What size is it? {Table Runner Edition}

Tea time!

When it comes to using our table runners, we thoroughly enjoy seeing how many items we can set out at one time. From prepping for a mid-afternoon tea party (complete with plates of chocolate chip cookies) or a dessert bar for after dinner, we designed our table runners to hold a skillet or a large cake pan plus plates and serving pieces or our full coffee paraphernalia for dessert time. Since our knitting provides a thicker base than a layer of fabric, the runner also keeps hot cast iron pans from scarring the tabletop (a definite plus for us!).

Ready for a dessert?

French-pressed coffee and a skillet cookie.

Something sweet!

We wanted a new recipe to model with our placemats so we selected a pineapple upside down cake as our alternative to freshly baked cookies as a prop. The cake's topping features a sweet and gooey mixture of brown sugar, butter, and pineapple in lieu of frosting. The cake itself has a similar flavor to a sponge cake, making it the perfect complement to the pineapple's slightly chewy texture.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

For cake:

1/2 cup softened butter

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

2 cups flour 

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup pineapple juice

For topping:

4 tablespoons butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 can of pineapple, chunks or slices

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Drain the can of pineapple and reserve juice for cake batter.

In a large bowl, cream together 1/2 cup butter, granulated sugar, and eggs. Mix remaining dry ingredients separately and add alternately with juice to creamed sugar mixture.

In a cast iron skillet* on the stovetop, melt 4 tablespoons butter and stir in brown sugar. Simmer together until sugar is dissolved. Arrange pineapple chunks or slices on top of brown sugar mixture. Then pour batter into skillet and bake for 45 minutes.

Let cool for 15 - 20 minutes, then invert skillet over platter. Let stand until cake falls out of skillet (may take 5 minutes or longer). Serve warm, if desired. Any leftovers will keep in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

*Or other 9 to 10 inch diameter oven-proof dish.

What size is it? {Placemats Edition}

Ready for a photo shoot...

Time for a skillet cookie!

 Now for the placemats - with our "standard" size of 15 inches by 20 inches, there is plenty of room for a full place-setting, including multiple pieces of silverware, glassware, and a charger (if desired). Since we rarely have room for single-tasking pieces in our house, we are often found using our placemats to hold pans of freshly baked cookies (plenty of room for an 11x17 pan here!), cast-iron skillets full of our latest cornbread or scones recipe, or a French press and all the usual coffee-drinking paraphernalia.

Yet another cookie recipe!

What size is it? {Snack Mat Edition}

A shot of espresso?

It can be hard to determine the size of an item simply by its photos, so we are going to showcase some of our better "scale reference" shots of each of our products. First off, the snack mats! With an average size of 5 inches by 7 inches, they are a little wider than the average coffee mug but narrower than a dessert plate. We have found that they are easier to use than a coaster (and much less likely to be misplaced). The bonus? They are machine-washable, too, so no need to worry about a little coffee spill!

Need a gingersnap?

Or a snack for two?

 

What does it hold?

What fits in one of our cute little bucket bags? When packing for road trips, we like to fill our travel bags with any combination of the items photographed below (plus a little chocolate). For gift-giving, we might add a pair of earrings or nail polish or a skein of yarn.

Makeup brushes, foundation, mascara, eye shadow, and lip gloss.

Winter travel essentials: hand sanitizer, gloves, glasses, flashlight, pocket tool, bandaids, pen, and notebook.

Bright and colorful:

The latest sets of bean bags from our shop are on sale, too! They make great hand-warmers when microwaved for a few seconds (heat to your own preferred temperature, but remember, they get hot quickly and stay that way for quite awhile!) and then tucked into coat pockets.

Shop Small with Handiworkin' Girls:

Included in our sale are our dainty glass jewelry holders. We use them ourselves to organize our jewelry on our dressers (especially our earrings), but they also make pretty stands for sorting makeup or small perfume bottles on the vanity. In the dining room, they can showcase petite appetizers or desserts for tea parties or Christmas gatherings.

Ready for a sale?

Small Business Saturday/Cyber Monday Sale: 20% off our handmade gift bags, bean bags, denim drawstring bags, doll clothes, placemats, trivets, and jewelry holders, through December 2^nd. No coupon required! (Not valid on custom orders.)

The latest white rug...

 A perennial favorite of our customers and ourselves, the white rag rug is at once both classic and modern. It suits multiple decor styles and blends successfully into almost any room in your home. Thanks to the soft cotton of the upcycled t-shirts, our rag rugs feel as soft and cushy underfoot as they look in their photos.

Playing with word clouds...

Our first post of 2014 - yes, it's been a long time. We have been having technical issues with Blogger, but that appears to resolved. (Or so we hope.) Today's feature is not a treasury, but a couple of the word clouds we have been using as we toy with color schemes we want to feature within our shop over the next few months. The brighter, warm shades from the first image are ones we plan to incorporate into our bean bags and jewelry holder lines, and the richer colors in the second are inspiring our current sewing project, a thirty-piece batch of our small gift bags.

Enjoy the new colors!

~Handiworkin' Girls

Small Business Saturday/Cyber Monday Sale

We are beginning our sale for the "big" shopping weekend that runs from Black Friday to Small Business Saturday to Cyber Monday. (What it should officially be called is something along the lines of "best deals of the shopping year weekend," but that's not nearly as catchy.)

Items on sale will include our gift bags, denim bucket bags, doll clothes, knitted trivets, and jewelry holders, through December 3rd. Not valid on custom orders. All our sale items are 20% off, and can be seen here, or in our regular shop sections.

Daylight fades into the ground...

Listening to the family music library while working on Etsy listings can only lead to one thing - treasury inspiration. This treasury was inspired by Brandon Heath's "Red Sky" and the multitude of gorgeous sunset photos from the CAST team.

'Cover me with the red sky...' by HandiworkinGirls

There's a man on my street
He reminds me everyday
Better take what you can get
Cause there's nothing more than this
Daylight fades into the ground,
Oh Lord I need you now

Cover me with the red sky tonight
The promise of a better day to come
Sing over me an angelic symphony
Tell me everything will be alright
With the red sky tonight

Treasury tool by StylishHome.

Bean Bag Sale

Bean Bags by Handiworkin' Girls

Before we begin the madness of the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, we decided to offer a special benefitting those with multiple children or grandchildren for whom they are shopping. With more than thirty unique options, you will be able to find bean bags in whatever colors you desire. And if you need a custom shape or color scheme, just contact us via our Etsy shop, and we will be happy to work with you to create the style(s) you desire.

**Our 15% off coupon code will be valid through November 30th.**

Don't forget...

Watching music videos on YouTube leads to one thing every time - treasury-making compulsion! Today was no exception, and the inspiration came from Group 1 Crew's single "He Said." Not only is it a catchy title, the theme is perfect for showcasing a handful of our favorite Scripture art finds.

'What He Said...' by HandiworkinGirls

So your life feels like
It don't make sense
And you think to yourself
I'm a good person
So why do these things keep happening?
Why you gotta deal with them
You may be knocked down now, but don't forget
What He said, He said

I won't give you more
More than you can take
And I might let you bend
But I won't let you break
And no, I'll never ever let you go
And no, don't you forget what He said

Treasury tool by StylishHome.