April’s Hello Japan! task is to celebrate spring, in particular the beloved sakura.
In the light of this month’s mini misson I thought it might be fun to share my ‘collection’ of sakura goodies.
It’s not a deliberate gathering of things decorated with Japanese cherry blossoms — I work in the museum field so there’s no need to collect anything myself ;) — but since I’m often seduced by cute sakura prints I seem to have acquired a few articles anyway ;)
So, about 2 weeks ago I gathered everything on the table and took a picture.
It was only after I had put this assortment away again that I remembered my favourite gift wrapping paper… and that I had forgotten to include the sakura chopsticks I recently posted about!
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Furthermore my kawaii ice cubes, onigiri mold, food picks & the lovely textiles I fell for a while ago– the red one is going to be a small jacket for my usagi thermos; the pink may become a bento bag.
And what about the loads of origami paper I own? Only a selection is shown here.
You see? It really looks as if I’m unconsciously subconsciously collecting these things. I even excluded prints here in which cherry blossoms or sakura petals are just a small detail, like my usagi bento box and thermos. But I did allow myself to include round 5-petaled flowers and not just the characteristic heartshaped blossoms… I can’t help it: I just LOVE sakura!
For those of you who wonder where to get these treasures (I know I always do), I’ll provide a list! ;)
- Transparant sakura gift bags from Etsy
- First 2 tea containers (left) from Japan Market in Leiden
- Other 2 tea tins from ’t Japanse Winkeltje (‘The Little Japanese Shop’) in Amsterdam
- Cherry blossom body butter from The Body Shop
- Embroidered furoshiki and handkerchief from eBay store
- Bookmarks were a gift from tanabata (Hello Japan! about Kyoto temples)
- White chopsticks were a hanami gift from Bento Babe
- Gift wrap paper from V&D department store
- Black chopsticks from toko Meltem on Botermarkt in Leiden
- Ice cubes from HEMA department store
- Onigiri mold from Toko Centraal on Achter Clarenburg in Utrecht
- Food picks from eBay (part of a set)
- Textile and some of the origami paper via Etsy (mostly Pixies Origami Store & This and That from Japan)
- Other origimi sheets from several DIY and stationary shops
Do you have any themed collections?
Earlier this month I wrote a post about our hanami picnic under the cherry trees.
5 reacties
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donderdag 29 april 2010 bij 15:24
chasing bawa
I love those ice cube molds, soooo cute. What a wonderful collection!
zaterdag 1 mei 2010 bij 14:14
Bentobird/Jenn
Oh, what a fun post (and beautifully produced)! Very nice of you to include links to your treasure-sources, gnoegnoe, a delightful blog entry indeed!!
My collection seems to be growing in two main directions: cheerful/vivid/sweet kawaii items and refined/traditional/gorgeous washi items. Once in a while I’ll find an item that combines both aesthetics and I’m in heaven.
One example: this fabric! The bunnies seem to dance in a quantum universe of flowers: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bentobird/4561944730/
Thanks for making my morning with this delightful post :)
zaterdag 1 mei 2010 bij 22:12
Esme
The papers are beautiful.
dinsdag 4 mei 2010 bij 10:04
tanabata
These are all so great! Thanks for sharing your sakura collection with us. I especially love the red fabric (I have a thing for red AND sakura so a perfect combination), but a lovely assortment. :)
donderdag 17 mei 2012 bij 14:04
Alternative Bento #183 « Graasland
[…] additions to my meal. There’s a picture of its previous life in the Hello Japan! post about My Sakura Collection (upper right corner of the first photo). Of course it was thoroughly cleaned and I soaked it in […]