Handmade Toys, our Sweet Memories

In the childhood everybody has a favorite toy.

As a kid, you find wonder in everything; and every toy is special: dolls, teddy bears, stuffed animals, little accessories, tiny beads, dried flowers – you name it!

For many of the girls, our favorite toys were dolls, all kinds of dolls - big and small, new and old, with real dresses and painted faces, brushable hair or with no hair.

I had my favorite dolls too. But my most beautiful dolls were those that I and my childhood girlfriends made of flowers that we took from the neighbors’ gardens. They had luxurious dresses and hats, tiny hands and waists, and they could dance tirelessly.
We all competed in making the prettiest dolls out of flowers, and even though they didn’t last long – we kept making them again and again having no mercy for those who grew the plants.

There is no shortage of toy stores nowadays with enormous selection of every toy under the sun. Nothing seems to surprise us anymore.

However, I was absolutely stunned recently when I accidently bumped into the collection of hand-crafted dolls and other toys from Russian crafters on website called Odnoklassniki, a Russian version of Facebook. There were hundreds of pictures of absolutely adorable handmade dolls created in a million different techniques with love and care, and a great sense of humor. They are something you wish you had when you were a child.

With a great respect and admiration I’d like to introduce you to some of Russian Crafters – great Masters who dedicate their time and creativity to make world a better place for our little loved ones.

As a crafter myself, I can definitely appreciate creativity and mastery of the craft. I literally spent a few days browsing those amazing doll collections.   

Please enjoy the gallery. I hope those images will help you to recall your sweet childhood memories. I’d love to hear what your favorite toy was, when you were a kid.

If you'd like to see more hand-crafted doll photos, please visit my blog, where I posted a Russian version of this post.
 

Photo credits:
Cow toy with a blue flower, Yulia Sokolova
Teacher doll, Alesya Mihailevich
Handmade cow doll with sunflowers, Tatka Besserdechnih
Hand-crafted mouse toy, Margarita Avanesiyantz
Handmade frog toy, Elena Kovaleva
"Lady in black" Doll, Zoya-Brilliantova
Girl in a yellow dress with blue eyes, Katerinna Kuz'mina