Tag: in these stilettos

The Ultimate Festive List Of Entertainment Ideas For Family’s in Gauteng

The Ultimate Festive List Of Entertainment Ideas For Family’s in Gauteng

Posted on by Rebecca

You can see it on the horizon, the December holidays are right around the corner and you are dying for some quality time to spend as a family. By day 5 however, you are all ready to rip each other’s hair out and you desperately need some external stimulation for the kids. Sounds familiar right?

If you are looking for activities to do at home with the kids, have a look at my “Activities for Kids” tab on the website. I have endless activities and ideas to entertain your kids (these are focused on preschool years as that’s what I know).

For a full list of my favourite places to take kids (of all ages), have a look at my Keeping Kids Entertained in Joburg Article.

Now onto December specific events and places:

Festive themed events

Christmas Fairytale Festival 

Saturday 1st December

Into the forest venue is a firm favourite and they have various events running throughout December.

Come for a family day out and tip-toe through the magical Faerie Trail, twinkling with little Christmas lights. Fairies, elves, pixies and Tinkerbell & Peter Pan shall be there as well as a very special visit from Santa Claus !

Garden of Lights – Emperors Palace

30 November 2018 – 2 January 2019
Open daily from 19h00 – 22h00

Gautengs’ biggest Christmas festive celebration is back! Garden of Lights is an epic celebration of all things Christmas. It’s a winter wonderland, light extravaganza and yuletide adventure all rolled into one and its jam packed filled with adventure for kiddies! This is a must see!

Christmas Festival With The Lipizzaners

Every weekend from the 9th December through to the 22nd.

Held at the Lipizzaner Centre in Kyalami, these beautiful “dancing” horses are historic in Joburg. A wonderful outing for the whole family, this is a magical morning.

Christmas Village at Montecasino

Wednesday the 12-17 December 2018

There’s a R10 Entry Fee (which is donated to 94.7’s Christmas Wish List), Kids under 12 free.

Montecasino’s 5th annual Christmas Village will once again transform our Outdoor Piazza into a magical European-style Christmas market. Kids can enjoy the twinkling lights and movies on a big screen whilst you browse through over 60 vendors!

Walter Sisulu Picnic & Market under the stars

Saturday December 15 at 5pm

Pack a picnic blanket and basket or just come support out local vendors that will be ready to quench your thirst and fill that stomach with delicious foods for every taste

Fourways Farmers Market

They have two Christmas Night markets set up from the 7-8th December and again on the 14th-15th.

Shows

If your in the mood for something a little more cultural, why not take in one of Joburg’s holiday shows?

Cinderella – The Ballet

Whats Christmas without a little ballet? The Joburg Ballet brings you this family favourite at Monte Casino from 14 December through to Sunday the 23rd December.

This is one that’s definitely on my wish list!

Billions of Bubbles Show –  Times Square South Africa

From December 20th To January 7, International sensation and bubble scientist, Fan Yang, brings his world-renowned bubble show to South Africa for the very first time and will literally blow you away!

My boys are so excited for this one . Bring the whole family to watch this breathtakingly beautiful bubble magic show!  The show involves spectacular displays of lights, lasers, smoke and bubbles thousands of tiny bubbles and enormous ones, bubbles within bubbles, as well as bouncing, floating and mega bubbles.

Janice Honeymans magical Pantomime

Running until December 23rd join Joburg Theatre and Bernard Jay as they present Janice Honeyman’s Snow White, The Fairest Panto in All The Land !

National Children’s Theatre presents Gogga’s

Running from 6 November – 23 December 2018.

A family musical that will delight both children and adults alike. Its a feel good story of friendship and responsibility. For bookings call the theatre on 011 484 1584 or bookings@nctt.org.za

Mall Entertainment 

I know everyone always makes fun of Jo-burgers and their love of malls, but seriously, there are some epic line ups this festive season.

Silverstar Casino (yes I know, its not technically a mall) is hosting its annual beach festival.

Thursday, 13 December 2018 to Sunday, 6 January 2019.

Day time activities for kids include:

  • Sand castle building competitions
  • Tug of war competitions
  • Hoola hoop competitions
  • Ice-cream eating competitions
  • Inflatable waterslide
  • Face painting
  • Beach volleyball

Cradlestone Mall

Running from 12 December 2018 to 06 January 2019.

This December, Cradlestone Mall will be bringing youngsters plenty of wild, fun and thrilling themed holiday activities to keep the boredom at bay. Their holiday fun programme will be available throughout the mall along with a jungle playground.

Mall of Africa

From the 8th to the 23rd December

Mall of Africa is hosting their ever popular Beach activation again this year. My boys had a blast last year on the gigantic inflatable slides, sandpit, peddle push boats and so much more. Take your hats and sunscreen and enjoy a family day out!

They also have the EPIC Pop-up Kit Kat special edition store, a must visit for every chocolate lover. This runs until the 22nd of December.

Family days out

Gautrain and Pretoria Zoo have coupled together with a great promotion.

Ride the Gautrain to Pretoria Station between the 14th and 28 December, collect a wristband from a promoter available at the Pretoria Station and receive free entrance into the Zoo.

Over this period there are a number of activities available including a market in the picnic area, A gaming area at the Flamingo restaurants as well as Bakwena Day Spa treatments at the top of the cable car. Complimentary cable car rides granted to all Gautrain passengers.

National Military Museum

OK, it may not take a whole day out but when paired with the Joburg next door it can be! This is one of our favourite places to take the boys and it doesn’t cost a fortune. The history is incredible and the kids will love playing on the old plane and jeep in the play area.

Gold Reef City

Still one of Joburg’s top family attractions. 16 thrill rides, 14 dedicated rides for the kiddies, Jump City Trampoline Park, there’s fun for all ages here!

Hartbeespoort Dam

Opportunities are endless here. Whether it’s a trip up the cable way, sipping coffee in “Paris”, to feeding an elephant it really is a jam-packed day out.

This year I’m targeting the Strawberry farm, and picking season is officially open. A great option throughout December! The fields usually open at 8:00 a.m. and close at 4 p.m.

Sun City

Always a life saver when it comes to holidays and close enough to go for the day. Spend the day at the Valley of the waves or book in overnight. There are a whole range of kids activities from mini golf to a bird park and steam train rides.

Animal related

Lets face it, these are particularly popular with little kids and toddlers. They’ll be delighted to be given a chance to touch and feed the rabbits, goats, chickens, ducks and more. Be sure to take some animal feed with or you may purchase at the venue as well. For a full comprehensive list check out our favourite activities to do in Joburg.

Bird Garden – Monte Casino 

We have been going here since the boys were small. The only bird park of its kind in Africa and perfect for all ages! Take a stroll through the gardens and aviary and see a wide variety of bird life, reptiles, and other exotic animals. It also has a café and a cute kids play area.

Crazy Kids Farmyard
A diamond in the middle of a bustling city. Crazy Kids has also recently had a bit of a refresh with some new animals (including another pony and a friendly pig). It is literally smack bang in the middle of a residential area in Randburg. It has a huge variety of play equipment for kids, a ton of bikes to ride around and an epic sandpit. This is a winner, everyday of the week.

The Johannesburg Zoo

A timeless classic and always good for a family day out. They offer day and night tours, children’s farmyard, tractor rides, kids party venue, school tours and more

Old MacDonald’s Farm Yard (The Fat Olive Restaurant)
This is a true hidden gem. Home to the Fat Olive restaurant and a Beach bar, Old MacDonald’s has free roaming Zebras, geese, duck and a whole mini farmyard for kids to feed/interact with. Hop on a Canoe and row around the lake with the kids.
Holds a nice variety of crocodiles, predator birds and of course lions/ leopards – though I do feel for the bigger cats as their enclosures are very, very small.
Crocodile City
Crocodile & Reptile Park where the visitors interact with a variety of reptiles. The boys got an educational talk on crocs, on how thick their skin is and got to hold and observe their eggs. They also house a number of reptiles and much to my horror my boys lined up to hold the snakes. When you are done why not zipline over the crocs?
Originally started off as an Indigenous tree farm, Willow Feather now hosts a nursery, tea garden and awesome Farmyard for kids. They have a number of interactive activities for kids and the number of animals in the Farmyard is exceptional. Alpacas, pigs, bunnies, cows. Kids can get up close and personal to the animals and of course participate in feeding. There’s also a wonderful kiddies play area to keep little ones busy while mums’ can enjoy hot tea and scones.
Joburgs’ nearest”far away” place. The Rhino and Lion Park is a fantastic family day out. Take a “safari” through the nature reserve (Its actually a proper reserve unlike some other lion parks in the area), try and spot their newest baby Rhino or visit the baby cubs at the breeding center. Enjoy a leisurely lunch at the Thatch Cafe while the kids ride up a storm on their incredible bike track. End your day with the ever popular feeding of giraffes for some special family memories.
Shew have I given you enough idea’s? I hope this list provides you with some inspiration. There are a whole lots more places featured in my keeping kids entertained article such as Roll Egoli, Acrobranch and Bounce, so be sure to check that too.
Happy Holidays!
Party Inspiration – Racing Theme

Party Inspiration – Racing Theme

Posted on by Rebecca

What do you do when your 5 year old insists he wants yet another “racing themed party” for his birthday? You get creative with colours 🙂

A’s theme last year was F1GP and this year he decided to he wanted another racing themed MotoGP party, despite my best efforts to try and convince our little speed freak to have an “arty party”. Determined not to have your traditional “black and white checks” yet again I was desperate to put a swing on an old theme.

Our favourite junior traffic center was chosen by the birthday boy yet again as his venue of choice, and the fabulous thing for Johannesburg mums to know is that its free! It does require pre-booking and a little more effort with elbow greece and set up, but so worth it!

Bright yellow and red were decided as the base tones, with a deep blue being brought into accent colours to represent his beloved “Vinalez”.

For the backboard I picked up a piece of super wood from my local DIY store along with my favourite Dala Paints in the preferred colours. Two licks of paint brought sunshine into an otherwise dull theme.

I spray painted some cheap bikes that I found at China Mall and recycled some old silver trophies that we had left over from Yusuf’s Golf themed party as well as small wooden letters with the birthday boys’ name.

Sugar and Paper Parties came to my rescue yet again and saved this mama a whole lot of stress by making the birthday boys’s incredible cake and well as the most adorable sugar cookies. We decided to deviate from the “fondant” style (lets me honest, as pretty as it looks, who actually eats fondant?) and the cake was a gorgeous “charcoal” coloured buttercream topped with the most fantastic Vinalez sugar cookie!

The one nice thing about the racing theme is the food is always so much fun to make! Traffic light brownies proved a hit again and were served alongside spare tire doughnuts, Stop and Go coloured Veggies and Margherita Pizza Wheels.

Finally for the party bags, trying to limit the number of sweets, I made up some homemade playdough (it’s such a simple recipe) in traffic light colours, with a little motorbike that my friend Liezl stumbled across and a chocolate racing medal. I completely underestimated the effort that was required to roll out 81 balls of playdough (I may not attempt it again haha). The bags themselves were plain black gift bags yet again with some white road lines drawn on with Tip-ex. They were not perfect, in any way, but hey, nor are South Africa’s roads 🙂

There you have it, a little bit of a twist on the conventional black and white themed racing party. I hope it provided you with a bit of inspiration for your next party! Once again a huge thank you to my amazing friends and family. Meg, Liezl, Medi, Mum and Halima for all your help and organization x It takes a village ! 🙂

Happy planning!

How To Make Frozen Oobleck

How To Make Frozen Oobleck

Posted on by Rebecca

Hot Summer days are the perfect excuse to be outside with messy play. Frozen oobleck is such a perfect activity for this and it literally doubles the fun and play time of normal oobleck. “Oobleck” is just a fancy term for good old cornflour and water and with the help of some silicon moulds this is one super fun activities and absolutely safe for younger babies and toddlers to experiment with.

You’ll Need:

  • cornstarch
  • water
  • liquid watercolors or food coloring (optional)
  • ice-cube trays, silicone molds, or a container to place in the freezer

How to Make the Frozen Oobleck:

  1. Add about 1 cup of cornflour to a bowl.
  2. Slowly add about 1/2 cup of water. I found with this you want to almost double the amount of cornflour to water, because your freezing it, to make sure it melts into a proper gooey oobleck. Less water is better!
  3. Add food coloring or liquid watercolors. Obviously for younger kids you would want to use food colouring as its non-toxic.
  4. Pour the oobleck into molds. We used our favourite Mickey shaped moulds, because someone turns 90 on the 18th of November!
  5. Place the molds in the freezer for at least a few hours.

Take it outside! This activity was perfect and the boys banged about trying to break up the frozen moulds for ages before getting stuck into the gooey mixture afterwards. it goes without saying its messy, but that’s why we were in our swimming suits ready to rinse off in the pool afterward. Interest was held for much longer. Once melted, It has properties of both a solid and a liquid depending on the amount of pressure applied. When you press down, the cornstarch and water mixture acts like a solid, but when constant slow pressure is not applied, the mixture acts like a liquid.

The perfect activity for summer holidays coming up!

Cadburys’ Inspired Desserts Perfect For The Festive Season

Cadburys’ Inspired Desserts Perfect For The Festive Season

Posted on by Rebecca

I spent an evening a little while back with the Cadburys’ Team at The Cookery, on a cooking class to highlight the #CashInYourCravings campaign that was running. Like we need an excuse to indulge?

“The Cookery”, is an interactive cooking studio run by The Secret Jozi Chef, and one I have been absolutely dying to visit. It hosts fun social classes for students during the week as well as interactive chef’s table events. Perfect for girls night out or a date night with your beau. I was surrounded by luxury with state of the art Whirlpool and KitchenAid appliances and the attention to detail with the décor is absolutely on point. Keep scrolling because I’m sharing two of my favourite recipes.

We each draw a “chocolate” to select our team, I drew a PS I love you bar, which happens to be one of my favourites. There were 4 teams, each cooking three dishes that made up the menu for the night, under the supervision of Chef Emilio. The focus of the evening was of course, was cashing in on our cravings with some indulgent food such as butter sage gnocchi (yes I made Gnocchi), mushroom risotto as well as delectable desserts all made with Cadburys favourite chocolate bars, in this case, PS Chocolate Ice Cream and 5-star brownies; perfect for a Christmas day dessert.

I’m going to share the dessert recipes from the evening with you, because they really are too good not to try and so darn easy to do at home. Who on earth would have thought that I would ever attempt my own home made ice cream? This PS Ice cream is the best thing I have ever tasted and is definitely on the menu for a family feast in December. So here they are my top two recipes from the night (everything I tasted that night was on point but I have to leave you with some incentive to book a class).

 

CHOCOLATE BOX BROWNIES

Ingredients

240g butter, melted and cooled

2 tablespoon vegetable oil

150g brown sugar

200g white sugar

4 large eggs, room temperature

4 teaspoons vanilla extract

150g all purpose flour

120g good quality, unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon salt

270g roughly chopped chocolate or large chocolate chips  (We used chopped up Cadbury 5-Star and Crunchies for this)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 175°C then line a 7×11 inch baking tray with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large bowl combine melted butter, oil and both sugars.

Add the eggs, vanilla and salt then whisk for about one minute until evenly combined and light in color.

Over the same bowl sift in the flour and cocoa powder.

Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until JUST combined (do NOT over mix).

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, then smooth the top.

Generously top with the chocolate chunks, gently pressing them into the batter.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the centre of the brownies no longer jiggles and is JUST set to the touch.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature before removing from the baking tray and slicing into 16 brownies.

Enjoy

 

PS I Love you Chocolate Ice Cream

Ingredients

300g PS Chocolate

1 1/2 cups whole milk

1 cups heavy cream

6 large egg yolks

5 tablespoons granulated sugar (add an extra tablespoon if using bitter chocolate)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tsp vanilla powder (fresh vanilla pods)

1 cup cream

Directions

Place the chocolate in a blender.

Whisk the milk, 1 cup cream, egg yolks, granulated sugar and salt in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly until the mixture is thick enough to coat the spatula and almost boiling, 5 to 6 minutes. Basically making a custard, and it’s absolutely OK if it splits bit, it’s all going in the blender!

Immediately pour the milk mixture over the chocolate in the blender.

Cover and hold the lid with a thick kitchen towel; blend until combined and smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of the blender as needed.

Transfer to a bowl cover and set aside to cool completely in the fridge. (We placed a bowl in an ice tray)

Once the mixture is cold, whip the remaining cup of cream and fold it through the chocolate mixture.

IF YOU HAVE AN ICE CREAM MIXER – Add the mixture to your ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer’s instructions

IF YOU DON’T HAVE AN ICE CREAM MIXER – Pop it in a container in the freezer to set. You can go in and mix it every 30 minutes but according to Chef Emilio for this recipe you don’t have too.

There you have it. Two simple recipes to add to your Christmas table this festive season. You will be blown away by the Ice-cream, I promise, Its sweet, rich but not too rich, creamy with a little crunch of wafer. The best thing I’ve tasted this year! Thank you Cadbury South Africa for this awesome treat night.

Let me know if you try these recipes 🙂

The Ultimate Kids Christmas Gift Guide

The Ultimate Kids Christmas Gift Guide

Posted on by Rebecca

Its officially “Gift Guide Season” and I have been scouring the best toys across leading suppliers in South Africa to compile my gift guide for the Christmas Period. To make your life a little easier I’ve divided them into Toddlers, Kids and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math).

Toddlers

That’s every cute age where they don’t reaaally understand what the Festive Season is all about, but they do enjoy ripping wrapping paper apart quicker then you can put on a nappy! I speak from experience when I say these are fabulous from ages 1 to about 3, my little niece even has a few of them!

Here are my top picks:

From Top Left to Right:

Mini Mickey Plush Toy from Prima Toys (avaliable at all leading retailers) // Leap Frog Shapes and Sharing Picnic Basket R259 // Leap Frog Sweet Treats Learning Cafe // Playdoh Kitchen Creations Spinning Treats Mixer R329 // LeapFrog Popping Colour Mixer Truck R429 // Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Microphone R199.99 // LeapFrog Water & Count Veggie Garden // Playdoh “Wavy the Whale” Set R219

 

Kids Selection

I haven’t separated these into “Boys or Girls” as I really don’t believe girls should only play with girls toys and boys with boys. Children should be allowed to play with whatever they choose too! There are so many incredible toys out there, and I know I haven’t even included half they things my son asks for on a daily basis, including a “Paw Patrol Helicopter”, however, these are some of my top picks:

From Top Left to Right:

From Mattel we have the Barbie Colour Surprise Doll. Available across all ethnicity’s and body shapes, children can spray and style Barbie’s hair however they please! R489.99 // Prima-Toys Scruff-a-Luv is still one of my favourites. They arrive as a sad, matted ball of fur, but once you bathe them, dry them, brush them and love them, you’ll discover what kind of pet they really are and reveal their true beauty R360 // The Hot Wheels® Track Builder Epic Challenge Race Crate contains everything needed
for creativity, building, imaginative play, and problem solving R789.99 // Super Hero Super Stretch is one of my boys favourite, Stretch him, pull him, tie him in knots. When you release him he uses his amazing stretch to slowly return to his normal shape. R509 // Baby Thando speaks both English and IsiZulu and has proven to be one of the most popular dolls of this year R699 // Fingerlings come in a wide range of different animals including dragons, panda’s and monkeys. See how they react when you swing them, pet them, rock them, startle them or hang them upside down. R399 // Transformers are everywhere this year and Hasbro has released the Power Charge Bumblebee. Action figure converts from robot mode to
classic Volkswagen Beetle mode in 17 steps so kids can amp up the power in 2 modes R949 // LOL Surprise have taken the world by storm. Children unwrap the ball finding a surprise in each layer. Prices vary dependent on the type you buy.

 

 

From Top Left to Right:

Thomas & Friends Perfect for early childhood fans, this shiny assortment of durable die-cast Thomas & Friends large engines is suitable for age 3+. RSP: 114.99 // Treasure X, I love the sensory element to this toy! Treasure X is the ultimate surprise-reveal collectible with a multi layered reveal process, cool figures, and the chance to find REAL treasure! // Join the buzz with the Bumblebee Showcase Helmet that captures the cool swagger of the loyal Autobot scout R1400 // Barbie Dream Camper -The signature pink Barbie® DreamCamperTM transforms from a camper van into a campsite play set with the push of a button R1949.99 // The Barbie® Cooking & Baking Ultimate Kitchen is a must-have kitchen play set for little chefs aged 4+, complete with its Barbie® chef doll and 20 accessories R829.99 // The My Little Pony Equestria Girls fashion dolls, each dressed in a stylish outfit, complete with fashion accessories that match their character personalities // Little Live Pets: These little dogs are the cutest pups around. Lil’ Cutie Pups are full of life and love to show off their own personalities as they scamper about, beg and play with you.

STEAM RANGE:

This is an absolute passion of mine! Doing STEAM/STEM activities with my boys and broadening their thinking and problem solving skills. My educational gift guide from last year still has some fantastic choices that are still in store, added to my list from this year you’ll have no shortage of ideas.

 

 

From Top Left to Right:

VR Real Feel is the ultimate in experience in 3D. We got the racing one for my son for his birthday and the graphics are incredible! It works alongside your mobile phone and can be bought in a variety of options, including fishing and racing. R649.99 // Tower Products has an incredible arts and crafts range for kids, available from most leading toy and craft stores. Prices from R34 // V-Tech Light and Flight Discovery Globe . As they pretend to travel the world, the globe teaches kids basic geography skills with colourful lights, playful phrases and cool sound effects. R725 // GeoSafari Bug watch R349 // Magna Tiles are a firm favourite in our house. The options to create are endless ! Well worth the price! R2489 // Tower Products delivers again with their fantastic range of STEM home kits. Make your own slime, crystals or snow! R68 // I’m seriously crushing over National Geographics range of exploration sets. It varies from Dino Digs to Volcano sets and Shark Tooth Kits from R199 on Takealot // Toby Tower’s Bath Crayons are perfect for Picasso creations in the bath! RSP 60.

 

Spiderman Slime

Spiderman Slime

Posted on by Rebecca

Any Spiderman fans in the house? As I sat watching episode ten thousand and something with the boys on Sunday morning, It suddenly occurred to me that the famous “V-252” black goop from the earlier episodes would be pretty darn easy to make. Given that we are in full swing of superhero time in our house, and my eldest got lots of spidey memorabilia for his 5th birthday, the timing was perfect!

I used a new slime recipe for this, and to be honest, it may be my new “go to”. It’s so easy and a lot less temperamental than mixing with borax with water before hand! For a slightly more fluid slime I may add a tiny bit of water to the solution, but I loved the fact that this was not sticky at all.

Here’s how we made it:

1 100 ml bottle art and craft glue (1 cup glue, make sure its PVA glue)

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 tablespoon of contact lens solution (containing borax, most saline solutions have it, but just make sure)

Black paint and glitter

Empty the bottle of glue into a bowl and mix in the teaspoon of baking soda. Next add in the paint and glitter. Once its all incorporated add in your tablespoon of contact solution and voila! Slime in under 3 minutes!

The boys loved turning red Spiderman into the more aggressive version and it adds a new dimension into play. You could have so many variations of this slime, and it would make a gorgeous night sky theme, or even firework slime with today being Guy Fawkes!

Happy playing, I would love to hear your feedback!

Party Inspiration – A Perfectly Pink Peppa Pig Theme

Party Inspiration – A Perfectly Pink Peppa Pig Theme

Posted on by Rebecca

Its “feature friday” and I have been meaning to get this blog out for the past two weeks, each Friday slips past and I forget to click “publish”.

A little more than a month ago Meg from “Mommalike” and I did our last party together, before Megan spreads her own wings with “Buntings and Blooms”.

The venue of the party was the huge Beans & Stikkies Adventure Park, in Roodepoort. There is such a wide array of activities for kids to do from a zipline, to a castle or pirate ship. It probably has one of the biggest bike tracks I’ve seen and a mini garage to refuel your transport. Wendy and her team were so incredibly friendly and supportive in helping us set up. Its definitely on my list of recommended venues!

Peppa is probably one of the most popular themes for both little girls and little boys alike. Its a firm favourite in our house and has saved us from many a tantrum at the dinner table. Sugar and Paper Parties helped us bring our backdrop vision to life by designing a simple backdrop with Peppa’s famous hill, sun and house on the hill.

To complement the bright sunshine we used Peppa themed Sun cookies and flowers on a stick which we stuck into wheatgrass picket fence boxes. Whats a “Peppa Party” without Muddy puddles? I made up some “Muddy Puddle” Chocolate puddings and we accented the table with the birthday girls gumboots filled with flowers. The centerpiece of our sweet table was the incredible two tier masterpiece created by Kelly Jayne’s Cake Boutique.

For the kiddies table (and to encourage healthy eating) we spread “Grandpa Pigs Fruit” down the center of their table to snack on, served alongside the infamous “Mr Potato’s” Chips. Grass runners added in some detail with some rubber ducks scattered around. (The ducks are never far from a picnic!) A very special glass of strawberry milk was served alongside a sprinkle cookie and was paired with the birthday girls favourite pink blowers.

We custom made the party packs and filled them with some homemade play-dough, a pink milkshake straw, a strip of Peppa Pig stickers, a little yellow rubber duck, a Peppa Pig iced cookie, and a few sweeties.

A few other notable details were brought in with “Duck Pond Water” and “Mummy Pig’s” Pigs in a blanket.

Sam, I hope Bella had the time of her life and thank you for allowing us to play a special role in her day. I love understated themed parties, we managed to create a simply themed Peppa Party without splashing Peppa’s face on every paper plate 🙂 I hope I have managed to spread a little party inspiration with this post!

Don’t forget; if you have a party you would like to be featured email me at : inthesestilettos@gmail.com

Suppliers:

Cake: Kelly Jayne’s Cake Boutique

Baked Goods: Bake My Day

Venue: Beans & Stikkies Adventure Park

Balloons: Party Spot Northgate

Sweets: Party Spot Northgate

Backdrop Design: Sugar and Paper Parties

Party Inspiration – Carnival Theme

Party Inspiration – Carnival Theme

Posted on by Rebecca

The Carnival theme has to be one of my all time favourite themes. The colours, the design elements, the food, you can really go absolutely wild with this one!

I was lucky enough to help Meg, from mommalikeme, plan this wonderland for Oli’s 6th birthday and the end result was absolutely breathtaking ! It was held at our favourite family friendly venue, Killarney Country Club, and again the team were absolutely accommodating, you’ll remember that I held Yusuf’s 3rd birthday there too.

 

My Favourite Elements?

The eye-catching colour scheme – Red, Turquoise and Gold, I adore this combination.

The magical three-tiered masterpiece of a cake

The cute hot dog cart, complete with hot dogs and candy floss

The slush puppy machine – what a huge hit!

The gold elephants set atop the ticket and popcorn pedestal

The insanely creative backdrop created from paper flower fans and material

 

Now over to Meg to give you all the finer details:

Venue – Set amongst the lush and picturesque surrounds of the Killarney Country Club, throwing the party here was a no-brainer. We set up outside the grandiose Gazebo Room (and could have moved inside should the weather have turned). With a well-equipped play area – a jungle gym and slide, a sandpit, roundabout and putt-putt course, the kids were never bored! KCC bent over backwards to accommodate my every whim (like arriving before 7am on the morning of the party to get the Slush machine going!) and graciously hosting Oli’s 6th birthday celebration and all of our guests. If you’re looking for a venue in Johannesburg, with a difference, this is it.

 

Photography – What a blessing it is to have a birthday party captured for you – otherwise I would have walked away with the one and only photo I took before I chatted to friends and family and got to enjoy the moment. My most favourite photographer, Corinna, from Corinna Tannian Photography was there to capture all the details and happy moments. Besides from being one of the nicest people I know, she is such fun, and extraordinarily talented. If you’re looking for a mini photography shoot for your party setup – chat to me, we’ve come up with some special and affordable photography packages. Corinna is your lady!

Cake – Cara, from Aristocakes, arrived to deliver the cake before the birthday boy arrived. When he walked up to have a look at his candy table, he immediately spotted the cake (how could you not miss four tiers of sugary perfection?!). His jaw dropped and he literally gasped, speechless. It’s exactly the kind of reaction you hope for once hours and hours of work have gone into baking and creating a masterpiece like this. Every detail right down to the little blonde-haired, brown-eyed magician was impeccable. Besides from being a piece of edible art, the ‘art’ tasted incredible – best chocolate cake! I cannot recommend Cara highly enough.

Candy table – We filled apothecary jars with red strawberry liquorice, turquoise chocolate beans, red jelly beans and whole peanuts all from Party Spot – the best one-stop party shop in Johannesburg. As always, we made my kids’ favourite party treat – red jellies – and adorned them with caramel popcorn. Easiest way to tie in a theme? Add iced sugar cookies! Allyson from Sprinkles made the cutest Carnival-themed cookies, from iced hotdogs, to ellies balancing on balls, popcorn boxes, tickets and Oli’s name, this disappeared faster than a magic act! We accented the table with a golden ferris wheel loaded with caramel popcorn, and flanked the four-tired masterpiece of a cake with golden elephants balancing on upturned popcorn barrels. I absolutely loved the red rock candy from Party Lady that we added to the table – their online shop has some amazing products! Vicky, from Bake My Day, made the most gorgeous cherry-red toffee apples and dipped Oreo’s with turquoise ‘frosting’ to look like mini ring doughnuts – how cute are they?! I absolutely adore doing candy stations at parties, I think having it as a focal point is the perfect way to accent a theme – but my biggest piece of advice is to have scoops on hand for the jars and take-home packets so you’re not left with mounds of sugary sweets and your guests can help themselves.

Catering – What’s a Carnival without hotdogs and cotton candy? For that matter – slushie drinks, soft giant pretzels and a popcorn bar! KCC served up some gourmet mini chicken and beef burgers to add to the spread, which we topped off with some airfried-on-site chicken pops that were gobbled up as fast as we could airfry them! How handy was it that I could bring along my Philips XXL Airfryer to whip up hot chicken pops just in time for some hungry guests?!

Water bottles – Once again I used Kidz Cardz for the customised water bottles. These ‘Carnival Quenchers’ were a hit with the busy little carnival attendees in between rounds of putt-putt, fun and games! Kidz Cardz also designed the fabulous personalised individual popcorn packets that went to school for Oli’s birthday ring (round two after the hospital stay) – there’s nothing Elizna can’t do!

Party packs – Where would I be without TOWER Kids? You might remember I used them for Sophie’s party too (link) as the take home gift, and they were so popular, I used them again! We used a variety of five different elephant-themed educational art kits for each of the kids to take home – that ranged from sand art, to scratch and sticker, dot-a-picture, mosaic by numbers and foam art – happy kids and happy adults!

Décor – The first thing I thought of when we started planning this party was how much I needed a Carnival Cart! Sue and the team at ProDecor made all my dreams come true and delivered the most phenomenal cart, hay bales, giant red marquee arrow, crates, sign, and suitcase – making styling this party a cinch! The cart looked amazing with our fabulous black letter board from Curated South Africa – the perfect accent! I wanted to do the candy table up against the big black board as it’s a lovely shaded area (can’t have a melting cake and puddle-like jellies), but I wanted to create something of a backdrop. We, or rather my husband, devised a setup to suspend the striped red and white ‘curtains’ from the ceiling and hang the backdrop of fans I’d made, with a hint of black board peeking through creating a magical carnival-like effect. I bought various paper fans (some that had to come all the way from England with Grandpa and Ouma) and attached them onto plastic mesh fencing in a triangle formation, and adored them with glittering golden circles. The final result was quite striking I think – a great and relatively cheap space filler. With wooden crates and white plinths, I created various levels for focal points – the most important thing to know about setting up candy tables. An upturned crate became the perfect element to showcase deliciously sticky toffee apples on and house ‘O L I in marquee lights. I had a fabulous crushed red velvet table runner made by Bush Lily, as well as red and turquoise bunting to finish off the area. Golden lions on crates, red and white striped table runners, popcorn barrels and a pyramid of cans decorated the benches where the adults could relax.

Signage – Laura from Toogela Creative designed all the signage at the party – from the directional arrows and ‘Welcome to the Carnival’ to the Concession Stand, Step Right up for some Tasty Treats and Thanks for Poppin’ by and more! Toogela can do pretty much whatever your heart desires, so go check them out! Ambari did all the printing for me – vinyl mounted on board so that we can reuse the signage should anyone else need a Carnival party styled for them!

Activities – As per Oli’s stipulations, we just had to have a repeat performance by his all-time favourite magician, Stevie and his Big Red Box of Magic from The Wow Factory. Oli genuinely believes he can do magic by reciting Stevie’s magic words – “wiggle your fingers, wiggle your thumbs, that’s the way the magic comes”! The kids watched and whooped with rapt attention, hanging onto Stevie’s every word. If you’re looking for a magic act, Stevie is it! My fabulous friend Sam (from Sam and Tam link) generously lent us her jumping castle – always a hit at parties, thank you from the bottom of my heart, you’re always so willing to share and help where you can. Since it was a carnival, we just had to have some themed games – we made a pyramid out of big tins and had the kids knock them down with a bean bag and then a ring toss! There was also the fabulous Boom Blast Stix from Prima Toys that Oli was so thrilled to finally show his friends, and it had them in fits of giggles.

List of suppliers/stockists:

Venue – Killarney Country Club www.killarneycountryclub.co.za

Cake – Aristocakes – Cara Brynard

Magician – The Wow Factory

Photography – Corinna Tannian Photography

Apothecary jars, vases etc. – Mr Price Home, Home Stuff at Brightwater Commons

Sweets – Party Spot & Party Lady

Décor items – Pro Decor, sewing by Bush Lily, So Where 2 Events, Party Spot and Westpak

Balloons – Party Spot

Sugar Cookies – Sprinkles

Toffee Apples & Dipped Oreos – Bake My Day

Catering – Killarney Country Club and Fournos Bakery

Party packs – TOWER Kids

Water bottles & personalised popcorn packets for class party – Kidz Cardz

Jumping Castle – Lopes Bouncy House: sam@pinkdustevents.co.za

Black Letterboard – Curated South Africa

Design elements – Toogela Creative

Printing – Ambari: Preven ambarip@telkomsa.net or 083 381 7470

XXL Airfryer – Philips Home South Africa

20 Outdoor Activities To Do With The Kids

20 Outdoor Activities To Do With The Kids

Posted on by Rebecca

Yaaay for warmer days and longer hours of sunshine. I’ve missed outdoor activities with the boys so much and in the past two weeks every day after work we try to fit in some “play time”.

Most of these can be done in a smaller outdoor area, so if you’re in a high rise with limited balcony space, worry not! You can still get creative.

Here are my favourite outdoor activities to do with kids:

  • First and foremost, I just like to sit back and observe. Let their imaginations work. Get them outside and let them make their own fun. On their own accord they have been countless hours “building” forts, making houses behind trees, turned into imaginary chefs mixing up soup with leaves and their ultimate is to pretend they are gardeners. Whilst I’m a huge advocate of doing things with them, trust me, my absolute number one thing to do is just to let them do their own thing. It’s a magical thing to watch.
  • Set up a “Mud Kitchen”- All kids, no matter what their gender love to spend hours mixing and creating. Give them a couple of old bowls and spoons with a jug of water and some soil and you’ll be amazed at the creations put in front of you to sample.
  • Paint with Ice Lollies – a lot of my outdoor activities include paint, because to be honest, I much prefer the kids painting outdoors than in, in the interest of keeping my walls and floors paint free of course. This is super easy. Mix a little paint with water (you can also use food colouring and water) and pour into an ice container. Once the cubes are partially frozen add in your Popsicle sticks and take out when completely frozen. Yes it’s just paint, but it adds a completely different dimension and texture to painting.

  • Paint with Nature – Spring time with all the flowers out is the perfect time to do this. Grab a few flowers, leaves and sticks and get the kids to paint with them. Observe the patterns they all make and which ones are easier to paint with.
  • Pack up your lunch and take it outside. Most kids adore picnics, so instead of sitting inside to eat, grab a blanket and take it outdoors for a bit of an adventure
  • Set up a mini Olympics – This really doesn’t have to take too much thought or effort. We have used things we have around the house. Examples include: drawing a target circle on the wall outside in chalk, get the kids to try and hit the targets with a ball or bean bag. Tying a hoola hoop onto a tree to create a ring to throw through. Place cones out and create a mini obstacle course to run and jump through.
  • Build a Fairy House – Using popsicle sticks, sticks, matchboxes, moss, leaves, and small items from inside your home to build a fairy-sized house.
  • Build a Bug Hotel – My husband hates this one but the boys love it. Find any interesting artifacts lying around. Old bricks, pipes, pots with holes and rolled up newspaper work really well. Layer with straw and leaves to create mulch and make a really interesting little “hotel” for bugs to make their home in!
  • Go on a bug hunt – Look around said hotel 😊 Take a magnifying glass and create a list of possible bugs in your garden. Encourage the kids to look under pots and logs to try and find the bugs
  • Create a scavenger hunt – I like hiding figurine animals around the garden for this one. You can use a magnifying glass or make a pair of binoculars out of toilet paper rolls. Hide your mini animals all around the garden and let the kids find them.

  • Create a wash station – whatever it is, be it windows or bikes and cars. Get kids involved with a sponge and some soapy water and they are in their element. My boys love washing their bikes, or my windows and ultimately it always turns into a wet, messy affair. You are outside, so its OK 😊 
  • Make some bird feeders – Out of pine cones, peanut butter and bird seed. The kids will love making their own feeders and will often keep checking to see if birds come to feed.
  • Paint Stone Pebbles – My boys loved this ! Collect medium-sized stones and arrange them in the garden. Get your kids to paint the stones with acrylic paints of different colours. They can paint anything they like from shapes, to pets and insects. Mum can come in after and draw in any finer details.

  • Create Giant Bubbles – Bubbles are one thing I despise doing inside. The sticky bubbles pip all over the tiled floors leaving a slippery, sticky mess. Outdoors is the perfect place to create bubbles to your hearts content. To make the giant bubbles add one cup of dishwashing soap to a litre of warm water. An extra two to three tablespoons of glycerine, (makes your super big bubbles). Pour your concoction into a flat, rimmed tray, like a sheet-cake pan, and dip in a large DIY wand, made by bending a wire hanger into a loop. Lift the wand slowly and walk backward to let loose a gigantic bubble. Experiment and try different mediums, a fly swat perhaps with large holes. The crazy store has a lot of possible options to use.
  • Collect flowers and leaves and make a magic potion – Using food colours and petals let your kids mix away and create any “magic potion” they desire. I love the pretend aspect here.
  • Sensory Trays – If you have been following my blog for a while you know I’m a HUGE fan of Sensory boxes. Why not make some foam soap, a slimy swamp or a sandbox sensory tray with cloud dough? The possibilities are endless and being outdoors or on a balcony means easy clean up!

  • Go crazy with chalk – I must admit I LOVE chalk. It’s the one time my boys are allowed to draw all over the walls and floor. If we are outside of course. We love to colour in bricks and then find things around the garden to match the shade of brick, or just graffiti the driveway up. Whatever it is, it only takes a rain shower or sprinkler to wash away. Easy clean up!
  • Create a Nature Weave – We have been meaning to try this for ages and it looks pretty simple! You will need to find 4 pretty straight twigs to bind together into a square shape. Take some string (or you could even use bits of palm leaf) and weave close together to form a weave. The kids can find flowers, leaves or any interesting objects in the garden to thread through the “dream catcher” or “Nature Weave”.
  • Make a Water Wall – We have done this a number of ways and its so easy and very educational for little toddlers. The easy way would be to cut out scoops from the middle of plastic bottles. (I used 500 ml water bottles as well as 1l and 2l soda bottles. Attached them to the wall in a descending order, I just used tape as It was a makeshift one. Give your kids a scoop or jug to pour water into the top container and watch in amazement as the water flows through ! My dad then got involved and make the most awesome water wall out of PVC piping for the boys. If you have a good hardware store close by it shouldn’t be too hard. Place a tub underneath to collect all the water and let them play!

  • Make Ice Fossils – One of our all time favourite activities. Take any small figurines you may have around the house; we have used “dinosaurs” for dino eggs as well as marine life. Put them into an empty water balloon, fill with water and tie. Freeze the balloons overnight and then cut off the balloon cover. Place out bottles with water, plastic syringes and chipping hammers and let the kids try to uncover their fossils in the ice !

Up-Cycle with NutriStart Active

Up-Cycle with NutriStart Active

Posted on by Rebecca

A little while ago I was approached by NutriStart to work on an “up-cycle” project for their cereal containers. With the whole world finally stepping up to take notice of our consumer footprint, plastic is suddenly a hot topic. While it serves its purpose in some area’s I feel it’s absolutely on us as consumers to fight the good fight and be aware of our effects on the world around us.

NutriStart offers some pretty darn handy containers for some of their cereal range, but how could we reuse them afterward?

Before I dive into my thoughts there, let me start by saying, it was an absolute treat to sample their full range of cereals. My boys were so excited to try their “special new cereal”, and fought every morning over whose turn it was to try which cereal. Our absolute favourite has to be the Granola range, whether its plain, spiced dukkah (yep in a cereal), berries or chocolate; the granola to me was just the right balance of healthy and sweet. Free of artificial sweeteners, preservatives, colourants & additives; NutriStart is one of the healthiest breakfasts available.

The “Active in a cup” and “Oats in a cup” range is perfectly proportioned and is a brilliant on the go option for camping weekends, work, late school runs or anything where your breakfast is “on the go” and, as I have discovered, the containers prove to be the perfect size for a good few things.

I had grand plans for this project, which didn’t turn out exactly as I had panned out as I underestimated how difficult it is to paint detailed designs on plastic. I had visions of sea green and gold designs which ended up being more basic sea green because when I tried to tape of certain sections to be gold the paint would pull off. Although I know if I had done a little more searching there would have been a more appropriate paint. I used a spray paint with a primer for these.

My first and most obvious choice for the containers would be for potted plants and herbs. Once you have created your choice of design on the container cut small holes into the bottom to allow for easy drainage and air to flow through the soil. I love the fact that I can custom colour my herb garden.

Here are some of the other ways we have reused our pots:

They are perfect for Imaginary play! The boys making their own potions, soups, science projects and gardens with their little tubs. The insisted on painting and colouring their own, I may not have let them use spray paint, but they decorated their own pots with good old crayon and acrylic paints.

We turned a few of them into playdough pots, the containers are literally the perfect size for a new batch of dough. They also are great for storing arts and crafts materials. Pom Poms, Crayons, Feathers; they have made a great addition to our arts and crafts shelf.

I’ve also used the pots post school run. Running out of time for lunch, on he way back to work, the pots are super convenient in housing 2 minute noodles, pasta or a salad for when you are on the go.

My husband always jokes that he is living in a house filled with Zimbabweans. While we have British heritage my parents and I were born in Zim, and they grew up in an era of war. Naturally, they had to reuse and recycle most things and my house is one of those houses that if you open up a margarine container in the fridge you may not find margarine 🙂 Containers such as ice cream tubs and margarine containers were never thrown away but were reused as fantastic storage units. 2l ice cream tubs are perfect for “padkoss” on long journeys across Southern Africa.

There is great deal to learn from generations before us on reusing things. We have grown into a very “disposable” society, using things once and throwing them away and sadly our planet is starting to feel the effects. So thank you Nutristart for opening my eyes to this fantastic project, and for giving the kids and I a new reason to get excited for crafting.

 

How would you use your Nutristart containers?