Gift Shops

I'm in Washington DC with my husband for a few days and seeing lots of wonderful things but I am always drawn in by the amazing things in the gift shops.  I have had to restrain myself from buying so many things, especially while I was in the National Art Gallery gift shop.


This magnet was really fun:
Click here for full size image 
It's very clever really.  Thin black plastic cut out to look like a person with joints so you can make him dance about but the really clever part is the magnets on the back of each piece.  I can see myself having fun making him dance around on the refrigerator. The kids would have especially enjoyed playing with him when they were younger.   I really loved the ingenuity but I just couldn't justify $11.50
I guess it's a good thing I'm cheap.

My husband told me that he needs a coaster for his office desk and there were a lot of fun and beautiful coasters in the gift shop.  Many of them had famous paintings imprinted on them, which I loved, but they were sold in sets of four and he only needs one.  And then there was this Coaster Rug:
Click here for full size image
But it was sold in a set of four and I'm pretty sure he doesn't want me to pay twenty dollars for his coaster.

I was very impressed with all of their beautiful foldable reuseable totes:
Click here for full size image
Reusable Carry-allReusable Carry-all
I would have bought a couple of them if they weren't $10 each. 
Did I say I'm cheap?
I might have to bite the bullet and buy one before I leave, if my knees would hold out to let me walk back there.  Unfortunately they do not have the tote I loved the most online so I could show you.  It was white with bright flowers and just gorgeous.  I think it must have been a purse though because it was $40.  I was too shocked by the price tag to check it out further.  I should have taken a photo because at $40 I'm definately not buying it.

My paper fetish kicked in big time while in the gift shop.  There were notecards, journals, pads of paper and notebooks galore and all with such beautiful colors and prints:
Click here for full size image
Click here for full size image
It was very dangerous walking through this section.  The website doesn't even have a fraction of all they carry in the store.

The dozens of notecard sets had various paintings from famous artists like O'Keffe, Degas, Monet, to name just a few. Even at $12.95 a set I was going to buy one for myself but I just couldn't decide on the one I liked best. Indecision is awful sometimes.

Georgia O'Keeffe Sunflower Keepsake Box Note Cards

But some of my favorite things were items that had these clever quotes but I couldn't justify paying for just a few words.  But the quotes really are great!

"Creativity takes Courage" Henri Matisse

"A line is a dot that went for a walk" Paul Klee

and my favorite:

"What you don't need is as important as what you do need." Romare Bearden

How true is that!!!! Which, I'd like to say, is exactly why I didn't buy any extra stuff from the gift shop. Although perhaps I should have bought a magnet with that on it to remind me of this great truism every time I go to the fridge.

Comments

Jane Babcock said…
You could buy the magnet sheets that can go through the printer and make your own, or buy a white magnet heater vent cover and cut out all kinds of dancing people. You could color them up in all different shades. The paper would be hard to duplicate, but I could see you creating everything else.

Popular posts from this blog

Gelli Plate Tutorial with Leaves

Autumn is for the Birds

Give Away Day