Be it Bunnies, Bonnets or Baskets, we have Cheery Designs on your EASTER.
Go ahead and stick those fluffy chicks to your TV, dig into your chocolate rabbit and shake some new life into your nest!
Image Credit fluffi
Easter is that joyous time of the Spring Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere when the sun crosses the equator line and heads northwards in the sky, with days getting longer (finally!) and nights getting shorter (phew!). The exact date for Easter isn’t a fixed one; instead it’s magically governed by the phases of the moon. For thousands of years the Spring Equinox has signaled the new sowing and growing season, with birds following the path of the sun northwards and daffodils poking out their cheery little heads and saying hello, winter’s over! Since ancient times – from the era of the Sumerian Goddess Ishtar, the Anglo-Saxon Goddess Eostre and Christ, all Northern Hemisphere cultures have sought to celebrate the event with rituals, whether it be with eggs, rabbits, hot cross buns or the likes. Incidentally, our Easter bunny is a hang-up from the pagan festival Eostre and its goddess whose symbol was, lo and behold, a rabbit, with its connotations of fertility!
In the Southern Hemisphere the exact opposite happens within nature (Easter heralds the start of Autumn) but the rites and culinary delights of Easter with its spicy hot cross buns (now chocolate flavoured in most supermarkets – delish!), the obligatory Easter eggs & chocolate bunnies, cards, gifts and flowers are curiously as enthusiastically celebrated down South as they are in the North! With the change of season – instead of a ‘Spring clean’ – we do an Autumnal reshuffle in our homes. As confusing as it sounds, it’s all a jolly good reason to stop and enjoy quality time together by cooking a family meal, decorating Easter eggs or watching old favourites like Roger Rabbit, The Life Of Brian and Hop.
With that we thought we’d give you some inspiration for a fun-filled Easter in your home. So, go ahead and stick those fluffy chicks to your TV, dig into your chocolate rabbit and shake some new life into your nest.
Happy Bunny Day, Folks!
1. African Jacquard
These irresistible, soft-to-the-touch honeycombe-weave KUBA towels are from the stables of a family-run design studio right in the heart of Cape Town, with miles and miles of exotic travel experience in their arsenal – from Gabon and Angola to the Congo and Burkina Faso. Owner Christine Daron aims to delight with her extraordinary homeware products, woven with immense expertise and craftsmanship, and above all, with huge passion. Wrap yourself in one of these luxurious pieces of eye candy and (all the beaches in) the world will be your oyster. Or simply get in the mood for Easter by immersing yourself in an irresistible luxe chartreuse bath towel – you may find you’re more coveted than the Easter Bunny.
http://www.africanjacquard.com/, Facebook @page.AfricanJacquard, Instagram@africanjacquard
Image Credit: African Jacquard
2. LIM
A beloved institution on Kloof Street in the heart of Cape Town’s famous design district, LIM (Less Is More) is the brainchild of founder Pauline Mutlow and synonymous with unrivalled innovation in design, craftsmanship and service. LIM’s collection of uber elegant hand-picked, handcrafted local furniture, exquisite textiles and other delectable home-accompaniments have been attracting discerning home lovers from all over the world. LIM’s designer dinnerware, like the delightful lemon yellow crockery below (which, incidentally, may just be the perfect vessel for your Easter butternut soup or better still, a slice of Nigella’s decadent Easter-egg cake) is a must-have for any Easter table worth its salt.
http://www.lim.co.za/, Facebook @lim.furniture.5, Instagram @ limfurnituresa
Image Credit LIM
3. Jack Rabbit Chocolate Studio
World famous chocolatier Stephanie Ceronio started baking early in life, cracking eggs into mud and receiving a suitable spanking for it. The heavenly creation below is a white chocolate Easter Egg infused with vanilla seeds and studded with broken chards of caramelized sugar, lovingly hand-shaped, hand-painted and comes rather frustratingly (choices, choices …) in a variety of out-of-this-world colours. And out- of-this-world they are … an alien family wanting to make landfall into your Easter basket! (The folks at Jack Rabbit Chocolate Studio reckon that after year of being shell shocked we should all embrace the fact that aliens indeed eggsist.) I need no convincing and am looking forward to meeting the extended family – the yellow one, the blue ones, the red ones … and to introduce them promptly to my gagging taste buds.
http://www.jackrabbitchocolate.co.za/, Facebook @JRChocolateStudio, Instagram
jackrabbit_chocolate
Image Credit Jack Rabbit Chocolate Studio
4. Mungo
One of South Africa’s legendary textile mills operates from an idyllic location in the stunning coastal town of Plettenberg Bay, from where they produce eco-friendly sustainable woven products as part of their slow fashion ethos. Moreover, when you buy Mungo textiles you directly contribute to the upliftment of the immediate community. Now, these are indeed brilliant reasons to deck out your home in Mungo products – towels, throws, blankets, bed covers, table cloths, scarves, kikois and so much more … but what I haven’t yet disclosed is the aesthetic wow-factor and sheer exquisiteness of these! Good news for those in the EU is that Mungo is now conveniently available on your doorstep from a base in the Netherlands. Easter may be a very good excuse to start what will no doubt be a life-long addiction to this quality brand. What are you waiting for?
www.mungo.co, https://www.mungo.co.za/,, Facebook @MungoDesign, Instagram mungodesign
Image Credit Mungo
5. Ronel Jordaan Textiles
Giant filigree Easter Eggs? No, they’re a stack of textile designer Ronel Jordaan’s extraordinary Sashiko Seating cushions inspired by Japanese Boro (which refers to the practice of reworking and repairing textiles through piercing, patching and stitching in order to extend their use). Passionate about wool and its manifold uses, Ronel Jordaan has done groundbreaking work in exploring the endless possibilities of using felt as a creative medium. Together with her team of dedicated women staff she works from a charming, eco-friendly studio outside Cape Town from she and her team have been extremely busy lately creating these stunning non-edible Easter eggs for lucky homes across the globe.
http://www.roneljordaan.com/, Facebook @RonelJordaanTextiles, Instagram roneljordaantex
Image Credit Ronel Jordaan
6. Robin Sprong
Spring has indeed Sprong … errr … sprung in the Northern Hemisphere! From South Africa’s leading bespoke printerior company, Robin Sprong, comes a collaboration made in heaven: Robin Sprong teamed up with self-taught artist Jimmy Law whose bold, expressive and engaging large format paintings form part of art collections worldwide. How lucky for those of us who can’t afford Jimmy’s original pieces, for these to now be available as bespoke wallpaper! What with Spring cleaning and the universal urge to rearrange one’s home at this time of year… personally I’d be hard pushed for a more inspiring way of glamming up one’s living or work space than this delicious piece of wallpaper-art.
https://robinsprong.com/, https://www.jimmylaw.co.za/, Facebook @RSWallpaper, Instagram robinsprongwallpapers
Image Credit Robin Sprong
7. fluffi
These versatile little feathered companions are a proudly South African product, founded by Capetonian Justin Hodge and handmade with love in the ‘ostrich capital’ of Oudshoorn. Made from slow dyed ostrich feathers that come in all the colours of the rainbow, fluffi uses sustainable materials to create a product that’s as unique as it is fun. No two fluffis are the same! Whether you hang your keys on your personal favourite (and believe you me, you’ll never have to fumble in your bag again looking for your keys!) or whether you decorate your handbag with this little fella, they bring copious quantities of joy to your day. As it’s Easter and we tend to have a perceptual set for things yellow and chick-like … the bright yellow fluffi may just be an obvious colour choice to start your collection (and life-long love affair) with this uplifting brand.
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https://fluffi.co.za/, Facebook and Instagram @fluffi.africa
Image Credit fluffi
8. Crystal Birch
Crystal Birch’s yellow hand dyed and hand-made PANAMA BOLERO hat is inspired by sun-soaked Cape Town days and should be the only hat you want to be seen in this Easter.
Crystal called her ‘the Canary’ and she is as chirpy as she looks. It goes without saying that this sun-sensible, spring-like beauty is equally at home in your back garden as she is on the rocks at the beach, at a picnic in the park or at a day at the races. Uplifting, inspiring and outrageously glamorous, this hat is manufactured by the ‘mad hatters’ at The Hat Factory (who, for all you know, took some inspiration from the White Rabbit In Alice in Wonderland who may well be cheeky enough to lure you down the rabbit hole to Wonderland.) Rest assured, you’ll have no trouble outshining the Queen of Hearts in this piece of cheery headgear.
www.therealcrystalbirch.com, Facebook @therealcrystalbirchmilliner, Instagram
@therealcrystalbirch
Image Crystal Birch, The Hat Factory and https://africaisnowmag.com/sunkissed/
9. Takkleberry
A small team of friendly, dedicated and inspired local Cape Town women beaver away together to create each Takkleberry garment with lots of love and plenty of smiles. The CHEEKY BOYSHORTS in Lemon Sorbet, made with a naughty French twist from ultrasoft luxurious lace to snugly hug the waist and contour the body perfectly, are the bees knees this Easter. The Boyshorts can stand alone but like many good things in life they work well in a pair and it so happens that their favourite partner is the matching Bralette in Lemon Sorbet. The perfect companions to be receiving your Easter Egg in bed with, don’t you think?
https://takkleberry.co.za/, Instagram @takkleberry
Image Credit Takkleberry
10. Skinny laMinx
Now, if you want to seriously jazz up your home this Easter, look no further than the cheery collection of original prints at Skinny laMinx. Founder and designer Heather Moore’s Skinny laMinx recipe is simple: mix together a love of pattern, a cute shop, a brilliant team, and top it all off with equal parts playful and chic. Whether it’s pillows, fabrics, décor, fashion accessories or paper goods, the joyous Skinny trademark prints will give any home a face lift and are guaranteed to put a huge smile on the face of its inhabitants in the process. What better excuse than Easter rejuvenation to spoil yourself and your abode? Does one even need an excuse to introduce this sunny brand to your home?
https://skinnylaminx.com/, Facebook and Instagram @SkinnylaMinx
Image Credit Skinny laMinx
