My Mexican Souvenir

I am not much on buying souvenirs usually- I often just pick up a magnet for my dad, a shot glass for my brother and his wife, and something for my niece. I don't always get something for me because frankly I got to go on the trip and have the photos and memories! However, once and awhile something strikes my fancy when I am traveling and it needs to come home with me. This apparently happens most often in Mexico- I seriously have so many things from my trip to Mexico City in 2012.

When we were shopping San Jose Del Cabo last week I felt that I probably wouldn't pick anything up because the prices were kind of unfavourable. I kept ogling the handpainted plates, but I kept my hands off my wallet!! However we then ended up in a cute little shop with all sorts of goods and fell in love with the hand-embroidered fabrics. So I got one :)

They actually had all sorts of colours, but I liked the rainbow one best and there was a choice between bird eating a snake and demon llama (seriously...it was frightening), so I picked the bird! PS- there is an eagle eating a snake on the Mexican flag. This looks more like a quail to me, but still- cool! It cost $20 US, so certainly not cheap, but I didn't buy too much in town so I was OK with that. I ended up finding way more like this in another store about an hour later that I think would have given me a better deal, but live and learn.

I thought it would look spiffy under the print of the sugar skull in my living room. Kind of like an ode to Mexico on that wall! I wanted to frame it with the same frame as the skull without the matting, but I don't know when I will get to Ikea for that, so I rummaged in my locker and found a similar-sized black frame! I wasn't feeling the black, so I painted it navy to match the matting in the skull frame. And I like it!

And yes, I do have pillows lying all over my floor- thank you for noticing :)

I hung it up after it dried and I think it looks pretty amazing! The navy frame looks darker than the navy matting (probably because I didn't prime the frame, but I still think it ties in well). I also think I may have hung them too high. Is there a rule of thumb when hanging two pieces vertically?

I wasn't comfortable cutting the fabric, because hopefully I can pick up a bigger frame another time, so I just folded it. My condo is full of secrets :)