Exploring Jozi- Melville's New 27 Boxes

This morning we explored the newly opened 27Boxes in Melville, a unique shopping centre which replaced an old abandoned park with shops made up almost entirely of shipping containers.

If the thought of shipping containers makes you picture dark and dingy, think again, while it is of course very hipster (as expected for the very Bohemian Melville area), this development is also very chic and trendy. It is surprisingly light, airy and colourful inside, contrary to expectations.

The development has a good mix of stores, ranging from designer clothing, jewellery and homeware to flowers, candles and art pieces. Oh and there is food, lots of food, from quirky takeaway stores, deli's and coffee shops to quaint little patisseries and a home-made ice-cream store. This is a foodie's dream. As expected, there are also stores that cater for those seeking food of the organic, green variety.The sweet aroma of coffee, waffles, macaroons, cronuts and cupcakes wafting through the air made me wish that I was not fasting today. 

My two favourite stores were a baby store upstairs, which had very cute little formal outfits for boys (something that is hard to find) and Krag Drag, an eclectic store downstairs with funny t-shirts and all sorts of proudly South African ware. I loved the Marie biscuit scatter cushions and Black Cat peanut butter chairs.

There is an outdoor area with an amphitheater which will apparently be used for live performances. There is also a little play area above the amphitheater, which was a bit on the sad side but looked like they were still busy working on it.

A couple of minor complaints- the centre is not particularly wheelchair or pram friendly, I had to leave the pram behind in the basement parking lot (which is made of brick and concrete by the way) to navigate the steep staircases up to the shopping levels. I am happy to see parking in the area though- we often frequent Bambanani just across the road and I always battled to find parking on the road.

Also, most of the shops are a bit on the pricey side, but I guess this is to be expected given their bespoke offerings.

It seems like work was still being done in some areas so it will be interesting to see what things are like when everything is done. One thing is for sure, this is nothing like your typical Johannesburg shopping center. 

Where to find it: 4th Avenue, Melville (aka the famous '7de Laan').

(Disclaimer: this is NOT a sponsored post and I am in no way affiliated with 27Boxes.)

Quick Kids Art Using Recycled Waste Products

Noodle always likes to do something arty when she is home with me and Squish is napping.

Here are some of the things we have been up to lately. These are all quick and easy and primarily use waste materials which otherwise would have been discarded.

COUTURE FOIL HAT AND BANGLE

The bangles are literally just scrunched up foil.

The hat is lined with a re-used disposable plastic bowl, which gives it the firm shape. The flower is cut out from a cardboard tray.

EGGTRAY FLOWER

This is so easy that Noodle was able to do this on her own with a bit of supervision.

1.Cut out four 'egg holes' from the egg tray (with a bit extra cut out from in between to create the petal shape).

2. Tape a straw at the back as the stem. (We twisted a green pipe cleaner around the straw but you could use a green straw or paint the straw green).

3. Paint the flower as desired. 

FINGER PUPPETS

These ones came pre-cut in a craft set, but could just as easily be made with off-cuts of felt, stiff cardboard to line with (toilet rolls or foil inners will work well), some glue and a few googly eyes.

Easy No-sew T-shirt Bags

I am sure many of us have old t-shirts that no longer get used and this is a fantastic way to give them a new lease on life.

I am not particularly handy with a sewing machine, but that is not a problem as these t-shirt bags do not require a single stitch. They are washable and eco-friendly. Best of all, they can be made in five minutes or less.

This particular bag is made out of one of Noodle's old dresses that she had outgrown,(one made out of stretchy t-shirt material),but you can use any old t-shirt (or tank top). They can even be made out of old pillowcases, although these will not have the same stretchy effect.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Using a sharp scissors, cut a wide opening at the neck (for the top of the bag, so make it as wide as you would like the opening on top to be). I skipped this step for this bag as the dress had a large neckline already and I thought the red piping detail would add to the aesthetic appeal.

Chop the sleeves off to create handles. Then cut lots of vertical slits all along the bottom, to create tassels about 3 to 5 centimeters long (you can make the tassels chunky or skinny, depending on the look you are going for). Cut the front and the bag simultaneously so that the slits line up.

Then all you do is tie knots all the way along the bag, tying each tassle to the one immediately behind it. You can make a double or triple knot for extra strength and durability. That's it- you're done!

We hung this one on a hanger and use it as a sock holder for Noodle's socks, but they also work well as shopping bags (a larger men's top will work well for this) or as holders for pegs, toilet rolls, toys, or anything else you might fancy.

No Sew T-shirt bag

Tassles tied together at the bottom of the bag

Stretching the Imagination with Loombands- Playing and Upcycling

Remember how a few months ago these colourful bits of elastic were everywhere you looked? My pre-teen nieces and nephews have alerted me to the fact that the loomband fad has officially passed. Nobody has let my four-year-old Noodle know this though and she still loves them. Truth be told, I encourage it as I think they are great for building fine motor skills in younger children. Also, the shops all have them at a steal at the moment.

When Noodle first brought them home, I needed to watch a couple of Youtube vidoes to figure out the basics, since the Chinglish instructions were a bit confusing. Once we got into it, they get rather addictive. We stuck to the basics with Noodle but I have also made one or two of the fancier braided ones for her myself (with her helping by sorting colours for me). We have stuck to straightforward bracelets, rings and pencil grips but the possibilities are endless.

Loomband bracelets made by Noodle and I

loombands

The real dilemma at hand... what to do with all these space occupying gremlins once the kids no longer play with them? Now that they are not exactly trending anymore, I am sure there are many households with a surplus of these rainbow monstrosities.  Apparently they are not made of a material that cannot be recycled so once the little have discarded them, re-purposing them is the way to go for green families.

Some upcycling ideas for loombands:

• They work well as hair ties for fine braided hairstyles (or use a chain of them for larger braids or as a headband).
•  They can be used to tie stacks of banknotes, business cards etc.
• They can be used as ties for small plastic packets or in lunchboxes to hold cutlery together.
•  I have not tried this yet, but would like to try using it to make a squishy toddler bump friendly tablet case.
• Cut them up and use for cut and paste art activities on cardboard (black for hair, green for grass etc).
• Remember that game we played way back in the day? England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales? The one where you jump in and out of elastic bands? I have seen it has made a comeback with the older kids in the family and that they have made one extra long round loomband rope for this purpose. They also use the rope for skipping, limbo games and the list goes on.