tulum souvenirs!

I forgot to show off the stuff we bought in Tulum! There are tons of shops up and down the main street with stuff for tourists to buy. I didn't want to totally avoid those, but I'd read about two shops that focused on more traditional, Mexican-made crafts. They looked more unique, so Matt & I popped in when we were on our shopping expedition. The first one was full of nice stuff but we weren't ready to spend any money - but at the second one, it was hard not to spend our whole budget! There were so many cool things. In the end, here's what we got!





I love these! There was a whole stack of them in a basket and we decided to get a small one and a medium one. They're made out of yarn glued to a wooden base and each one has a description written on the back. When we got home, we looked them up and learned that they're called "nieli'ka" and are traditionally made by the Huichol people of central Mexico. Most of the images reference their religion, and the eagle and the deer (our two images) are important parts of their belief system. Now we just need to get frames so they don't get dusty!



This is our rug!! The shop had a million beautiful rugs of all sizes but in the end we decided on this pattern, in a medium size. It's wool and it's perfect! I wish we'd had infinite money (and apartment floor space) because there was a small orange one that was amazing. We have a bit of a textile problem, though, and already have too many rugs...but we couldn't pass this up.



...Speaking of textile problems, we got a cotton blanket! Our apartment in Tulum had one just like it and we thought it would be nice to brighten up our apartment in Brooklyn. And it actually goes really well with our sofa! And it provides a layer of protection for when...well, let's just say that one of our cats has tummy problems from time to time. We got this blanket from one of the touristy shops closer to our place and I think it was $15, which I'd say is money well spent.



This little blue guy is from the shop where we got the blanket. There are tons of these figurines in pretty much every store up and down the main road, including the two more "special" shops we went in. Each one has a signed artist's name on it, and some of them are super intricate. I didn't want to worry about breaking our purchase on the way home, so we got one of the more simple pieces. Once again, when we got home, we looked it up and found out that they're called "alebrijes" and originated in the 1930s in Mexico City and were originally papier-mâché. In the Oaxaca region, where woodcarving is a traditional craft, craftspeople adapted the alebrije paper sculptures into wooden ones - and thus came about our little figurine!



Another textile! It's a thin blanket/shawl/tablecloth/whatever you want it to be, from the same shop - our bed in Tulum had one of these on it and we thought it was so nice and cheerful!



Last but not least, our metal skeleton ornament! We haven't had a Christmas tree in three years (and maybe never will again, it's been so nice) but we couldn't not get this guy, from the shop where we got our rug. We came back with lots of amazing goodies...and we didn't spend more than our budgeted amount, even though there was so much more that caught our eye. Someday we'll go back!