As a quick follow-up to my post on styling rules and accessories, I just realized I never included the adult party favors from my daughter’s Bat Mitzvah! At a shrine sale this spring I had found a set of karuta, antique game pieces in which a half of a poem was painted on a small wooden tile and the other half painted on a different one. The goal of the game is to pair up all the poems.
Obviously my predominantly English-speaking crowd wasn’t going to be able to do that, but I thought they looked lovely as part of the table setting and would make a sweet souvenir for people to take home. Not the best photo as this was before the lights were dimmed and you can’t see the lovely painting on the lanterns, but look here for more party details.
What has been really fun is seeing the ways in which people have used them once they got them home. One friend has placed hers in a glass bowl in her entryway, along with some woven straw balls and palm fronds. The natural textures and colors are complimentary and the placement with larger objects in a contained space keeps them from getting lost, both literally and figuratively. Note too, the rule of three holds here as well.
Another friend took hers, added some shells and bits of broken pottery, and framed them in a shadow box which now resides on the counter of her friend’s sushi bar. Again, containing small decoratives in an enclosed space helps to highlight them and limiting the variety of objects to three creates the correct balance.
Other friends have them displayed in a witty take on size – big, medium and small. Can you see a pair of them in this photo? Probably not, but I can’t resist showing you the long view, with the amazing antique map of Japan that I found for them.
Here they are close-up, topping a stack of books, which again serves to highlight and corral them.
I still have some left over. Suggestions on how to use them?
Related Posts:
Sayonara Series…Styling Rules and Japanese Accessories
A Little Bat Mitzvah Inspiration…Sakura Season in Japan
A Little Bat Mitzvah Inspiration…Yoko Ono’s Wish Tree
Very cool, indeed! I’d be happy to be the recipient of one
It would look nice in my telephone cubby!
Absolutely! You can have a few!
As you used them on the tables I was thinking napkin rings? Two together as coasters? Attach a magnet to the back. Hang one on a bottle of wine as a gift or attach to a ribbon/cord and hang them around your guest towels in the guest bathroom. Put a few together and use them as a base for a simple hook….then hang a few together in a guest room, corridor, mud room. Simple and practical. I should have bought some!