Fabric and Hippos

These Clive + Sunshine animals from Rose and Radish are custom made by Jennifer Muskopf, and she can even make one of these using a treasured piece of fabric (from your childhood blanket or your mom's old blouse). I like the hippo best. I like these because they remind me a great baby gift I recently gave my friend Kate's baby Olive. It was a Noah's ark set I picked up at a market in Kampala, Uganda, all handmade from fabric, complete with twin sets of giraffes, lions, hippos...really cute. I liked it so much, I kept it at home for a year before finally giving it away.

Sudden Flowers

My friend Eric has been working in Ethiopia for nearly 9 years on a number of documentary projects with children affected by HIV/AIDS. One of my favorite of his projects was a video about the 1st Annual AIDS Orphans Comedy Festival (2006). A still from the video is below. To check out more of his projects see the production company Sudden Flowers or The Work of Eric Gottesman and His Collaborators.

Wolanani

These paper mache 'fishbowls' are made by the Wola Nani project in Cape Town, South Africa. The project helps provide an income to women living with HIV. If you are in South Africa, definitely stop by one of their shops. I have about 5 of these fantastic bowls.

African Barbershop Signs

If you have been to West Africa (or Kenya), you may recognize these colorful and creative signs usually hung outside barbershops (and shops selling other goods - not really sure what some of these are indicating to potential customers, though - a Christian hardware store?). I love the ones that look aged, but you can also visit one of the informal sign stands and commission a sign to your liking. Then beat it up to make it look old.

I brought two home from Ghana in 2004 and hope to purchase some more next time I'm in the region.