all shiny and new…

I must say it feels a lot like Christmas at Handmade By me at the moment with all the new exciting products and samples that we have been trialling and testing of late. Now that we have our own retail space, we get to explore all sorts of different products which we can stock and display at the same time. We also love to make sure that we have lots of lovely new things in our shop to keep our loyal customers coming back for more.

One of the most exciting things we have started making (maybe it’s just the cute baby photos) are our muslin baby blankets. Made with a beautiful soft 100% cotton muslin, these blankets are 1m x 1m in size, and are available in 3 designs – Prickly Pears, Pretty Proteas and Pink Flamingo. Whether you use it as a swaddle, sunshade, nursing cover, play mat, or burp cloth, these blankets, quite literally, have you covered. You can order directly from the Handmade By Me online shop or pop into our store on De Lorentz St in Tamboerskloof.

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We are also busy making some small muslin bags and squares that can be used for cooking. Muslin is a handy piece of material to have in the kitchen, especially as it can be washed, dried and continually reused. The cook’s muslin is a natural, finely-woven fabric often used when filtering or straining.

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Thanks to The Essential Ingredient, here are some of the many ways muslin can be used in the kitchen:

Straining liquids to filter out any impurities (such as stocks or consommé)
Hanging cooked fruit to separate out liquid, essential for creating quince or apple jellies or marmalades
Making cheese; squeezing liquid whey from the cheese curd
Filtering aged wines or port for decanting, removing any sediment
Soak muslin in butter and cover turkey or chicken breasts while roasting to keep them moist
Strain yoghurt for a few hours to thicken it into labna (eaten in Lebanese homes for every breakfast)
Wrap grated zucchini, potato, beetroot or carrot in muslin to easily squeeze out all excess moisture
Straining peppercorns, herbs and shallots from vinegar in a classic béarnaise sauce
Muslin cloth is essential when creating your own tofu from soy beans
Combine cream cheese and ricotta and strain into a classic Coeur à la crème
Wrap lemon or lime halves in muslin and place in the centre of the table for easy squeezing without pips or pulp
Make your own tea bags for an interesting morning tea spread
Line your bowl with muslin when proving bread dough to eliminate the need for excess flour or oil
Create a muslin bag filled with herbs and aromatics, for easy retrieval after making stock, soup or a classic sauce

We have also introduced a new product to our range – greeting cards. We chose 10 of our favourite designs, printed them onto A6 card, and then packaged them into individual sets together with a plain white envelope. Have a look at the full range here.

We also found out recently that our phone covers are now available in a clear plastic option which takes any white or light colour used in the design and prints it clear. Here, you can see below, we tested out our Geometric Monochrome design for the iPhone 6. What do you think?

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This week we tested our first samples of melamine trays and pot stands in our designs, and we are SO impressed with how well they turned out! Not only are they so pretty and useful, they are also practical, and can handle up to 120C (248 F), are dishwasher-safe and scratch and stain resistant! These will be available to order very soon.

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We finally managed to shoot our Prickly Pears and African Aloes tote bags and purses and upload them to our online shop.

And while we are talking about all things new, our first Handmade By Me + Windowsill collaboration products, in conjunction with the talented Alexis Snell, are ready and available to buy exclusively from our shop in Cape Town. These beautiful limited edition linocut prints come all the way from the UK and we are selling them framed (in soldered glass) or unframed. We just LOVE them.

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And speaking of our shop, for this week only we have a new special on offer: the perfect gift – an aloe potted in to graphite glazed terracotta and an orange squares tea towel for only R350. Only while stocks last! For more special offers, sales and events, follow us on facebook.

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