Handmade treasures and neighborhood adventures

While the Hubby has been gone, the girls have been busy.  Kido and I made a trek to a new store located just off of Istikal Caddesi called Nihal.  If you are ever in the area, this place is worth turning down the small alley to find. It sells handmade items and also operates as a second-hand clothing store.   Money from the store goes back to fund continued development, schools, and activities of these ladies.  The handmade items are made by Turkish women in underdeveloped regions of Turkey.  There is everything from beautiful handcrafted soaps tucked into embroidered pouches to beautiful felt house decorations.

Many of the decorations include a brief story about the legend of the Anatolian bell.  Apparently, in some parts of Turkey, the sound of a sheep bell is suppose to bring happiness and good wishes.  Little bells have been sewn into several decorations you can hang from windows or doors.  Our favorites included a small felt house complete with a twinkling blue eyeball bead (a nazar in Turkish).

The "evil eye" is part of another legend in this area of the world. According to the stories, the little blue beads     or decorations shaped like blue eyeballs ward off ill wishes and can protect the owner or wearer from evil.  We have also heard that the blue eyes must be given as gifts in order to work.  The little eyeballs are in everything here from jewelry to tiles, to plates.

The Kido also enjoyed wandering down Istikal and munching some gelato from a small ice cream shop down the street.  We peaked in the window of Ipek, another favorite shop on the street.  Ipek is known for their silk scarves, ties, and handmade wraps.  It is a fun barrage of color and textures just to peek in the window.  The Kido loved a brown, white, and cream scarf that was embroidered with textured flowers and birds.

I love wandering Istikal and the Beyolu area.  Even though we have been here for 2 years, there are always new places to discover and treasures to be found.


Two trolleys like this run up and down Istikal.  We got this shot over the summer.  Kido loves the trolleys and would spend all her time looking at them if she could!