unusual decor

"In Guatemala, we have more than 720 bird species, but few people seem to care about preserving their habitat. This is my way of showing some of our tropical birds and sharing my respect for nature," Jose Arriola says. Working in ceramic, he creates a set of six ornaments. A toucan, a scarlet macaw and a crested carpenter bird are joined by the almost-endangered blue ocellated turkey and two bright parrots. The ornaments arrive with a pouch of handloomed cotton.

"When I was a little boy I loved everything that had to do with the sea and its creatures, especially seahorses. They are so morphologically different to the rest of the fish that I was fascinated by them. This childhood interest now inspires me to design these ornaments," confides José Arriola. The Guatemalan artisan handcrafts the ornaments of ceramic and paints each one with acrylics with different themes. The six ornaments hangs from bright red ribbons, and the set arrives in a traditional cotton pouch woven on a pedal-loom.

Jose Arriola uses his incredible skill to carefullyhandpaints each ceramic Christmas tree with festive folk art motifs. The brightly colored patterns are borrowedfrom women's traditional clothing called Huipil in hishome country of Guatemala. The set of six ornamentsinclude a handloomed storage bag.

The holiday season arrives with crescent moons and shooting stars in a colorful set of ornaments from Guatemala. Jose Arriola handcrafts the ornaments of ceramic and paints them with acrylics. Each of the six ornaments hangs from bright red ribbons, and the set arrives in a traditional cotton pouch woven on a pedal-loom.