In our country, before the revolution, a Christmas tree was put up in honor of the holiday of the Nativity of Christ. The production of toys of those years was poorly developed, and everything that the forest beauty was decorated with was either imported from Germany or made by hand. The outfit of the Christmas tree in those days consisted of symbols of events that happened to humanity. It was customary to decorate the Christmas tree with apples - in honor of the tree of Good and Evil, with candles and angels - as a symbol of purity, and a six-pointed star crowned the crown - in memory of the Bethlehem miracle of the Nativity of Christ.

After the revolution, it was forbidden to celebrate Christmas and decorate Christmas trees, but even the most powerful leaders could not eradicate this tradition. During the period of persecution, people still decorated Christmas trees, and the most beautiful and unusual Christmas decorations were secretly created by hand. Unable to cope with the "spirit of Christmas", in 1935 the Christmas tree was returned to use, but already in the role of a tree for the New Year.

With each new stage in the life of Russia, the outfit of the New Year's beauty underwent strong changes, the form and content of toys changed from year to year. Portraits of leaders on New Year's balls were replaced by images of military subjects and so on.

We live in an amazing age: the past of many generations is open to us, we can not only buy an ordinary “stamped” toy, but also create the most original and unique - our own. We can decorate the Christmas tree with everything we want: from glass and sweets to homemade balls and bears. In this article, I have collected for you interesting ideas and ready-made Christmas toys.

Decorations from gingerbread and cookies

This decoration is very ancient and traditional. Previously, gingerbread was covered with glaze, gold and silver foil, and pure gold leaf was used - such thin layers that they instantly stuck to the surface, and you could eat them with the gingerbread.

But many years ago, people could not even imagine that dyes of all colors of the rainbow and various delicious decor elements would appear. You will learn how to make a cookie decoration by watching a master class.

Salt dough toys

Although the edibility of salt dough toys is a big question, they look very appetizing, are stored for a long time and are made very simply.

For salt dough you will need:

• 2 cups of flour;
• 1 glass of salt;
• about 250 g of cold water.

We mix everything, after which we roll out the kneaded dough and cut out the figures. You can immediately add dye at the stage of creating the test, and the toy will be even more interesting, while it will not need to be covered with paint. Then the dough crafts need to be dried: in the open air it will take 2-3 days, and in a non-hot oven (up to 50 ° C) with the door ajar - 6-12 hours. Dried figures can be decorated: covered with paint, glaze, decorated with buttons, shells, beads, pebbles, and so on.

Salty toys are interesting to create even with the smallest fidget: this option is not only cost-effective, but also very attractive.

I picked up a visual master class for creating a cute sheep from salt dough:

Our readers also do not waste time in vain and create these.

Toys made of beads and beads

What could be easier than stringing beads on a wire and bending it into any shape our soul desires? And how many beautiful things can be braided with beads!

Also, toys made from scraps of brocade and other interesting fabrics, decorated with beads, beads and sequins, look very nice.

pom pom toys

With this toy, we (my child and I) started preparing for the holiday this year. It becomes even warmer on the heart when a fabulous owl or fluffy lamb, made by oneself, looks at you from the branches of a Christmas tree.

To bring this toy to life, you will need:

• a ball of thread you like;
• some colored cardboard;
• PVA glue.

The thicker the thread, the less it will go to create a pompom. Eyes can be bought ready-made or drawn on cardboard.

We cut out a circle from cardboard or any other dense material and begin to wrap it with threads. When the hole is difficult to pass a pencil, boldly cut your threads along the contour of the circle.

In the middle we tie the resulting bundle with a thread, and remove the cardboard. Now we fluff the pompom - the craft material is ready! We make up our favorite animal from pompoms and decorate it with details cut out of cardboard: horns, hooves, eyes, and so on.

Snowmen from a sock and grits

Did your friend have a hole in your sock? It doesn't matter, the wildest dreams can come true on New Year's Eve, even if they belong to a sock. There was a sock, but there was a snowman!

Pour some rice into the sock, tie it with a ribbon, separating the head of the future snowman from the body, fill the rest with rice, tie it tightly. You can put a child’s sock on the head of a newly made snowman and make a hat, sew on bead eyes, draw a mouth and blush your cheeks with a pencil, paint or mother’s shadows (be careful with this!). And the sock's dreams take shape!

These are the beauties that our relatives, the owners of an unlimited amount of rice and Christmas excitement, turned out to be.

Thread toys

In essence, they are close to pompoms, since the materials for creation will be the same. But the structure of the thread is important here. The silkier it is, the more interesting the toy will turn out.

We cut out any figures you like from thick cardboard or polystyrene foam, and wrap them with yarn. We decorate with everything that comes to mind: buttons, glass beads, beads, bows and so on.

You can take threads of a dense texture and create angels or little men from them.

I had different viscose threads, beads and buttons, shells from the sea, ribbons. Everything that came to hand went into action.

It turned out pretty nice, right?

I really like these toys!

Felt itself is a timeless material, with its own special soul, and if you breathe this soul into the shape, any Christmas tree will become irresistible.

It is very good that there are craftsmen like Svetlana who not only easily implement their ideas, but also share them with the rest:.

Twig toys

Using thread or wire, various twigs and your favorite spray paint, you can create very unusual figures: from snowflakes to deer.

Straw toys can also be included in this category, this material is very malleable and easy to use. When I was little, at my grandmother's in the village we made bears, horses and angels from straw ourselves.