COOL STUFF Archives - Page 2 of 192

Joburg Textured Buttercream Workshop round two

July 9, 2018

A little while back I attended Sweet Lion Hearts first Joburg Textured Buttercream Workshop where I learnt how to create one of their amazing textured cakes using all sorts of clours and very specific icing techniques.

I was so excited to attend this workshop because it is literally right up my baking alley and I have to say I was not disappointed. I loved every second of it, including the part where I was recklessly flinging icing onto my cake, which I missed a few times but I don’t think anyone other than Adi saw so we were all good.

After the course, I came home armed with a few new interesting baking tips, a recipe and method for a damn good batch of buttercream and a brand new skill to create glorious edible cakes like this one that I made. I also learnt how to mould a flamboyant chocolate cake topper that I landed up eating before I put on my cake (I was the only one). Sigh.

It was awesome crafting and layering this spongy little guy and at the end of it I was almost a little sad to cut into it, but I got over that emotion pretty fast when my coffee was ready to be had with a slice. it was delicious by the way.

COOL STUFF

Vote4Charity

June 12, 2018

Over the last few months, I have shared a few great projects on my blog that MySchool is involved in that are not only really awesome but have also really made a difference to the organisations that they stand behind. They have an array of worthy causes that they support and love and that they help their customers get behind them just by simply swiping their MySchool cards instore.

On my blog, I have spoken about the Shine Literacy Project that they endorse which is an amazing organisation that has been around for 17 years and assists with South Africa’s high stats around poor reading and comprehension. I have also spoken about the great volunteer project where MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet has partnered up with a Johannesburg-based non-profit organisation called (NPO) Better SA and their very innovative and super awesome hop-on hop-off mini-bus volunteer service, which literally arranges everything for you, making donating some of your time to those in need the easiest task around.

COOL STUFF, places to go

Made By Jewellery

June 6, 2018

You know when you’re sitting at home on the couch thinking, I wish I could do something that I’ve never done before just so I can try it out and see if it’s something that I like? It’s so cool doing things that are out of your comfort zone, things that challenge your creativity in a way that is so different to what you do in your everyday life.

I love making things with my hands, I always have ever since I was a little kid. In fact, I still have a few pieces of pottery I lovingly carved and moulded for my parents when I was in Primary School, granted I can’t tell what one or two of the items are supposed to be, so I’ll just say that I have an awesome collection of ashtrays and…paperweights. That’s the best part about pottery I guess when in doubt about a piece, it can always just be a paperweight.

A little while ago a couple of my friends, Henriette Botha and Nikki Sherman, who have started their own very pretty jewellery line called Made By started hosting an array of Ring Carving Workshops at various venues in and around Joburg and I thought it would be cool to try my hand at ring making. I thought I wear rings, I like rings and who knows maybe I’ll land up making something that becomes a family heirloom one day.

COOL STUFF

Simba Sleep Mattress

May 23, 2018

I love my bed! I love it because I know that no matter what at the end of the day it’s going to be there for me with no complaints, no requests, no long tales about how the guy at the grocery store who took so long to exchange a low-fat milk for full cream. Yes, I know that mattresses can’t talk, all I’m trying to say is that your mattress is kind of like a silent best friend that is always there for you no matter what.

So this post is going to be a bit out of the ordinary for me because it’s all about a brand new mattress brand called Simba Sleep that has been bought into South Africa by Takealot and that comes delivered to your front door literally in a box. Yip, in a full-on box which you then open up, take out and watch unroll, as if like magic into a fully fledged dual spring, memory foam mattress that has a combination of 2,500 conical pocket springs! It was pretty amazing watching this mattress come to life and go from really thin to literally a full on 5-layer sleep-inducing machine.

COOL STUFF, Travel & Restaurants

Joburg Textured Buttercream Workshop

May 17, 2018

Let’s talk about cakes and how super amazing some people can make them look with some imagination and a skilful flick of a pallet knife or two. Now I have never been one to overdecorate my cakes, but it’s because I’m not 100% sure how to do certain techniques, plus half the time I’ve eaten way too much of the icing and I don’t have enough to go from ‘nicely iced’ to ‘grand extravagancer’. I really need to work on some self-constraint, maybe I’ll make that a 2019 resolution. Maybe.

I always see these beautifully decorated cakes on Instagram and think, I’m sure I can do that if someone just showed me how slash slapped my mouth every time it went anywhere near the icing bowl. A perfect example of the types of cakes I’m talking about are the ones the amazing ladies from Sweet Lion Heart put out. I think if I lived in Cape Town I’d properly stalk them. Goodness me their cakes are always so pretty, they’re like works of art that you can eat with a fork or your hands.

COOL STUFF

Clothing swap and good times

May 16, 2018

Quick question, have any of you ever bought something for yourself or your kids and only worn it once or not at all?! I’m 100% guilty of doing this all the time and with my kids, it’s the age-old problem of them growing out of things really quickly. I’m always thinking to myself – Oh no this is way too nice to wear to Kindergarten, but then before I know it it’s two sizes too small and been worn once to a second cousin’s birthday party! When it comes to my stuff I’m also often guilty of buying something that I will convince myself in the shop that I’m going to wear, but then three months later it’s still hanging in my cupboard wishing it could see the light of day one last time. I think half my wardrobe may be made up of pieces like this. Sigh.

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