Awash in goods!
While it's been raining in Decatur, it's been raining boxes at Mingei!
A flood of treasures!
Textiles from India
Indian sparkle
More from Thailand
Decatur Greenfest
Mingei Book Club
When a Crocodile Eats the Sun:
A Memoir of Africa
by Peter Godwin
7:00pm,
Tuesday, April 14


Everyone is welcome!

Easter goodies!
To fill your basket:

Come see the adorable croaking frog toys made from recycled teak, just in from Thailand!


Also great for Easter:

More frogs--
hand-woven cotton stuffed frogs

Hand-woven cotton carrot toys, with bunnies
hiding inside!

Jumping Lao toys

Parasite wood carvings

Oaxacan animals

Finger puppets from Peru

Back again
Colored stick pencils from Thailand
$ 8 for set of 10

Trick Wallets
made of Thai funny papers
$ 8 each

Tiny pouches made from India sari trims
$ 2 each

Bollywood is coming!
  Coming soon to Mingei:

Vintage posters of many classic Indian films
(sorry, no Slumdog Millionaire,
but we tried...)


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Ann has Returned from India with more textiles!
 
chaubundi avani3  stitched shawl
Yes, even more gorgeous, woven silks and cottons have arrived at Mingei!  The variety of textiles in India is astounding, and we now have some of the best:  Shawls and scarves of wild Himalayan cruelty-free silk from Avani, a project that also promotes clean water projects in the sensitive area where they source their silk cocoons.  Gorgeous hand-printed cotton and silk dupatas (Indian shawls, 2 1/2 meters of fabric with borders-- perfect also for window treatments or table covers) from Chaubundi, a family business which carves their own woodblocks for printing and uses all natural dyes.  Loose weave raw silk net shawls from Bihar (some printed by Chaubundi, also!).  And a few other random pieces, including several hand-stitched cotton throws/bedspreads.
 
Even in the rain, these are going fast.  Don't miss a browse through these glorious colors to celebrate spring!
Indian shine and sparkle
enamelearrings string necklaces
Need just a little sparkle to add spring to your step?  These traditional brass and enamel earrings from Jaipur start at just $10 a pair, and come in many colors!

For a pop of spring color, we also have bright string and bead necklaces from a woman's co-op in Delhi. $15-$18.
More from Thailand
lantern Sea shipment arrives
While we were unpacking bags from India, our ship came in, carrying the bulkier items from the January buying trip to Thailand. What's in that to spring things up?  We have an assortment of hand-made mulberry paper lanterns that we think will do the trick!

Also, we have a few beautiful new carvings, including a lovely one of a
meditating monk.

monk

Preview of coming attractions?  Still hanging out in the back room waiting for floor space: Burmese puppets, spirit houses, and picture frames made from recycled teak.
Decatur Greenfest is coming!
Mark your calendars!
The first annual Decatur Greenfest is coming to the square the first weekend of May!  The kickoff event will be April 30-- a screening of the award-winning, Oscar nominated documentary film Recycled Life, about people living and working on the Guatemalan City garbage dump.  A panel discussion afterward will feature the work of Safe Passage, an organization which began and supports a school at the dump.

We'll be exhibiting at the fest, and featuring recycled bags from Conserve India, a project working with people who work the Delhi dump.
mala
A little bit of Tibet, too
Ann made her first visit to Dharamsala, home to the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan goverment in exile on this buying trip, and brought back wonderful things.  We have beautiful yak bone malas, stone malas and sandalwood wrist malas from the Dalai Lama Temple and endless knot pendants from the Tibetan Children's Village.  She also found a project sponsored by a Venetian glass maker who has donated materials and training to help new refugees make Murano-style glass beads.  We have loose beads, earrings and a few bracelets from this project.  Soon to be available:  a limited number of lovely Thangkhas in several sizes, painted by young artists in and around Dharamsala.

Coming in the sea shipment?  Singing bowls from the Tibetan Children's Village, journals galore made by refugees, hand-made paper lanterns with Tibetan symbols.  That won't be for a while-- we'll let you know!
 
Thanks for reading our news.

Come on in for a visit!  And visit and fan us on facebook!

Ellen and Ann