Anyone who is part of a big family will agree that it is not easy to get an entire family gathered together around one table on any given day, let alone Christmas Time.

I have written about Weinheim, Germany before in my “Ode to Cobblestones”.

The town boasts a lot of historic superlatives which are a good reason to visit but it was not my reason I was there on my last visit to Germany.

If there is one thing I miss about living in Africa, it is small, old towns with lots of old half-timber houses and pedestrian zones with cobblestone roads. Weinheim in Germany is such a town.

For our Christmas DIY Project last year we were inspired by this amazing blog and one of her projects:

Our family is quite big and we all enjoy spending time on art and craft projects with the kids and as many of the family members as we can get together for Christmas Day. Last year we decided to make something from recycled cans. The original idea came from this DIY blog: Madame Criativa. The initial idea was to make cutlery holders. However, once let lose, everyone came up with their own ideas… which was even better than we could have hoped.

This is what you get when you mix two beautiful and funky girls with an open mind and the willingness to let go of their fear of a camera and put them into a nice, remote location. I met the two sisters before the shoot and their bond was extremely apparent.

What an awesome time we had! This shoot was extra special, firstly because Nkosazana is a dear friend of mine. I met her when she was still working side-by-side with Mom Carol at Ikageng. She had asked me years ago already if I could photograph her wedding when the time comes… and I was so thrilled.

Me and my camera visited the Maboneng Precinct recently where we took some photographs at The Market on Main as well as on the roof of The 12 Decades Art Hotel which I posted on my blog here and here.

Subsequent to that, my images where featured on Market on Main’s website!

Exploring Johannesburg’s “Main Street Life”

I have been out and about again – this time I wanted to check out the Art Hotel at Main Street Life: 12 Decades Hotel. The hotel’s concept traces the history of Johannesburg and it’s rooms are designed by some of South Africa’s most celebrated artists and designers.

Not only Cape Town can do this! Joburg is catching up.

I find it very exciting to observe the changes and new developments in Johannesburg. Recently it feels like Joburg is starting to realise that vineyards and a beautiful coastline are not a prerequisite for inventing spaces and creating markets with delicious food and lots of atmosphere.