Brown Paper Journals

Brown butcher paper is one of my favorite things (especially with off white lace). Yesterday, I picked up a brown paper (inside and out) composition book to collage in and a few Moleskines for sketches. I haven't quite decided yet what I am going to collage. Maybe outfits or just inspirational images and scraps. Or maybe a nature journal with sketches of natural treasures. Any suggestions anyone?

New Boots!

Horray! For months, I have been drooling over these lovely mid-calf lace up boots that seem to be ubiquitous in both the Eastern and Western fashion scenes. The boots are perfect for romping around in the forest. On top of that, that are light enough for year round use! The only obstacle between my feet and a pair of these lovely boots was my shoe size; a cringing US women's 11. Notice my use of past tense there. Well, I guess there wouldn't be a post if it wasn't... Anyways, I found them! My wonderful Grandmother decided that she wanted to take me shoe shopping (yipee)! Doing a little bit of research before we left, I discovered that our destination (DSW) had my desired style of boots, in my size! Once we arrived, I discovered though that the initial color I wanted (tan) did not have my size in the store. Next to these were the exact same style of boot in black in my size. Still just as giddy as before I happily scooped up the shoes and practically skipped out the door! Aren't they beautiful? Simple, black faux leather boots with a modest heel and without the lazy zipper on the side. I can't wait to wear them to school tomorrow <3

If you are currently searching for boots like these, here are a few tips that may aid in your search

MIA Benito boot at DSW

  Free People Acme boot

Prague boot by Wanted

Suedutte Midcalf Workman boots by Forever 21

Happy boot hunting!  

Mori-esque Video Games

One of the challenges when attempting to live a mori or natural-kei lifestyle is trying to adapt non-natural items such as electronics. In this post, I will be talking about how to outfit your gaming system mori-style!

Firstly, what video games could possible constitute mori? In a world of magical girls and super villains, the pickings appear pretty slim. Luckily, I've unearthed a few titles that may suit a mori mindset. I chose to include only Nintendo DS games (for now?) because I am most familiar with them. They portability and customization options also make them ideal for the mori enthusiast.

On to the games:

Animal Crossing Wild World: I personally love this game! Create your own character and participate in year round events and activities such as holidays, fishing, shopping, making snow men, plant flowers, collect fruit, collecting acorns, talking to neighbors, decorating your home and watching stars!

Gardening Mama: A sequel to Cooking Mama, grow, tend and harvest your own garden of flowers and other goodies!

Rune Factory: This JRPG has beautiful, almost watercolor-quality, whimsical graphics. From what I have seen, this game allows you to tend to a garden, interact with animals and much more complete with a story line.

Harvest Moon DS Cute: This game allows you to live as a farmer, growing and selling a variety of crops, tending to animals and even entering them in fairs! This cute game has a bit of level grinding, but is still plenty enjoyable to play.

Time for the accessories! Accessorizing your DS through cases, skins and straps can be very useful in creating your desired natural kei-aesthetic.

Recommendations: 

 

Here is a forest green silicon case for your Nintendo DSi avaliable on Amazon

This is a cute card/cartridge holder from Paper Plane Products

Here are a few cute DS cases also from Paper Plane Products

And yet another item from Paper Plane Products; a cute coffee-themed DS skin

I hope these ideas will help you spruce up your DS!

Craft Post: Hair Clips + Bag

I made these little hair accessories + bag a while back and thought I would share them here :) I plan on selling them as well, so comment if you are interested!

Hair Clips


White Rose

More White Roses

Red Roses

Large Acorns

Small Acorns

Cow Tooth

Small Pinecone

Lace & Straw Bag

October Lifestyle Ideas

Autumn is the season of mori! The season to celebrate the forest and start layering your look. Here listed are a few simple ideas to inspire your every day mori-girl (or guy)!

• Go acorn hunting! Prepare a pretty basket or treasure pouch and collect acorns of different shapes and sizes. Use them for decoration or add them to your ourfit.
• Collect oak or other large autumn-esque leaves and string them into a garland. Hang it above your window, bed or mirror. 
• As the weather gets chillier, faux fur is a smart and cute way to add layer to your look. Add a faux fur caplet or collar like this one to your outfit. Bonus points if it's spotted! (If anyone finds spotted fur like a fawn's, please tell me)!
• Consider adding a crochet lace collar to your outfit. Something like this would work beautifully.
• If you live in an area that grows apples, why not take a trip to an apple orchard? Not only is it a beautiful backdrop for photos, but you can also make many delicious treats with your basket of goodies!
• Take a trip to a forest, or maybe just your backyard. Bring your camera and look for little ferns, moss and maybe a critter or do. Perhaps an outfit shot as well?
• Start thinking of scarves, mittens, earmuffs and other winter accessories. Try making a light scarf by sewing together lace doilies.
• Dress up in a mori-themed costume for Halloween! Perhaps little red riding hood, a wolf, scarecrow  deer, rabbit, owl or woodland nymph.
• Decorate your space with unique varieties of pumpkins and other autumn gourds.

DIY: Mushrooms

Make little mushrooms out of acorn caps and twigs for various decorations or even a necklace.

Materials

• Acorn caps (how ever big or small you desire)
• Twigs and short branches or various sizes
• Cotton balls
• Glue
• Optional: string for a necklace

Directions: Use the acorn tops as the caps of the mushrooms. Add a dab of glue and a bit of cotton to the inside of the cap. Attach the "stem" (twig) to the cotton. If you desire, you can string the mushroom onto a necklace by gluing it or drilling holes in the acorn not previous to construction. I used these little guys in the potted plants in my room. They are an easy way to add cute mushrooms without worrying about spore or allergies.

I found this tutorial on a crafting website, though I cannot remember which at this moment. 

Train Adventure

This weekend my boyfriend and I skipped out on homecoming to ride a steam train from the 1920's. The train car was very beautiful and nostalgic. The original wood, metal and even the seat cushions had been wonderfully preserved. The ride was a pleasant 2 and a half hours through the scenic hill country. The weather permitted us to open the windows in the air conditioning-less cart and enjoy a gentle cool breeze. I packed a picnic lunch for us to snack on aboard. During our layover, we explored a tiny town. We shopped antique stores and ate slices of pie. One curious event occurred at an antique shop I have visited several years ago with my family. The elderly woman attending her store greeted me with a "welcome back". it was a little eerie that she recognized me so quickly. After shopping and exploring we rode back to town and were also greeted by several horses running along side the tracks. It made for a wonderful day! I highly recommend riding a old-fashioned steam train. Riding through the forests and hills gave the experience a very mori-esque feel. 

My treasures

I hope to ride the train again some day!

School Supplies: Mori Style

If you're still in school, you know too well just how boring school supplies can be. The generic spiral journals and wooden pencils just don't give you the pep you need to get through the day. Hopefully there are others like me that take school supplies very seriously. To help aid in the morning monotony, I have composed a list of ideas to mori-fy your school day.

Firstly, is your backpack. You need something to hold all of your new goodies, don't you? Satchels made of canvas, denim and floral prints are signature of mori style.

This is my backpack. I picked it up at a second-hand store in japan for the fabulous price of just 700 yen (aprx $7.00). After a few repairs and a piece of lace on the zipper, it was good to go!

Other good picks:

Urban Outfitters Canvas Ecotote

Topshop Faux Fur Rucksack (Click for image)

Large Cord Rucksack (Click for image) 

 

Now on to journals and note books!

• Beat the 50 cent spirals with hard-cover bound journals
• Look for covers in  solid colors, like foresty greens, browns, tans and creams
• Moleskine creates a wide variety of soft and hard cover journals and planners in several colors
• Use old maps to cover textbooks
• Hind unattractive covers by covering them in brown butcher paper or sewing your own textbook or planner covers our of felt. Bonus: embroider them with cute motifs like ferns and woodland animals. Even better: crochet book covers if you know how!
• Laminate large leaves to use as book marks for required reading
• If you use plastic binders, buy the ones with the plastic cover and insert botanical illustrations, prints and old photos
• Add pressed flowers in between the pages of your planner, or leave them in a textbook for next year's students

Pencils and the like

•  Keep a small "treasure pouch" to store your pencils and pens. Forest Bound on Etsy occasionally makes some out of recycled canvas and other materials.  
• Use small pouches to also case your electronics, such as your phone, music player or calculator
• Opt for natural wood pencils over yellow ones
• Use ink pens rather than ball point for a more polished look

Lunch time

• Try a re-usable canvas bag to store lunch goodies
• When the weather is nice a while a picnic may be appropriate outside during lunch at school. Pack a wicker basket topped with a piece of cloth or doily. 

I hope these tips will add some style to your school schedule! 

Room Tour

My room is one of my favorite places because I put a lot of effort into perfecting my aesthetic vision of interior design. It is never stagnant; constantly changing, just like my tastes. I feed that it is an excellent representation of the mori aesthetic, though I didn't plan this. I simply assemble collections of my favorite things and display them appropriately. My room is not a representation of my life, by rather the aesthetics of my life. I can guarantee next week my room will not like identical to these photos, but for the moment, this is my room. Without further rambling, here are snapshots from my room.

I really enjoy interior design so expect many more tips and inspiration to follow!
Interior Design Tips

• Bring the nature in! This is defiantly the most important aspect of natural-kei. Collect leaves, acrons, bones, dried flowers, coral, fresh flowers, insect remains (like cicada shells) to display
• Use natural materials like wicker in place of plastic bins and containers
• Arrange treasures on stacks of vintage or antique books
• Vintage zoology and botany prints make excellent wall art
• Glass mason jars are an attractive way to store small items 
• Lace doilies in antique or tea-stained colors add a feminine touch to natural materials
• Frame dried flowers and plants to hand as mori art
• Antique, well-loved stuffed animals add a whimsical feel to a room
• Create a mini forest scene with tiny hand-painted ceramic and porcelain critters
• Add silk flower/leaf garlands around mirrors, bulletin boards and windows 
• Create a tiny indoor garden by plating small plants (succulents are hardy) in mason jars and place near a window with adequate sunshine. Don't forget to water!

An Introduction

An Introduction

Hello readers and welcome to Fern & Fawn; a blog based around mori and natural-kei fashion. What is mori and natural-kei fashion? The term "mori" means dense forest in Japanese and "natural-kei" roughly translates to "natural look".

This is not going to be mori-girl 101, this blog is designed for the slightly more seasoned mori girl or guy. The purpose of this blog is to inspire wardrobe and lifestyle tips and ideas for those interested in the mori and natural aesthetic. Here you will find outfits, crafts, lifestyle and fashion tips, art, decorating inspiration, notable findings, relevant events, item reviews and much more.

Why Fern & Fawn? Firstly, these are two of my favorite things. I have tried to incorporate my love or nature. beauty and natural aesthetic into one cohesive location; this blog.

A little about me? My name is Gabrielle and I have been interested in mori fashion for a little over a year. I perfer to hand make or find my outfit items second hand and vintage. I am also very interested in natural-kei interior design. I am a member of the livejournal  mori girl community and I can be found under the name littleskies101.

I hope you enjoy my blog!