The American Museum of Natural History launched a collaboration with Etsy creating products that meld the creativity of Etsy with the collections of AMNH. Basically, imagine all those handmade goods but in natural history form available in the museum’s gift shop. No more bringing home mum a half-eaten rock lollipop because you couldn’t find anything more unique during the fieldtrip. Not trying to shade AMNH or any other museum out there, but it’s about time things got a little more artisanal for the money people are spending.
As a part of this partnership, the museum gave seven of the 22 designers a behind the scenes look of its archives for inspirational purposes. During our visit, we were lucky enough to be taken on a similar tour to delve into the unseen archives that many of these resulting creations stemmed. Imagine stuffed birds so plump and vibrant in color that they look like with any sudden move they would be startled and take flight. Imagine nests made of cloth, or heavy mud-like cocoons wrapped around a heavy branch. Imagine underwater life drawn to scale by description from other scientists rather than sight. These are a few of archival pieces that inspired many of works. As a result, the gift shop has a selection of over 140 items by from EtsyWholesale designers, including jewelry from Craft0logy, totes, pop-up greeting cards from Smidge Co. , pouches from Kertis, cufflinks and more. One of my favorite pieces was a T-Rex inspired green felt, toddler coat that was accented with a tail. I don’t remember who made the coat, but now you have all the more reason to see the new collection in person (or view them online by visiting here.)
For more information on the American Museum of Natural History, or EtsyWholesale, visit them online.