Paris Part 2: Museum Bling

This post is pretty exclusively filled with things I found cool or would liked to have stolen from, the Louvre. 

Bird w/ personal bodyguard.

Judging you.

Tiny nudists.

Neck buttons lend an air of formality to even the dreariest of Tuesdays.

I'd be sad if I had to wear that hat too.

That lip color is really in right now.

Let's be honest, allegories and metaphors and religious meanings aside, I pretty much gravitate to the weird stuff in museums. Like the skull and other odd bits hanging off the belt of the girl in the middle.

This is just funny. I don't know why, but it gave me the museum giggles.

I get a similar look on my face when I realize at 7:01 PM that I have no dessert in the house and the grocery stores are all closed.

Door bling. Napoleon had such humble taste.

Breakfast Nook.

12_Life_Lausanne_Louvre_Low44.jpg

If pressed, I'd accept this as a gift.

Or this.

This I would outright steal.

Along with these.

Beauty.

We're going to close this post with the single best item in the whole museum. Amongst all the hundreds of thousands of exquisitely crafted works of art spanning thousands of years of human history, this little creature is sitting in a glass case blowing a raspberry at me because I am taking it all waaay too seriously. Just a good thing to know. For perspective.

Some Wednesday Loveliness

In honor of hump day, I'd like to share some beautiful things with you. (Still working out in my head how those two things are related, but who doesn't want to look at beautiful things regardless of the day?)

Without further ado:

Anthony's dad has been working on sculptures for the past few years and now has a growing collection of his cast pieces. This lovely girl came home with us at Thanksgiving and is now serenely brushing her hair atop my dresser.

Last year he created this ballerina which is one of my favorites. I love the wistful expression on her face and the gesture of her arm. Her dress, the rest of which is not pictured is absolutely beautiful.

This woman was voted a universal favorite by all of us over the holiday. Everything about her is exquisite from her face to her stance to how she is holding her mirror.

I love these pieces because they immediately make me wonder what the figures are thinking. They all have such wonderfully expressive faces - at once calm and a little melancholy. I love all the potential stories they contain.

I hope your hump day is a happy one!

Halloween-ing

A few months ago, my mom and I were sorting through some old family photos and I stumbled upon these gems of my grandmother and her twin brother in their Halloween costumes. The photos weren't dated, but I am guessing that these were taken sometime in the early to mid 1930's. What better day to share them than today?

Don't they look great? I am particularly enamored with the beautiful eeriness of their masks. Although the sepia tone of the photographs surely has something to do with the eerie quality. If I know my grandmother, I am sure she was excited and probably had some devilish little tricks up her sleeve :)

Happy Halloween!

on the devil being in the details

I posted some images of these antique children's clothes on my tumblr a few weeks back, but the work is so exquisite, I wanted to share the more detailed photos I took here.

All these pieces are handmade and were rescued from being thrown out (Sacrilege!) by Anthony's mom who now keeps them safe and sound.

When we were in Providence, she brought them out and we spent the afternoon admiring the hours and hours of hand work that must have gone into making them.

I literally cannot imagine doing this without the aid of a sewing machine.

Can you imagine putting this level of handcrafted detail onto what is essentially underwear for a toddler?

The photo below is my favorite piece: a teeny tiny skirt of cream cotton covered with a pattern of cornflower blue. If the waist wasn't all of about 10 inches, I would be wearing it all over the place.