We are excited about tomorrow’s sidewalk sale! Saturday 5th, 2-6pm, right outside of Eye’s. Mexican blouses and vintage dresses, books, colorful Mexican streamers, oil cloth, jewelry, purses, knicks knacks… great finds!

We got a package today from Moledet, a small, pleasant village at the north of Israel, between Mt.Tabor and Mt. Gilboa, full of beautiful silver jewelry designed by Ruth Doron. Above are her elaborate and delicate ring designs.

Some Israeli-originated jewelry – like the Angie Olami earrings above – have pieces of 2,000 year old roman glass, discovered in archeological excavations. Once the scientists are done examining the glass vessels, and if museums do not want to add them in their collections because they are broken, the artists are free to use them for making jewelry.

These rings are decorated with striking semi-precious gems such as the purple amethyst and the sparkly, light blue lab opal. We couldn’t have gotten this jewelry in at a better moment – just in time for Mother’s Day! Our Israeli jewelry is one of our best sellers and we see women in all walks of life fall in love with these pieces.

Our first bunny customer, sooo cute. Ironically, they named him Stewie. Carole, our manager, arranged Stewie a cozy traveling box with breathing holes, drinking cup and a bottle of water. And Stewie’s parents got a nice, bright red kids’ accordion from our instrument room – together they looked like an act from a magical, bohemian circus :) Thanks for stopping in!

…and brilliant sun, star, heart and flower mirror mobiles! Smaller $11, bigger $17.

Have a bright rest of your week!

Little Tenoch was standing there, not moving one bit, with tears falling down his eyes. His family just spent a while exploring the Eye’s and Tenoch absolutely didn’t want to leave. He wanted to go back upstairs to the instrument room and play on the instruments we have from all over the world.

Here are some pics for Tenoch to look at and remember the instruments – we hope to see you and your family soon again!

From kids’ guitars, ukuleles and accordions to Kenyan percussion and antique Indian string instruments, we have all kinds of special finds for the musically inclined. Drums from South America, Africa, India… Bells, triangles, xylophones, paper mache rattles, wooden shakers and more. One of our most popular instruments is the thumb piano or kalimba (you can see one in the 5th instrument pic). We also have many instruments that, for the life of me, I cannot name because they are quite unusual and rare. Come try what kind of sounds they make!

“The notion of rescuing a forgotten craft – especially one so beautiful – was impossible to resist.” Gorky Gonzalez, source

Every piece of pottery that comes from the ceramic workshop of Gorky Gonzalez is handmade and hand-painted with lots of attention to detail. Here are some samples of the beautiful craft that arrived to Eye’s today:

Of course, this is just a small sampling – our first floor/basement is full of Mexican pottery and glassware. Now you know where to come for all your fragile needs! We welcome you with open arms! :)

Isn’t this vintage choker exciting?! Fabulous? Majestic perfection of tribal, ceremonial tradition and color? YES! It’s handmade in Kenya by the Masai people and is great for both men and women. Here’s Danielle trying it on and embodying soulful hipster royalty.

The Masai are a semi-nomadic people located in Kenya and northern Tanzania. They are famous for their reputation as warriors and have a distinctive way of dressing, including their colorful bead jewelry.

The Masai tribe has inspired many in the world of art and fashion. British designers at Kokon To Zai call some of their clothing lines ‘Masai Punk’, mixing the Masai warrior tradition with futuristic punk-ish look:

Our authentic Masai choker is for sale in our Etsy shop, www.eyesvintage.etsy.com.

Other African items in our Etsy shop are brass earrings a matching brass pendant from Ghana, a carved stone pendant and a mudcloth dress from Mali.

Masai Warrior Blessing

Greetings heavenly dawn!

I come here, the blessed of the blessed, still resting beneath the tree

No wild animals or vultures’ wings will tamper with us
No rhino horns or sharp spears will separate us

I pray for prosperity

Let it come to us in slow, uphill motions
Let it come to stay

Wild beasts and vultures hush–your expectations were not met
for we are still alive

Bless us with babies and with cows
on the slopes and on the plains
when we seek and when we don’t

Give us prosperity by surprise

Keep us until the wrinkles of old age

Goodbye heavenly dawn, until tomorrow when we shall meet again in peace
and in the golden rays of prosperity

This is an exquisite silver spoon pin from Peru, made in the 1920s in the Peruvian highlands by the native people. The beautiful hand-hammered coin silver pin was used to fasten the manta or traditional women’s shawl.

The shawl was/is the ‘native backbag’ – aside from just wearing it around the shoulders, it’s still used for carrying groceries or baby. On the back side of the spoon there is a small hook for attaching the spoon part to your shawl or clothing.

The three-fold spoon has two small milagros or charms hanging from it – a spoon and a fork. Perhaps this is the prototype of spork? :) Joking aside, spoons and forks are used in South American crafts as symbol of hospitality and welcoming spirit.

This manta pin, decorated with a green glass bead, is for sale in our Eye’s Vintage shop.

Fresh from Mexico! $24.50 each!

 You can battle out your opponents all pink and girly and lollipop-loving…

 …or you can fight like a creepy, star-eyed clown with mohawk.

And don’t forget to grab some super necessary Luchador accessories that include but are for sure not limited to the notebooks and stickers in the picture!

Dexter delighted us with his pretty pink collar!

He was super curious about everything we have and kept jumping on the counter. Awww! :)

Thanks everyone for stopping by at Eye’s for gifts for your loved ones – we love our customers! The four-legged ones too!