Joyous Bells

A set of four bells is ready to ring in the holiday on your tree. Costa Rican artisan Blanca Padilla handcrafts these angels out of the fiber extracted from cabuya, a succulent that looks like agave. The artisan works with the cabuya's natural texture to form the bells, each a different color and topped with a gold ribbon bow and red paper flower.

The art and skill of creating handicrafts from cabuya has been handed down through Blanca Padilla's family for generations. The artisan sources her material herself, growing and harvesting the cabuya, extracting the fiber, and preparing it for use in the handicrafts. Blanca Padilla hopes to help revitalize the cabuya craft industry with the success of her designs.