The Owl Trend: "I like it."

("I like it" is what my two year old says when he sees something he wants like the bulldozers at work on the highways.)

For the past couple of years or so, owls have been popping up all over the place. (fabric above found on southlandtopology.com) Maybe it's Harry Potter bringing on the resurgence of an old 60s trend, or maybe it's just the usual trend cycles at work, but whatever it is, "I like it" & I have a soft spot for them. My family's always had this vintage owl stapler (below) and I remember playing "office" with it as a little girl:

As most of us know, owls symboize wisdom & knowledge. So it really is interesting (and odd) to me that they pop up everywhere in such "cute" contexts. Don't get me wrong, there is definitely something special about owls. They're beautiful & a bit mysterious... But we've taken this night-hunting bird and plastered it all over fabric, household items, pillows, toys, and anything else we can think of and portrayed it in a very "adorable" way. (Collage by Helen Musselwhite below from here )

I'm starting to think about Baby #2's nursery (2.5 months away from arriving) and so of course, I'm drawn to all the adorable owls everywhere!!! I love these sheets from pottery Barn Kids:

And even better are these adorable stuffed owls they're selling:

I'm also crazy for this PERFECT little owl pillow:

The thing is, we don't know if we're having a boy or a girl and these are definitely on the girlie side. (Although let's be honest here, after already having 1 child, I know that the nurseries are for the parents, not the babies. Babies straight up don't care. Give them something fun to look at and they're happy.) BUT still, it's more the principle I guess... So, loving the little owls and wanting some more options I've started looking around online and have found some great ones! I love this little guy found on sewmamasew.com below. But it's a pattern & you have to make him... ehhhhh and I haven't been feeling too crafty lately:

I also love these (found at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5199545) by Retro Mama. Totally could be ina baby boy's room!

And there are so many great prints out there too! How cute is this mam & baby owl print below? (found SOLD --argg- on etsy by popartcafe):

Loving this collage by Linda Solovic found here:

And this one has such a great vintage feel to me:

Getting a little more sophisticated (and girlie again) but I LOVE this fabric designer, Tula Pink found on Trueup.net:

And I can't even handle this little vintage guy found here:

I bought a weekly planner last night with owls on it. That's when my husband said to me "You're really into owls lately" and made me think to write this post. Check out these pretty journals found here:

How cool is this painting "Vintagse Owls" by Kendra Baird?:

Here's a beautiful owl pillow found on House Beautiful:

A great brass owl:

A little stone owl (found on Kaboodle) who'd be perfect tucked on a shelf somewhere:

And now onto the owls I WANT. I've been lusting after this owl drawing by Albrecht Durer for a year or so now... (He's the Medieval artist whose drawing I had blown up on canvas in our dining room.)

I really really want this pillow for my living room (from penhollows.com) but just can't spend that much on a pillow:

And this letter opener is just SO BEAUTIFUL:

And finally, I'd love one of these rings from Kris Nations:

I love it in both white & black & there are other gorgeous colors too. ONly $28!!! I think they'd make great Christmas gifts..

Anyway, I think it's pretty clear that I'm hooked on owls so I'll be joining Julia at Hooked on Houses for her VERY LAST HOOKED ON FRIDAYS BLOG PARTY!! Have an awesome weekend and thank you so much to everyone for all the touching comments yesterday!! Congratulations to a few of you who are celebrating anniversaries right around now too!!!

xoxo,

lauren