Etsy Pick: Handy Maiden

I’ve just finished a Northern Exposure ultramarathon. Side effects so far include an inability to hear the theme tune without performing a sprightly dance, and the resurfacing of hitherto dormant yearnings - last experienced circa. 1993 - viz.:

1. A log cabin by a lake in Alaska
2. Ed Chigliak, Cicely’s resident shaman-in-training
3. My very own animal totem to watch over me

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from rewatching Northern Exposure, it’s that whoever commissioned the sixth season should be punished we must always wait to be chosen by the animal that will become our totem. But, you know, I’m a city girl, and I don’t want to run the risk of being guided through the rest of my life by a seagull or a rat. Luckily, the internet has come to my rescue with a plethora of 100% ACCURATE, INSTANTLY LIFE CHANGING, IN ABSOLUTELY NO WAY BASED ON NOTHING AT ALL, GENUINE SCIENCE FACT personality tests to determine exactly which beastie should be my totem. Turns out mine is a wolf. HAAAAUUUWOOOO! 

Thanks to Danielle Pedersen and her Handy Maiden Etsy store, I am now able to carry an emergency wolf with me at all times, with the added bonus of not being mauled to death while doing so. Her tiny, hand-crafted and hand-painted pocket totems are about £27 ($42) each, plus around £3.00 postage from the USA. Don’t raise that incredulous eyebrow at me. I know that £27 for an inch-long lump of clay seems a lot. But look. Look how cute they are. Look at all the work that’s gone into making them. Look at their teeny-weeny faces, their silly expressions. Just LOOK:

An eagle owl! Imagine how he’ll enhance your life with his winged wisdom. 

Danielle says, “I often find myself thinking ‘I would love my own zoo, but I just don’t have the space, or the suitable licences that would allow me to procure dangerous animals.’” We’ve all had that exact same thought at some point in our lives, haven’t we? Get a Squeecosystem instead! Safer, cheaper, much less poo. This woodland animals set includes a bear, a deer, and an owl, all for just under £38 ($60). 

Handy Maiden also has a selection of animal jewellery, which I don’t love quite as much as the totems - except for the fabulously-named Badger of Honour, which must be mine at once. He’s around £32 ($50).

I’m also rather taken with these cat brooches. Look at Ginger. He's got more than a hint of Mad Cat about him. He’d look purrfect (I literally could not stop myself from typing that) on my autumn coat. Yours (mine) for just shy of £18 ($28). 

I leave you now with a little bit of Northern Exposure loveliness to put a spring in your step. Plus, some further reading in the form of this slightly odd story.