DIY Paper Totem Characters with Template

Good morning! After stowing away the holiday decorations for the next year, we all are ready to make something fun and fresh. I have found just the thing for you to make on the weekend. The  paper animal totems is a great diy project for those of us who enjoy geometric shapes, totems, animals, and easy projects. 

The five adorable characters - owly hexagonal prism, pointy tetrahrdron, grumpy lion icosahedron, bashful octahedron and sleepy cube will make you smile everytime you look at them. You can download the template for any or all of the little guys, then print, fold and glue to make your own totem animals! These can be made into ornaments, garland, mobile or simply pile them into a totem to keep you company at your desk. The printable and the instructions can be found at Minieco.

Laser-Cut Wood Artwork by Martin Tomsky

Martin Tomsky freelance illustrator and graphic artist from London creates intricate jewelry to multi-layered laser cut wood illustrations. His pieces are breathtakingly detailed, telling stories as you look closely where unique characters and animals come to life. Each of his piece is created by layering together laser cut plywood that are filled with beautiful textures and colors.

He has an online store where you can find his artwork and jewelry, and Facebook page here.

Ceramic Totems

Los Angeles based ceramist Heidi Anderson handmakes unique totems using colored clays. Totems are often a combination of humans and owls that are decorated with tiny birds and leaves. To me her work seems to have influence of art from the Aztecs and Mexico. 

What makes her work unique is her specialization in agateware. Agateware is a kind of pottery in which different clays are used together and inlayed into the base clay to form all sorts of designs. There is no or limited use of glaze, all the colors seen in her work come from the natural clay colors. Her work has geometric patterns and earthen color palette of browns, blacks, and whites. You can find her ceramics available for sale in the stores listed here and follow her on Instagram for updates on her new pieces. 

Animal Masks with Great Design

Ninn and Guillaume, an artist and designer created the brand called Ninn Apouladaki where they sell the most exquisite animals masks. There is an interesting story behind the brand. Ninn created masks for their family and friends for their wedding, inspired by their travel in the Balkan Mountains, wild and poetic creatures from her Slavonic roots and Ukranian influence. 

On the day of their wedding, completely overwhelmed with emotions, they forgot to distribute the masks. Later, they thought to sell the masks online on Etsy where they became an instant success! In fact, they got featured in number of magazines including Elle, Femina, Toutma, Milk and online publications such as Doolittle, State of Green, and collaborated with Amsterdam’s Rijkmuseum.

The whimsical masks with great designs come in both kids' and adults' versions in many color choices. You can choose from black and white, to psychedelic with multi colors to moony creatures done in dark shades. They are perfect for a pretend play, or a costume party. Apart from masks, their online store also offers paper lanterns, tote bags, clothing, and wallpaper.

Owl on the Moon Blanket by Rafa-kids

Rafa-kids was founded by a husband and wife team, two design passionate architects Agata and Arek. The brand's primary objective is to create good and affordable quality design objects for children. I love their wool blankets and bedding with bold and bright colors. The Owl on the Moon wool blanket comes in a generous 130 x 180 cm size, big enough to wrap around you and your child. I adore the clean owl design on the blanket that's fully reversible, comes in two mood lifting colors - orange and blue. Visit their website for co-ordinated cushions and bedding. They ship worldwide.