog shade no. 005 for the inner ears • 3,5mm and 4mm crochet hook • coloured markers • tapestry needle YARN NOTE You can use any DK yarn of your choice in light grey and dark grey. Make sure it is the same quality though as some yarns are thicker than others and the inner ear is designed smaller than the outer ear to fit perfectly. Abbreviations HAT NOTE Work the hat in continuous rnds of htrs, inc…

Difficulty: easy Time: 1 hour We found this ornate birdcage at a vintage market and thought it would be lovely used as an eclectic light fixture. Remove the base or drill a hole through it so you can thread the electric cord through the hole. Attach the light fitting and fasten the cage onto the ceiling. We used four copper hooks to do this. TIP Play around with different sized globes to see which one will be the most effective in the birdcage.…

Italian food writer Carlo Petrini didn’t like what was happening to his country’s culinary heritage in the mid-1980s. Modern supermarkets were popping up, threatening to displace the local grocer, baker and butcher, but it was the planned opening of a McDonald’s outlet in the heart of Rome that most alarmed him. It seemed that a way of life could disappear: the traditional, simple, hearty dishes served at rustic tables in ancient trattorias, pushed aside by a fast-food chain. Carlo’s response was to launch the Slow Food Movement, ‘to counteract fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how food choices affect the rest of the world’. That was in 1989…

Igniting a spark Since I am a university student, the holidays tend to be quite long. During the July school holidays last year, I decided to use my time wisely and so put together a week-long young women’s holiday club. I gathered four schoolgoing girls, just enough to fit into my car, and we started a fabulous week together. The point of the club was to give them a taste of the ‘Ideas magazine woman’. Some of the highlights were baking biscuits and choux-pastry puffs, sewing, and herb gardening. I was so happy with what we all learned, and I hope to have lit a spark in each of their hearts for beautiful and lovely things – the same kind of spark I feel in my heart each time I…

QUICK & EASY Chicken club sandwich Beer and biltong muffins Deep-fried courgettes Asparagus salad Crochet kiddies' hat Old thermos lampshade Vintage cushions Suitcase cat bed Birdcage lampshade Decoupaged wooden bathmat TREAT Of THE MONTH Chocolate and pear pudding Apple crumble Birdcage cake Make over a room Wallpaper a wall TAKE YOUR TIME Seafood paella Pulled pork pie Quiche Lorraine Kleftiko Roasted brinjal salad Sourdough starter Origami shirt menu Vintage eiderdown Crochet blanket Chair dog bed Elevated pet food bowl Papier-mâché pet trophy Animal bookends Sausage-dog cushion facebook.com/ideasmag…

EIDERDOWN Difficulty : medium Time : one day You will need two 163 x 111cm pieces of printed fabric matching coloured thread water-soluble fabric pen 1kg polyester stuffing To make NOTE All seam allowances are 1,5cm. 1 Press a 1,5cm wide hem along the top edges of both panels. Pin the two panels right sides together and sew the side and bottom edges. Turn the cover through to the right side and press. 2 Place the cover on a flat surface and mark five lines, 18cm apart, down the length of the cover. Pin the two layers together and sew the lines to form six pockets. Next, mark seven lines, 20cm apart, across the width of the cover. Push approximately 20g of stuffing down into the bottom end of each…

UNDER A CARDIGAN Dress (R850) from Adam & Eve at Spree. Cardigan (R379) from Zara. Necklace (R575) from Lulu Belle. Stockings (R125) from Falke. Shoes (R139) from Jet. IN SMALL DOSES Thin-knit sweater (R1 299) from Habits. Skirt (R690) from Doreen Southwood at MeMeMe. Hair accessory (R199) from Accessorize. Leather boots (R1 599) from Bronx. WITH BOOTS AND STOCKINGS Make sure your stockings and boots match so that your dress is the focal item. Tunic dress (R759) from Zara. Boots (R749) from Bronx. Red bag (R499) from Accessorize. Ring (R625) from Lulu Belle. Stockings (R69,90) from Woolworths. UNDER A COAT Top (R559) and skirt (R559) from Zara. Coat (R690) from Doreen Southwood at MeMeMe. Stockings (R125) from Falke. Find similar boots at Pick n Pay.…

IN SEASON Make the most of local avocados while they’re in season. Purée 1-2 ripe avos, toss with cooked courgette strips and serve topped with toasted pine nuts and grated Parmesan cheese for a healthy, low-carb dinner. Incorporating avo into your meal is a great way of boosting your daily intake of monounsaturated fats and essential nutrients such as potassium, folic acid and vitamin C – they’re proven to be heart-healthy and effective fighters against ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol. WINE FOR A GOOD CAUSE Rhino Tears wines, from the Mt Vernon Estate in Klapmuts, is raising funds for nature conservation. There’s a Chenin Blanc and an easy drinking red blend. They sell for about R55 and R15 from each bottle sold goes to Unite Against Poaching, for projects in SANParks. Available…

Now make the ‘shirt sleeves’. Fold the right-hand bottom corner outwards to form a triangular flap. Turn the paper over again and fold the two bottom corners inwards to form the ‘shirt collar’. Cut your paper in a rectangle of about 15 x 30cm. Fold the bottom third upwards. Fold the left-hand bottom corner in the same way. Fold the paper in half and press the ‘shoulders’ in under the ‘collar’. Turn the paper over and fold it in half lengthways. Fold it open again and then fold the right and left sides over to the fold line in the middle. Turn the paper over so the sleeves show at the top. Fold the bottom edge upwards to form a small flap. The finished shirt menu should look like this.…

Difficulty: easy Time needed: two days You will need old suitcase fabric for lining fabric for the loose cushion polyester stuffing modge podge craft brush craft knife needlework scissors measuring tape To make 1 Wash the suitcase with a sugar-soap solution and leave to dry. Measure the sections that you want to line with fabric and write the measurements down. 2 Transfer the measurements to the back of your fabric and cut out. We used one type of fabric for the inside of the suitcase and a matching fabric for the inside of the lid. You can add seam allowances before you cut, and either fold them inwards or cut them off afterwards, if you prefer. Fit the fabric and press it. TIP If you are using thick fabric it’s…

Difficulty: average Time: over two days PAPIER-MÂCHÉ GLUE This ‘glue’ is easy and affordable to make, but you can also use a mixture of cold glue and water. You will need 1 litre water 250ml flour table salt To make 1 Heat 750ml of the water in a pot until it boils. 2 Meanwhile, mix the flour with the remaining 250ml water – stir the water slowly to prevent lumps forming. 3 Stir the flour paste into the boiling water – stir continuously so that it does not stick to the bottom. Let this flour mixture boil for a minute until it is properly sticky and then remove it from the heat. 4 Stir a couple of teaspoons of salt into the flour mixture (this will help to prevent mould…

Difficulty: average Time needed: half a day per dog You will need pattern on page 84 2 pieces of contrasting fabric matching coloured thread black embroidery yarn black felt polyester stuffing fabric pen or pencil Using the pattern on page 84, trace all the pattern pieces onto the fabric and cut them out. The round shape for the snout is cut from the felt. Start with the two main body pieces and the stomach pieces and pin one of each together with right sides facing. Sew them together from the back under the tail to the front at the chest. Pin the two stomach pieces together right sides facing. Sew from the chest towards the tail and about 10cm over the back. Turn through to the right side and press.…

The charming old family farmhouse at Clairvaux, Robertson, is a mixture of old and new. Nestled among stately family heirlooms you’ll see a gold buck over here and a rhino rump holding a potplant over there. Because how could Rial Visagie and Daniël Swanepoel resist putting their familiar, playful ceramic stamp on their own home? About 50 metres away is the old storeroom/piggery/tractor shed that is now a modern ceramics studio with a breathtaking view over the valley. This is where a team of workers carefully moulds, sands and glazes Rial’s designs – all according to the schedules and systems worked out by Daniël, who not too long ago was coming up with similar plans to get the fashion ranges of Guess and Nine West, among others, out into the…

It will be seven to 10 days before you can enjoy your first bread baked with your levain, but it’ll be worth the wait. This starter is based on UK food writer Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s recipe in The Guardian. It’s best to use stone-ground flours like those from Eureka Mills or Bio-Wheat. DAY 1 In a large bowl, mix 50g whole-wheat bread flour with 50g white bread flour and about 100ml lukewarm water to make a batter the consistency of thick paint. Beat it well then cover it with plastic wrap and let it rest in a warm place (24-32o C is ideal). DAY 2 Your starter will need regular feeding. Whisk in another 100g of flour and enough water (it no longer needs to be lukewarm) to retain the thick…

Send your letter by email to ideased@media24.com with ‘Ideas/You said it’ in the subject line, or by fax to 021 408 3046. Remember to include your address and telephone number. The writer of this month’s winning letter will receive an Engelsrufer pendant to the value of R1 299. It’s a handcrafted pendant basket with an interchangeable chiming sound ball. The sound balls are available in 16 different colours and each has a special meaning. For your nearest stockist, email engelsrufer@tregerbrands.co.za or go to Engelsrufer South Africa on Facebook.…

Abode 072 261 3540 Accessorize 021 447 7718 Biggie Best 021 534 8662 Bronx 021 590 7000 Builders 0860 2840 533 Chair Crazy 011 791 6512, 021 465 9991 Dot’s Quilts 021 535 1233 Dulux 0860 330 111 Elsje Burger 083 442 1751 Exclusive Books 011 798 0000 Falke 021 951 2137 Gonsenhausers Fine Rugs 021 462 4819 Habits 021 671 7330 Imagenius 021 423 7870 In Good Company 079 041 8927 Jet 0860 113 639 Lulu Belle 012 346 6424, 021 671 5728 Marigold 021 422 5451 Mememe 021 424 0001 Ménagerie 021 446 0685 Mia Melange 076 122 2267 Mr Price Home 031 367 9304 My Wall Tattoos 021 802 4215 Peter Osborn Furniture 021 461 0623 Pick n Pay 0800 11 22 88 Plan B Vintage 082…

OLD AND NEW Arrange old bentwood and vintage-look chairs around a white table and add modern chairs inspired by older shapes. Think outside the box when it comes to lighting and hang an assortment of modern and retro lights for your own take on a chandelier. TABLE OF PATTERNS Forget about uniformity and keep the saying ‘more is more’ in mind when setting your table for a special occasion. Mixing and matching crockery not only makes a table look interesting, it is also a clever way to use sets that have one or two pieces missing. PICK A COLOUR Use one found item to inspire your colour direction. We used bunting as our inspiration for a blue and red themed entrance hall. Don’t forget to throw one or two contrasting…

Difficulty : average Time : half a day You will need • pretty vacuum flask • metal lid (of a jar) • small lampshade • white and silver spray paint (optional) • rice paper • firm cardboard • modge podge • craft brush • epoxy glue • electric drill • light-bulb fitting and bulb • electric cord with switch Make sure that the glass section in the flask is removed or broken away. Also ensure that you can drill a hole in the base of the flask. Remove the stopper from the flask and find a lid of a glass jar that is large enough to be glued on the top of the flask. First make the lampshade: remove the old fabric or covering from the lampshade frame and clean…

SET THE SCENE Gather the family together around a large table and create memories that you will all treasure. Set a country-style informal table with crisp linen and a variety of crockery and cutlery. Bring in lots of weathered wood elements to keep it rustic. Forget about flowers and rather arrange a selection of cheese and fresh fruit on platters in the middle of the table for everyone to nibble on after the meal while they chat away. QUICHE LORRAINE Serves: 8 Preparation time: 45 minutes Baking time: 45 minutes Oven temperature: 180o C 5 sheets of phyllo pastry melted butter, for brushing asparagus salad, to serve(see alongside) Filling 15ml olive oil 150g streaky bacon, chopped 6 small leeks, trimmed 4 large eggs 200ml cream 200ml natural yoghurt 30ml chopped…

Beer adds a rich and earthy flavour to many recipes including breads, stews and even desserts. The flavour of the beer shouldn’t dominate; it should just accentuate the other flavours in your dish. The alcohol will be cooked off, so your children can also tuck into the tasty dishes. For these recipes we have used the ordinary larger, pilsner or stout that is available at your local bottle store, but feel free to experiment with your own home-brewed craft beers for different and exciting flavours. SEAFOOD PAELLA WITH BEER Serves: 4 Preparation time: 40 minutes Cooking time: about 45 minutes few strands of saffron 20ml lemon juice 30ml olive oil 80g chorizo sausage, sliced 1 onion, chopped 3 cloves garlic, crushed 1 punnet cherry tomatoes, roughly chopped 2 bay leaves…

Difficulty: easy Time needed: two hours Take a digital photograph of your pet and print it out on ordinary paper in the desired size so you can get an idea of how it will look. If it is suitable, print the photo out on iron-on transfer paper in the desired size. (You may have to use more than one sheet of transfer paper if you want to use the photo large. Ensure the two pieces fit together perfectly.) Cut out the photo around the outline and iron it in place onto the chair according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Try not to iron the upholstery, especially if the fabric is not able to withstand high temperatures, or cover the upholstery with a piece of fabric to protect it. Finish off your…

Difficulty: above average Time: over two days Size Front section (head): 160 x 180mm Back section (tail): 145 x 100mm You will need dachshund template below 22mm Supawood – three 200 x 210mm pieces for the head – three 200 x 140mm pieces for the tail jigsaw and blade sanding sealer universal undercoat water-based enamel paint in the colour of your choice • water-based varnish • paintbrush, sponge rollers and paint tray • sandpaper (80 grit and 220 grit) • wood glue • wood clamps To make 1 Enlarge and trace the head section of the template to fit onto the three pieces of 200 x 210mm Supawood and the tail section to fit onto the 200 x 140mm pieces. 2 Cut out the head and tail sections. 3 Apply…

MIX AND MATCH There’s something warmly familiar and inviting about objects of the past. Leo Swanepoel from Johannesburg shop Amatuli Artefacts (amatuli.co.za), a collector and trader with 25 years’ experience, says the appeal of vintage lies in the story behind the object. ‘Our shoppers look for something that has a history – an object, a handwoven piece of fabric, or a craftwork that wasn’t mass-produced in a factory.’ Some of us, if we’re lucky enough, inherit our treasures. However, for the rest of us, sometimes the best story about our furniture is the narrative that tells of our great find. But knowing what to look for is key. SEMANTICS There’s a big difference between antique, retro and vintage furniture or homeware, says Cape Town antiques dealer Sue Langerman, who specialises…