I know I have mentioned in a previous post that I cannot do without carbs and thus I would do very badly at Banting*.  But what I didn’t mention is that I have a fabulous Bread recipe. You don’t even need a fancy-smanchy electronical bread maker.

*In short, it is an eating plan that you cut out all carbs and is very popular in South Africa

So for those of you that publicly or even secretly love a fresh slice of bread with melted butter, this is the recipe to start with. It is easy, reasonably quick and tastes divine!!!

This cake is the starting point for my “Sandwich Cake” that I will be sharing in the future. I know, I know…you thinking “What the heck!! This woman had a problem with cake. Now she is even making one like a sandwich!”.  Haha….and you are total correct. So, don’t miss my instalment on it when it comes out!

Back to the bread!!

I have learnt that the trick in making bread. Lots of love and oh, making sure that the dough rises properly.

2 1/2 cups warm water
1 Tbsp. active dry yeast
1 Tbsp. sugar
6-6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup butter, softened

Pour 1/2 cup of the water into a bowl and stir in the yeast and sugar. (If you are going to use an electric mixer, start off in the electric mixer bowl). Let sit for 5 minutes, until it looks foamy.  If the yeast doesn’t do anything, toss it out and buy fresh yeast.

Add the rest of the water and about half of the flour. Stir until well blended. Add the rest of the flour, the salt and butter and stir with the dough hook (or by hand if not using a mixer) until well combined and shaggy. Continue to knead until it’s smooth and elastic. I do it for about  10 minutes with the dough hook. If you are doing it by hand you will have to do it somewhat longer.  If you were using the electric mixer, you will need to turn the dough out onto the counter top and knead a few times to make sure it’s evenly smooth.

Shape it into a ball and put it back into the bowl. Cover with a tea towel and let it sit for 1 – 1 1/2 hours, until it’s doubled in size. Grease the pans that you want to use. I sometimes use loaf pans or as seen on the pictures I have made round breads that do not go into a pan. Once the dough has risen, divide it into the amount of breads you want to make.

 Place the dough into the pans, cover with a tea towel and let it rise for another hour or so. They will rise right out of the pan……ready to be baked.

Preheat the oven to 180°C and put the rack in the middle of the oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the loaves are brown. Immediately turn the loaves out of their pans and onto a rack to cool.

Mmmmm…..just looking at it makes me hungry!!

My boys LOVE eating the fresh hot bread with melted butter on it. It never lasts long enough to go off!

So, go practice so that you are ready for my Sandwich Cake!

When I mentioned the statement above some ladies I was having tea with yesterday (waiting for kids on an outing), one lady said that instead of her making the bread, maybe they should all come over to my house so I can teach them. How insanely clever…..maybe I will have to start some classes in the future. Sharing is caring (and not ONLY Barney the dinosaur says that!!)

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The reason isn’t rocket science! China now produces products at such a low cost that it nearly impossible to compete with them. People are after the next ‘sale’ or ‘good buy’ they can find. Any crafter will know that the time that they spend making their products will never equate to what they can sell it for. It does sadden me that people don’t always see the amount of love and time that is put into handmade products.

So I have been thinking of another way to share my products and skills and in turn help someone else. Bartering!

I know that there are many people that barter successfully all over the world, so….PIK ME, I want to try it!!

Funny when you are thinking of something you land up talking about it to everyone! 

I have managed to have a few discussion about bartering and thus helping people around us in this week! Oh and I would like to claim that I don’t talk much, but I do, so might as well own up to it. I think then to clarify, they have been rather in-depth discussions.

I think it is best to first explain what bartering is:

I have to clear that bartering is not going to make you rich with money but it will make you rich in value. If bartering is done correctly you should be able to meet all your needs and maybe some more. I also don’t think that bartering is just about us getting what we want, but enriching and helping other people who do not have monitory means to obtain goods. Please note that I am not discouraging “giving” as I believe this is a vital part of what our purpose is, but I do love that we are able to empower people to use their abilities to obtain goods. 

Bartering has become a way to trade for people in countries whose money systems are failing, such as Zimbabwe. You are able to get goods and services which you would never get by using the money you have. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to not think of money and just barter what you have for what you need. One of the problems is that we have ascribed a value to what we have to barter with and thus will not barter without the value being met. 

I am pretty sure that we wouldn’t be able to barter and survive outside our economic system, but I am sure there must be a space for bartering creatively for goods and services where I am. Would that allow me to cut out the “middle man” and receive some services/products without the extra mark-up? Would that allow the person with a creative skill to make and barter with a product for something else they can’t afford with money?

The one limitation of bartering is that you need to find someone that has what you want and is prepared to barter with it. And so “bartering websites” and “facebook community sites” are born. I am currently part of a community site that offers “swopping” as one of the trades but I see very little of that happening. Can we trade in a society that just “wants, wants, wants” and is driven by how much they can get for a buck? How do you put a value on your product you want to barter? Can you trust the other barter???

I think we can barter successfully, if we can all get on the same page. It is not about making anybody rich, but fulfilling needs and maybe some wants…helping people that might only have a skill to barter with.

Do you have something that I want? Would you like to barter? I am hoping that I will be able to write another post someday of some successful bartering that I have done.

Get your creative juices flowing and find someone that wants to trade with you….how much richer our lives can be when we look for ways to enrich others and not just ourselves.

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Before I begin I would like to clarify that this post is full of carbohydrates and no Tim Noakes! I don’t do Banting as my Greek genes overwhelm every thought of cutting carbs from my eating plan. I do think my jeans might benefit from me banting, but in the same breath – I do not think it will ever happen!

So while everyone else is busy banting I am busy bunting! I am not a serial Bunter, but I Bunt when I need to.

NOTE: I am pretty sure these are not real words, but as “bootilicious” can make it into the dictionary maybe “bunter” can as well.

I love the look of bunting hanging beautifully from the ceilings and walls to decorate a special occasion, or for that matter any occasion. However my first introduction to bunting was far from the pretty that we all know now. About 15 years ago when I started working at an Incentive Travel company the only bunting that was around was the ones that you could find on a cruise ship and the ones you had to make for your client with their company logo all over them (not so pretty). Thankfully a creative brain can change something not so pretty into something really pretty! Bunting can be made of any material you wish/like and in any shape you like. I love the traditional triangle bunting and have a few new materials I want to try and make bunting out of as soon as I have time (interpretation: It is going on my long list of  “want to do’s”) and hopefully I will be able to show something on my blog when it is done one day.

I have had a number of parties that I have done that I have used bunting for decorations. I thought I would share how to make some easy-peasy paper bunting

You will need:

• A stencil of your bunting shape(will explain how to make one below)
• Sheets of different coloured paper
• Scissors
• Glue stick
• String

For the stencil: Cut out of hard cardboard the shape (triangle, circle, square) you would like your bunting to be. This will be your “master” and you can keep it for all future bunting.

How to make it:

1. Lay the paper out on a flat surface with the front to the bottom. If you have very thin paper you can even layer your paper on top of each other.
2. Mark your triangles with a pencil. Try to get as many triangles in next to each other in order not to waste paper.
3. Cut the triangles out with a sharp scissors.
4. Once you have all your triangles you can start to paste them onto the string.Your length will be determined by how much string you are using.

How to make bunting

Tips:

• If you are measuring a space to put the bunting up, take into account that bunting hangs. You will thus need to make your string at least half to three-quarters longer than your measured space.
• Vary your patterns and even the colours of your paper to create interesting bunting
• Eat at least one piece of carbohydrates whilst doing your bunting ….preferably a piece of cake

When you have your next party and wonder how to quickly do up the room….BUNT!!!

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Two very importing things to know about crochet:

1. Crocheting is not just for grannies 
2. All people that crochet do not make doilies

I LOVE CROCHETING!!! Yes, I do! But (yip, the big fat BUT again), I don’t like ALL crocheted articles, which lead me on the great search of what exactly I wanted to and would love to crochet. That does not make me appreciate the effort that goes into any hand made items any less, which is something I would like to devote a whole other post to in the future. 

OK, so before I continue with my story, I would like to clear something up. Some people struggle to pronounce the word, so in order to avoid embarrassment when reading my blog out loud, I would suggest a few practise session with the words below

Crochet: kroh-shey NOT kroh-shit

Crocheting:  kroh-shey-ing NOT kroh-shit-ing

My crochet-story only started around 2 years ago. My sister had started knitting again and I was itching to start a new craft. I loved what my sister was doing but I just don’t like to knit, so I decided to try my hand at crocheting (see how much better it feels pronouncing it correctly!). So I turned to my ultra-creative mom for help! My mom has been crocheting and knitting the most amazing articles of clothing, blankets and creative things as long as I can remember.

The first time holding a needle was just weird! My fingers felt spastic and I couldn’t see any of my stitches clearly. After a quick training session with my mom I started making squares. Lots and lots and lots of them.  After months of starting and stopping and making loads of squared I started getting better. Seriously…..practice makes perfect! As I ventured into learning new stitches the wonderful world of YouTubing became my friend. Remember : The more you crochet, the better you will become.

Some of my squares I made while practicing

I made some blankets and beanies etc. but realised after many hours on pintrest and with my needle in my hand that my real love was for Amigurumi done in 100% cotton.

Amigurumi are typically animals, but can include artistic renderings or inanimate objects endowed with anthropomorphic features, as is typical in Japanese culture.

Below are some of the amigurumi I have made. My signature is my giraffe. After seeing a picture of one and unable to find a pattern I liked, I wrote my own pattern for it. I have made this giraffe in many different colours, stripes and spots and even one with a heart on the bum. Giraffe is now fondly known in our house as “Zippidy Zap” (named by my youngest as he also has one).

The thing about my crochet work that makes me the happiest is that I can share it with other people! 

So, if you want to try something new, why not Crochet??

Find what makes you happy and start creating!

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So I will start my first post by introducing myself to you.

My name is Miranda and I live in beautiful Cape Town, South Africa. I come from a family that is not only creative but industrious!  I have a good mixture of my parents and with that comes the “I am sure I can do that” attitude. Sometimes good and sometimes frustrating! I love to try new things and I want to become good at it. I have had a few great Pintrest moments and probably an equal amount of NON-Pintrest moments!

I told my mom a number of years ago that I wish I was more creative (as with no background training as a designer it made me feel like I was less creative). BUT my wonderful mom told me that the only way you can become more creative is to work at your craft. I decided to tackle anything and everything that might bring out my creative juices.

An important lesson for me in becoming creative has been that everyone has different taste and think different things are beautiful. So, when you are making/creating things from YOUR imagination or coming up with new ideas to create new things, YOU are creative!!

There are many projects lying ready (and have been for a few years now) as my list seems to get longer every day. One of my projects has been creating this website from scratch and teaching myself more coding to be able to get it to do what I want. So you might see the site change slightly over time as I think there is always room for improvement.

The aim of the blog is to share my journey into ‘becoming more creative’….so here it goes!

When I see something new, that little voice inside me keeps on saying….

“PIK ME…..I also want to try it!”

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