Hand-Painted Wood Alebrije Bird Ornaments (Set of 5), "Magic Birds"

Adding a touch of magic to the tree this holiday season, five lovely birds are crafted in the tradition of alebrije handicrafts. Mexican artisan Claudio Ojeda creates these ornaments, carved from copal wood to depict a chicken, a peacock, a parrot, an owl, and a rooster, each one painted by hand with colorful designs.

It is said that Oaxaca's alebrije tradition descends directly from Mexico City artisan Pedro Linares (1906-1992). When he was 30, he became seriously ill and fell into a sort of coma. While he was unconscious, he had a most fantastic dream. He was caught between the land of the living and the dead; the place looked like a forest and was populated with creatures with body parts belonging to different animals. The beings repeatedly uttered the word alebrije, and when Linares woke up, he recreated these figures in vivid colors using papier mache techniques and called them alebrijes . His work became famous and eventually influenced artisans in the state of Oaxaca who decided to craft alebrijes using traditional wood carving methods and according to that region's world vision.