Love and Hope

Crafted by members of the Lopez Garcia Family of Guatemala, these quitapenas dolls make a wonderful gift for friends or family that tells the recipient you care about their well-being and wish them the best. Quitapenas means 'to remove worries' in Spanish; artisan Aura Lopez explains the Mayan worry doll tradition. 'My grandparents said that the way to use them was to take the doll out of the bag or wooden box and tell it your problems and fears,' she states. 'Then, you place the doll under your pillow and, the next day, your problem becomes smaller or can be resolved.' The set consists of two pairs of male and female worry dolls joined together by a red heart. Handmade, the dolls are dressed in vividly-colored traditional Guatemalan attire and arrive in a pouch of handwoven cotton fabric.