About My Creative LifeStyle
Handmade with Heart, Inspired by Nature
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Welcome to My Creative LifeStyle, a place where creativity, homesteading, sustainable living, traditional skills, and handmade craftsmanship come together.
My Creative LifeStyle is more than a business. It is a lifestyle brand built around creating beautiful and useful things, sharing practical knowledge, preserving traditional skills, and inspiring others to embrace a more creative, resourceful, and intentional way of living.
What began as a personal passion has grown over more than a decade into a welcoming community that celebrates creativity, self-sufficiency, lifelong learning, and the simple joy of making something with your own hands.
Whether you are searching for handmade products, delicious homemade preserves, traditional recipes, practical homesteading advice, creative inspiration, or a supportive community of like-minded people, you have found a place where you are always welcome.
How It All Began
My journey began long before My Creative LifeStyle became a business.
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I was fortunate to grow up on a fruit and vegetable farm in Lows Creek, near Barberton, where my parents taught me the value of hard work, quality, resourcefulness, and making the most of what nature provides.
Nothing went to waste. Fresh fruit and vegetables were bottled, frozen, dried, preserved, or transformed into delicious food that could be enjoyed throughout the year. Those early experiences planted the seed for my lifelong love of food preservation, seasonal living, and sustainable practices.
Our home was filled with wonderful homemade meals influenced by both English and German family traditions. Later, my mother-in-law introduced me to the rich flavours and comforting dishes of traditional Afrikaans cooking, adding another special chapter to my culinary journey.
Creativity was equally important in my upbringing.
At just nine years old, my mother taught me to crochet. My Aunt Ella later introduced me to fine cotton crochet and taught me the importance of good tension, careful attention to detail, and learning how to read and understand patterns.
Throughout my school years, I continued developing my skills through cooking, sewing, and creative classes.
One experience remains particularly memorable. During Standard Seven, our teacher could not crochet, so I ended up teaching the class myself. Looking back, that was one of the first moments I realised how deeply I enjoyed sharing knowledge and helping others discover their own creativity.
Today, every recipe, handmade product, tutorial, article, lesson, and creative project reflects those early experiences and the generations of practical knowledge that helped shape who I am.
A Homestead Way of Life
At the heart of My Creative LifeStyle is a genuine love for homestead living.
Our days are shaped by the seasons and often revolve around growing fruit, vegetables, and herbs, caring for our chickens, collecting fresh eggs, preserving seasonal produce, baking from scratch, developing new products, and creating beautiful handmade items.
Every season brings something new to harvest, preserve, plant, bake, make, or learn.
From jams, marmalades, preserves, rusks, biscuits, soaps, crochet projects, sewing creations, dehydrated foods, natural products, and handmade gifts, everything is created with care, purpose, and close attention to quality.
Many of our products are made in small batches using traditional methods and natural ingredients wherever possible. Each item carries a little piece of our homestead, our creativity, and our story.
For me, creativity is not simply a hobby—it is a way of life.
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Read more about our Homestead Way of Life
My Secret Garden
My Secret Garden is one of the most treasured parts of the My Creative LifeStyle homestead.
It is a peaceful and productive space filled with seasonal vegetables, herbs, fruit trees, flowers, and plants that support both our household and our creative projects.
Throughout the year, the garden provides fresh ingredients for cooking, baking, preserving, dehydrating, natural products, and homemade gifts. Lemons, kumquats, pomegranates, quinces, herbs, and seasonal vegetables often find their way from the garden into jars, recipes, blog articles, and products in our shop.
The garden is also a place of learning and experimentation. It teaches patience, resilience, resourcefulness, and the importance of working with the seasons rather than against them.
Not every seed grows, and not every harvest is perfect, but there is always something valuable to learn.
My Secret Garden reflects the heart of sustainable living: growing what we can, using what nature provides, wasting less, and finding creative ways to preserve and enjoy each harvest.
It is a quiet reminder that beautiful things often begin with a small seed, a little patience, and a great deal of care.
The Clucking Cottage
The Clucking Cottage is home to our much-loved chickens and is an important part of daily life on the homestead.
Caring for the chickens involves far more than collecting fresh eggs. It includes providing a safe and secure environment, preparing nutritious food, keeping their coop and run clean, monitoring their health, and allowing them to express their natural behaviours.
Our chickens enjoy a varied diet alongside their balanced feed, including fresh vegetables, homegrown produce, herbs, cooked grains, and other wholesome treats prepared with care.
Their colourful personalities, curious behaviour, and daily routines bring so much joy and character to the homestead. Each hen has her own nature, habits, and place within the flock.
The Clucking Coop also gives us the opportunity to share practical information about chicken care, coop management, feeding, egg laying, seasonal challenges, and the realities of keeping chickens on a small homestead.
Freshly collected eggs are one of the many simple rewards of this way of life, but the companionship and daily connection with the flock are equally special.
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Read more about our Clucking Cottage
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Our Rescue Parrots
Animal care has always been close to my heart, and one of the most meaningful parts of my journey has been rescuing, rehabilitating, and caring for parrots in need.
At one stage, I cared for around sixty parrots. Many arrived needing improved nutrition, patient handling, a safe environment, and time to recover physically and emotionally.
Helping these intelligent and sensitive birds regain their health and confidence has been both rewarding and heartbreaking. Every parrot has a unique personality, history, and set of needs, and each one deserves compassion, dignity, and responsible care.
Over time, most of the parrots were successfully rehomed into suitable, loving homes. I now continue to care for eight parrots who remain part of our homestead family.
Their journey has taught me a great deal about resilience, trust, responsibility, enrichment, nutrition, and the lifelong commitment involved in caring for exotic birds.
Through My Creative LifeStyle, I hope to share more of their stories, raise awareness about responsible parrot ownership, and help others understand that parrots are not simply beautiful pets. They are highly intelligent, emotional, social beings that require specialised care, stimulation, patience, and long-term dedication.
The rescue parrots are a precious part of our story and a reminder of the difference that compassion, education, and responsible rehoming can make.
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Read more about our Feathered Friends
Our Mission
Our mission is to inspire creative and intentional living through handmade products, practical skills, traditional knowledge, education, and sustainable practices.
Everything we create and share reflects our love for craftsmanship, quality, nature, self-sufficiency, resourcefulness, animal care, and lifelong learning.
Our Vision
Our vision is for My Creative LifeStyle to become a trusted destination where creativity, homesteading, education, handmade living, animal care, and community come together.
We hope to empower people to learn new skills, preserve valuable traditional knowledge, become more resourceful, embrace sustainable living, care responsibly for the animals in their lives, and experience the satisfaction of creating something meaningful with their own hands.
What You Will Find at My Creative LifeStyle
My Creative LifeStyle continues to grow and includes a wide range of creative, practical, and homesteading interests, such as:
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Handmade soaps, natural essentials, and body products
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Homemade jams, marmalades, preserves, pickles, and relishes
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Traditional recipes, home cooking, and baking
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Rusks, biscuits, and seasonal treats
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Dehydrating and food-preservation methods
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Gardening and growing your own food
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Seasonal produce from My Secret Garden
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Chickens, fresh eggs, and life in the Clucking Coop
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Rescue parrots and responsible parrot care
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Small-scale homesteading
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Crochet, knitting, sewing, and handmade crafts
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Digital crochet lessons and downloadable resources
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DIY projects and creative tutorials
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Sustainable and natural living ideas
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Seasonal inspiration
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Educational articles and practical guides
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Handmade gifts and locally produced products
There is always something new being created, tested, planted, harvested, preserved, baked, stitched, crocheted, cared for, or handcrafted.
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Visit our Shop
Where to Find Us.​​​
When visiting the beautiful historic village of Cullinan, we would love to welcome you to our warm, farm-style shop. My Creative LifeStyle, Cullinan Junction Heritage Shopping Centre, 4 Hotel Street, Cullinan, South Africa
Our shop is filled with handmade products, homemade preserves, baked goods, soaps, gifts, seasonal produce, creative items, and many unique products that are made or carefully selected with love.
It is a space where creativity, tradition, homestead living, and community meet.
Stay Connected
Because My Creative LifeStyle embraces many different creative passions, we have developed several platforms that work together, with each one offering something unique.
Together, they form one connected and welcoming My Creative LifeStyle community.
Our Website
Our website is the heart of My Creative LifeStyle.
Browse our online shop, discover recipes, read our blog articles, learn new skills, explore tutorials, follow the stories from My Secret Garden and the Clucking Coop, meet our rescue parrots, and find inspiration for creative, practical, and sustainable living.
Website: www.mycreativelifestyle.co.za
Facebook Page
Follow our Facebook Page to discover our latest handmade products, new arrivals, homestead updates, gardening projects, seasonal recipes, creative projects, informative blog articles, stories from the Clucking Coop, rescue parrot updates, and behind-the-scenes moments from everyday life at My Creative LifeStyle.
It is the perfect place to see what is new, stay inspired, and follow our creative journey.
Facebook Members Group
Our Facebook Members Group is an interactive community for people who enjoy learning, creating, sharing ideas, and encouraging one another.
Members can discover creative projects, exclusive patterns, recipes, tutorials, practical lessons, homesteading ideas, gardening inspiration, animal-care discussions, helpful resources, and answers to everyday questions.
Most importantly, it is a friendly and supportive space filled with like-minded people who share a passion for creativity, handmade living, learning, self-sufficiency, and responsible animal care.
WhatsApp Community
Our WhatsApp Community
Gives you a closer look behind the scenes and allows you to follow our daily journey. We share new ideas, product development, preserving projects, baking, gardening, crafting, shop updates, new arrivals, chicken adventures, rescue parrot moments, and everyday life on the homestead—often before they appear anywhere else.
MCL Homestead Daily Tips WhatsApp Channel
Our MCL Homestead Daily Tips WhatsApp Channel offers a little practical inspiration every day.
Daily tips cover topics such as baking, cooking, preserving, gardening, household care, sustainable living, food storage, DIY, handmade crafts, self-sufficiency, natural living, and practical animal care.
Choose the Platforms That Suit You. You are welcome to join one platform or become part of them all.
Each platform has its own purpose and personality, while together they create one connected My Creative LifeStyle community.
Whether you enjoy reading blog articles, shopping for handmade products, learning new skills, following My Secret Garden, meeting the chickens in the Clucking Coop, learning about our rescue parrots, joining behind-the-scenes conversations, or receiving practical daily tips, there is a place for you
​​​Looking Ahead
My Creative LifeStyle continues to grow through exciting new products, expanded handmade ranges, educational content, workshops, digital downloads, online lessons, practical resources, creative courses, garden stories, homesteading projects, and animal-care education.
New ideas are always being developed, but one thing will never change—our commitment to quality, authenticity, creativity, compassion, practical knowledge, and meaningful connection.
Thank you for visiting My Creative LifeStyle and for becoming part of this incredible journey.
I hope to inspire you to create more, waste less, preserve traditions, grow something of your own, care deeply for the animals around you, learn something new, live more resourcefully, and discover the joy of handmade living.
Whether you visit our shop, browse our website, follow us on social media, join one of our communities, or simply stop by for a little inspiration, you are always welcome.
I look forward to sharing this journey with you.
Much love,
Angela Bruce
Founder – My Creative LifeStyle