Greetings & Keepsakes,
Albums & Desideratum*.

Because many of the artisans who sell their crafts through Ten Thousand Villages live in areas where natural resources are scarce, they have become amazingly adept at transforming what little is available to work with into items of both great beauty and utility.

The Mitra Bali workshop in Bali, for instance, creates beautiful albums and picture frames by piecing together leaves from the trees in the surrounding forest. Artisans in Bangladesh, where the low lying land is often flooded, gather water hyacinths and use their fibers to create handmade paper used to make cards, gift wrap and boxes.

Tiny bits of wheat straw are dyed bright colors and sliced with razor blades into shapes to decorate cards, bookmarks, and boxes. Wild flowers are gathered and pressed, then arranged into bouquets on cards that convey your love.

Children can find lots of affordable little treasures on our shelves.