who doesn't love a Giraffe?

So, who doesn't love a giraffe?  Show me someone who doesn't smile a little when they see a lanky-legged little baby giraffe.  Or even a gigantic stable-footed giraffe.  I mean, they are adorable, right?

I seem to be having a newly-ish rekindled love affair with giraffes!

And, it seems that everywhere I look, I am finding a ton of giraffe stuff that I am obsessing over.

Over Christmas, my sister sent me a link to this super cute sweater from LRG, and of course I just had to have it.  It's oversized, comfy, and thankfully not too itchy.  I was concerned with the itch factor because of the mohair content, but it hasn't been an issue.


My sister also gave me this darling little giraffe trinket tray from Anthropologie.  I have it on my night stand, and it is the perfect place for earrings and rings to live.

Something about coming home to this little cutie and putting my hoop earrings around its neck and some of my rings into the tray just makes me happy.


Anthropologie always has a ton of cute stuff, and they have a few other adorable giraffe items right now.

How about this fun little giraffe bust made from layers of cement bags covered with vintage French book pages.  If giraffes aren't your favorite, there are other animal busts to pick from.

This adorable Paul & Joe dress is on sale right now.  Definitely not something you can wear every day, but it is totally cute.  If too short for you as a dress, put on over skinny jeans or leggings and voila! enough coverage, and still super cute!

This cardigan from Anthropologie is also so cute!  You can have a giraffe give you a hug all day long!

Need some giraffe for the guy in your life (or for you, as I wear men's t-shirts frequently, especially for the gym) check this little gem out (from Urban Outfitters).

Need a little giraffe jewelry to adorn yourself with?  

These 2 necklaces might foot the bill.  

I have this one from J.Crew Factory.  I wear it all the time, and love it.  It is pretty small, and is on a long-ish chain.  At only $12.50, it is a steal!

And, this one, from Urban Outfitters, is equally as adorable.  And, is only $16.  This one is on a shorter chain - 16".

Giraffes even made an appearance (along with some other animals) at my wedding.  I wish it was in the form of a petting zoo, but the husband wouldn't let me go that far.  And, on second thought, having a petting zoo at a wedding might be a little messy.

For our escort cards and table numbers, we used a variety of animal ink stamps (we purchased from The Paper Source).  Each table had an animal label and the escort cards had the matching animal.

The animal stamps were small, so we stamped them on paper, cut them out, then scanned them and enlarged them so they would be suitable for table numbers.  We printed them out on card stock, then glued them together so the animal was visible on each side.  Then we glued them to straws (as stakes) to be put into the centerpieces.  The stamps fit onto the escort cards as-is, so no extra  scanning & printing was needed. 

We had multiple mini-desserts in addition to a cake.  We needed some way to label everything, and I thought it would be cute to use animals.  We found these gigantic animals on Amazon, and then made and printed the labels ourselves and tied them to the animals with the same baker's twine that we used on the favors.  There were several animals that didn't have labels on them but that were scattered about the table for added decor and cuteness.  

The cake toppers are Jonathan Adler ceramic giraffes that I bought years ago.  We made a green tie out of felt for the "boy/groom" giraffe, and a little veil out of elastic and tulle for the "girl/bride" giraffe.

And, the animal masks we found at Diddam's party supply store for the photobooth were a HUGE hit!

Animals aren't for everyone, but I LOVE them.  They can be cute, funny, fuzzy, furry, warm, cuddly, and slightly absurd (but in a good way, especially when used in moderation).


Wedding pictures taken by the amazing Ginny (and her husband Mike) of Retrospect Images in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Desserts made by Sweet Tooth Confections in San Jose, CA.  Photobooth by Photo3lements.


UPDATE:
This is just plain wrong.  Prevent inbreeding by sending your excess giraffes to another zoo, not killing them.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/Zoo-staff-get-death-threats-after-giraffe-killing-5220920.php