Accessorize with Autumn

Autumn has always been a season of insane inspiration - between the brilliant and dazzling colors of Mother Nature's coloring box, and the need to find creatively fashionable ways to stay warm and snug, Autumn drives my inner arts and crafts bug insane with new ideas almost daily. 

My most recent foray into the handmade, one-of-a-kind world is a simple homage to Mother Nature and her ability to turn even the most mundane into something brilliant. 

These earring are made from leaves collected as they fell (an absolute blast - and a wonderful adventure, mind you).  To preserve the colors, each leaf was pressed before being coated and hung on an earring hook with beads to emphasize its beautiful and delicate nature. 

These earrings make excellent gifts....but be sure to keep a set for yourself!

=)

Autumn Leaf Dream Catcher

Dream catchers are one of the most fascinating traditions of Native Americans. The traditional dream catcher was intended to protect the sleeping individual from negative dreams, while letting positive dreams through. The positive dreams would slip through the hole in the center of the dream catcher, and glide down the feathers to the sleeping person below. The negative dreams would get caught up in the web, and expire when the first rays of the sun struck them. 

The dream catcher has been a part of Native American culture for generations. One element of Native American dream catcher relates to the tradition of the hoop. Some Native Americans of North America held the hoop in the highest esteem, because it symbolized strength and unity. Many symbols started around the hoop, and one of these symbols is the dream catcher. 

Using a hoop of willow, and decorating it with findings, bits and pieces of everyday life, (feathers, arrow heads, beads, leaves etc) the dream catcher is believed to have the power to catch all of a person's dreams, trapping the bad ones, and letting only the good dreams pass through the dream catcher.