creative christmas gifts

Peruvian artisan Percy Rojas's crafts this set of two dried gourd ornaments designed as tiny bird houses. The artisan grows, harvests and dries the gourds himself using them in wonderful and creative ways. Each ornament is hand painted with floral details in vivid colors to brighten any tree or Christmas decor. They can also be used outdoors and make a great gift for bird watchers.

Covet this eco-friendly interpretation of the classic nativity scene, typical of the days spent with family before Christmas. This sculpture integrates the pieces of the scene into a convenient single sculpture, facilitating its safe keeping and preventing the loss of important characters. Inspired by her religion and traditions, Salvadoran artisan Marcela Moran crafts this nativity sculpture from handwoven cotton and naturally occurring fibers from the calabash gourd, jute and agave, following her passion to create sustainable and biodegradable products.

El Salvador's Marcela Moran creates this charming and natural nativity sculpture celebrating love and tranquility in Bethlehem. Atop a round base of cortez wood, Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus are crafted from jute, dried gourd and agave fibers. The holy trio is clothed with 100% cotton attire hand-woven in a traditional loom.

"This nativity line was created as a way of reevaluating an underestimated and little valued natural fiber which has great potential. It can be used for many things and we transform it into decorative pieces with multicolored touches from the handmade fabric that complements it," Moran says.

Four small owl sentries watch and wait for the holidays to arrive in artisan Daniel Vargas's handmade dried gourd ornament set. The Andean practice of mate burilado which stands for "engraved gourd" is renowned; mate gourds found in the northern part of Peru are dried and then chiseled to create life scenes, geometric figures and images. The craftsman employs these traditional techniques to give the owls their features and feathers, and for a unique touch, he adds natural red dye to the front of the birds.