Postcards from South Africa

Everyone digs receiving some snail-mail or a beautiful postcard in the 'ol postbox. It rebels against the monotony of the white business bill-containing envelopes and feels less clinical than a typed e-mail. 

An African girl washes clothes in the doorway of her shack (informal settlement) in Cape Town, South Africa.
So beautifully colourful.

Since discovering these amazing postcards at Buccaneer Backpacker's giftshop (made by quivertreeimages), I've started up a little collection to send to friends and family. These are the ones that remain and are ready for stamping and sending :)

African 'tata' (old man) and 'makoti' (young, married woman) in rondavels (huts), Eastern Cape, South Africa

Living in the Eastern Cape, immersed in a community of rondavels and the amaXhosa, my faith has been restored in knowing the beauty of rural Africa still exists. These postcards capture the traditional culture of Africans; with the mud-plastered walls and dung-covered floors, as well as the emerging Afro-pop style of bright coloured clothing and recycled bold logo prints used as wallpaper for shack decor.

Interior of a shack decorated with bright pink Husky dog food tin labels in Cape Town, South Africa
and a 'gogo' (grandmother) poses inside her rondavel (hut), Eastern Cape, South Africa

If you want to check out a few more beautiful images of African landscapes, homesteads and our people, go here.

A sangoma (traditional healer), Eastern Cape, South Africa

South African Crafts: The Wallet

You will need:
1 x empty carton (1L)
1 x roll of insulation tape
Stapler
Scissors
1 x set of metal buttons (available at craft/sewing shops)

Step 1: Find a carton with an awesome, bold, colourful design. Consume. Clean. Dry. 

Step 2: Carefully take apart at the seams. Cut off bottom and top tabs.

The awesome African brand designs are awesome

Step 3: Cut away 9 cm (narrow cartons)/ 7cm (normal/squarish cartons) off the top of the three panels. The last panel will become the overlap to form the clutch/lid for the wallet.

Step 4: The 1st and 3rd panel will become the sides of the wallet (looks like an accordion). This is perfect because it's usually those panels that have the ugly nutritional info table and stuff. If your carton is narrow, make 3 folds (see image) in each panel, so that you can open the wallet wide and have more space. If it's more of a normal/squarish carton (think long-life milk size), then only make one fold (inward) in those two panels.

The template for the South African wallet

Step 5: Round the edges of the tab that will become the wallet lid flap.

Step 6: Line all the edges with insulation tape and fold over. Please pick a colour that compliments the design.

Insulation tape for the edges of the wallet

Step 7: Fold the panels to make the wallet. Join the edges of the 1st and 4th panels by adding an extra strip of insulation tape to the inside and outside of that edge.

Step 8: Fold wallet in half. Staple the two compartments together with two staples in the centre.

Easy peasy japaneasy

Step 9: Fold over top flap and hold closed. Use a pin to push through the centre of the top flap where you want the metal button to go. Make sure it penetrates the top flap and the first compartment (giving enough leeway so that the wallet will be able to close even if it's full of coins) so to serve as a guide of where to place the studs. If the flap isn't long enough to fold over the front a decent amount, cut away a bit more at the top (step 3) and re-insulate. Remove pin.

Step 10: Place the tiny bits of the metal button on the first compartment. Lightly bash them together against a hard surface so that they are fastened. Do the same for the flap.

Done! Well done!

The South African wallet. Bananas not included.

South-African Art Decor: Part 2

The inspiration for our home's latest addition is the doodler's original canvas; the school desk. Etchings from the end of the compass point, Tippex-ed tags, ball-point pen profanity and concealed crib notes; it's the school-desk's initiation into the classroom. But the contrast of the rich kid's white correction fluid, a prized possession in government schools, on withered raw wood somehow made it proudly South African to me. And ugly. Hopefully this one looks a little more tastefully done though...

The school desk graffiti coffee table

I chose the Coca-cola logo because it's another bold logo and has the perfect typography for the school-cursive style.

If you want to add this cool effect to your coffee table, here's how I did it:

Step 1: Find a wooden table. This one wasn't mine but I've called dibs on it (which counts).

Step 2: Sand the entire table until surface is even and wood's grain is exposed (no old varnish or enamel paint should remain). Use rough/ heavyduty sandpaper. Using a sanding block helps.

Sanded wooden coffee table

Step 3: Dust the wood surface with a paintbrush to ensure it's clean.

Brush dust off table after sanding

Step 4: Download a design/logo that you like. "Borrow" someone's data-projector to project it onto the table. NB: Ensure it's perfectly centered!

Stencil Coca-cola logo using data-projector

Step 5: Use a black ball-point pen to outline the design.

Step 6: Colour-in the lines using white acryllic paint (water it down to create a white-wash effect) using a fine brush. Paint 2 coats. NB: Clean brush with water (not turpentine).

Tah-dah!

Step 7: Once dried, lastly add one coat of varnish with a wide brush. If varnish is too thick, thin it by adding 1 part turpentine to 10 parts varnish.  I suggest you only use one coat to avoid it looking too glossy. Clean brush in turpentine.

Oh, and if you're wondering where we got those awesome scatter cushions (in first pic) - Mr Price Home has an awesome 'Home-brewed' range.

South-African Art Decor: Part 1

I love South-African pop art. No, not the recently gasp-worthy piece of art of our president. 

Can't believe how big I needed to make that star...

But the art mostly characterized by the use of classic branding and the bright colours in our bold and simple logos of South-African products:

Classic

Eeeeek! How cool?!

Yay

And, well, everyone loves Tata Madiba's face and beautiful African prints.

So my housemate and I have decided to experiment. To Do-It-Ourselves (yes, we're on a budget) and create a South African pop art themed lounge. So we've started with our bare walls (and it all cost less than 40 bucks and half an hour): 

Step 1: Steal broken signs off an abandoned building in a near-by town (with the assistance of a security guard in true South African style).
Step 2: NB! Compose the arrangement before sticking.

Step 3: Use a wetwipe to clean and dry front and back.
Step 4: Use double-sided tape to line the perimeter of the border (about 5 centimeters from edge).
Step 5: Stick.

 Tah-dah!