Our painted bird and animal ornaments are carved by hand out of fallen jacaranda tree branches and surplus wood. They are made in Nicodemus and Cecilia’s Fair Trade workshop in the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya. Nicodemus and Cecilia have a small family workshop specializing in wood carving, and Mifuko has been collaborating with them since 2010. All the artisans have been trained by Nicodemus’ parents, thus passing on the handicraft tradition to a younger generation. The entire process of carving, sanding and painting is done by hand by talented artisans. While the branches are still soft, they are cut and carved into birds and then dried before sanding. The delicate wooden birds are then painted meticulously with water-based acrylic colors. Once painted, each bird gets six coats of clear varnish with time to dry between each application. Each bird takes several hours to finish, and each is unique.