Pure South

I wandered in here aimlessly last Saturday whilst bumbling around Brighton’s Lanes (the posher ones), and didn’t leave for a good half an hour.

The shop is crammed with beautiful handmade African crafts, all eco friendly and ethically produced. From chickens and geese remodelled from brightly coloured plastic bags, to toy cars, helicopters, buses and trucks recycled from old aluminium cans, it’s amazing what the artists can produce from what we would call rubbish.

Amongst the recycled wonders there are cool little baskets and boxes made of wire and old bottle tops, and handbags made from spliced South African license plates and LP records.

All of the recycled produce is handmade in Kenya using fair trade recycled waste from the industrial areas of Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe. Each item is painstakingly crafted into sculptures by artists using snips, pliers and hammers, and the end results are awesome. Alongside the model cars and buses, there were full mini replica push bikes, with working wheels, pedals and handle bars.

As well as all this the shop walls and shelves are lined with giant woven giraffes and beautiful glass ornaments, wooden and porcelain sculptures, grand hand carved mirrors and other funky trinkets for the home.

Now that’s what I call recycling!

This is a brilliant and unique shop. All their products are made in Africa or are African inspired – from ornaments to jewellery. The best thing about Pure South is that everything is made from fairly traded and/or recycled materials – but not just your average glass and cardboard. For example, I love the big, chunky bags made from recycled number plates and rubber tyres and the brightly coloured "Africa Time" clocks made from old cans, with the time marked as eventually, soon, someday... delightfully wonderful.

They've got a wealth of animal-themed home adornments in all different sizes like handpainted, wood-carved elephants, zebras and giraffes and cute little animal ornaments and paperweights made from recycled glass. Their jewellery is also brilliant, made in South Africa from copper wire and various scrap metals. I particularly liked a pair of earrings that are tiny wire and bead bicycles. If you want your home to be an African-inspired haven, then head down here for a whole load of original, authentic decoration.