Toys made of cotton wool: old technology, details in the video / Toys with their own hands, patterns, video, MK

April 9, 2018 handmadebase

New Year is a happy and cheerful holiday.It is especially desirable to create something beautiful, beautiful, and most importantly, with your own hands, during this period. After all, there is a great desire to please your loved ones with beautiful things and unusual ideas. Toys made of cotton wool look especially beautiful and cute, it is not difficult to make them using old technology, the main thing is to know the secret of these New Year's decorations and have imagination. Such toys can be presented as a gift, they can make an original composition in the room, in addition, such a "Soviet" toy can be hung on the Christmas tree, because retro products always add color and originality.

The history of cotton toys

Today the tree is sparkling and richly decoratedis an obligatory attribute of the New Year and Christmas. Glass beads, foil rain, large bright balls hanging on spruce branches give adult children faith in fairy tales and holiday miracles. However, Christmas tree decorations were not always made of plastic. The first products for decorating the Christmas tree were made of cotton wool. Since 1700, by decree of Peter I, the celebration of the New Year in the Russian Empire was moved from September to January. On the eve of the holiday, people started a tradition of hanging roofs, gates and doors of houses with pine branches. However, there was no additional decor at that time. The decree of Peter about Christmas-tree toys Towards the end of the 19th century, Western influences came into the country.The custom of decorating a Christmas tree on Christmas Eve was borrowed from the German people. Mass production of glass toys had already been established in Europe. But Russia did not have the necessary amount of raw materials to launch its own glass-blowing factories, and importing finished products from abroad was very expensive. Therefore, Christmas tree toys began to be made of cotton wool. Cotton wool had excellent characteristics: it was valued for its softness, pliability, durability and ability to interact with other materials. There was enough raw material for work, and the craftsmen at the factories put their whole soul into creating holiday decor. The first Christmas tree pendants were called "Dresden toys." They were made by hand from pressed cotton wool and were flat relief figures. Cardboard was often used as a basis: it gave the product greater strength. Christmas toys of the early 20th century A little later, the masters mastered the artvolumetric modeling and began the production of three-dimensional cotton toys in the form of Christmas symbols - stars and angels. Each figure was covered with paste diluted in starch. This composition made the toy hard and less vulnerable to contamination. During the revolution, there was a change of power, a new government did not encourage the celebration of Christmas. In 1929, an official decree was issued banning Christmas and all its attributes. But this did not stop people. Secretly in their homes, they still decorated the tree with cotton wool products. The creation of Christmas tree toys was done underground. This period saw the creation of unique hand-made works that are valuable to today's collectors. Toys made of cotton wool on the Christmas tree In 1935, the holiday was returned to the people.The Christmas theme was replaced by the New Year theme, instead of cherubs and six-pointed stars, they began to produce figurines of the Soviet mood - ordinary people, athletes, fairy tale characters. Natural motifs were widespread - vegetables, mushrooms and fruits as symbols of prosperity and fertility. Starting from the 50s, factories used machines for winding cotton wool and hot stamping of cotton toys. This gradually replaced manual work. In the 60s, the process of creating Christmas tree toys was completely mechanized and put on a new foot. Since then, New Year tree decorations have been mass-produced according to the same patterns and have lost their uniqueness. Therefore, products manufactured since 1966 are not considered rarities and are of no value to collectors. Collectible toys made of cotton wool Now the fashion for self-made cotton toys is back. Modern masters are trying to revive this trend of art to give him a second life.

Famous masters

Many modern famous needlewomencreate vintage toys using technologies once invented by our grandparents. One of such needlewomen is Elena Vasko, New Year's toys made of cotton wool made by her are very popular. Master classes, secrets and features of creating these dolls inspire many to make such Christmas tree decorations themselves. Such masters as Irina Cherepanova and Natalia Rodina are also quite popular in this area. Their lessons can be easily found on the Internet, they are a visual aid on how to make wonderful creations from cotton wool.

Preparatory work

Christmas tree decorations made of cotton wool have the advantage ofthat they are made from scrap materials and do not require large expenses. History tells us that our ancestors did not know how to make toys for the Christmas tree, or did not have the opportunity to buy them. That is why such a technology was born. So, amazing vintage, colorful and beautiful Christmas tree toys are made from the following materials:

cotton wool;
glue;
newspapers;
wire.

Particular attention should be paid to the fact that individualsfor toys often made from salted dough. If several toys are supposed to be created, it is best to create preforms in advance. The technique for creating faces from the dough is this: you need to take two parts of flour and one part of salt, dilute with water, add a flesh-colored paint to give the blanks a natural color. After that, you can sculpt your face, but you do not need to make it very dense. It's important to make a recess behind. You can do it on your finger so that it does not spread out. Next, the baking process of the blanks follows, for this you can use an oven or an open pan. The billets are baked for half an hour. On top, they must be painted: draw eyes, mouth, eyebrows, etc. Then cover the blank with a clear varnish, you can use a regular nail polish. In advance, you also need to prepare cotton: paint it in different colors. Aniline dyes for the fabric are used for this. How to make cotton wool color? It is necessary to unwrap pieces of cotton wool, put them in a pan. In advance in a saucepan dilute the dye and bring the water to a boil. For a few minutes, the cotton should be left in the water with the dye, then squeeze and hang out to dry. It is desirable to think in advance what colors will be needed and prepare all the necessary shades.

Technology of creation

A little imagination, skill and patience - andyour unique Christmas tree decoration will be created. Below is the instruction for creating Santa Claus and Snow Maiden - traditional symbols of the New Year, always relevant.

You need to take a long piece of smooth wire and bend it in half - you get a loop for the head. After this, two more loops are created, which will form the basis of the shoulders.

It is necessary to pass a short piece of wire into the loops that form the shoulders, and clamp them using the combination pliers. This is to ensure that the design does not slip out and does not break.

With the help of pliers, it is necessary to bend the feet and twist the lower ends in such a way that the waist turns out.

After that, you need to take the cotton, painted in graycolor, and start spinning it around the stop toy. These will be felt boots. It is necessary to periodically lower the fingers in the glue and continue to screw, pressing the cotton wool to the wire. The glue will give strength to the toy being created. The same thing you need to do with the second leg.

The same technology is used to create mittens on the hands of toys.

Now is the time to move to the body. Initially, you need to use paper and wrap the stripes of the newspaper with your torso, always apply glue with glue.

Hands and feet are also initially glued with paper.

The frame of the toy is created. Now the line of clothes. Strips of colored cotton wool wrapped around the sleeves, not forgetting to wet their fingers in the glue.

Next, from white cotton wool panties are made, in the same way a fur coat is formed.

From the cotton wool of white flowers you need to make a fringe on the fur coat.

It is imperative to give the toy a shape.To do this, carefully bend the arms and adjust the legs. From the blanks, you need to choose a suitable face and glue it to the previously created wire loop. The head is easily glued with regular PVA glue. After that, the entire structure should be left so that it dries well and takes the desired shape. For the Snow Maiden, you need to create a braid. It is also made of cotton wool. The technique of regular braiding will help in this matter. After the glue dries, a hat is made, both the Snow Maiden and Father Frost need it. But the Snow Maiden's braid is carefully tucked under the hat.

Symbols of the Year

You can make not only Snow Maiden and Father Frostusing this technique. It is symbolic to create symbols of the year from cotton wool. Using the example of creating a goat, you can see how toys are created using the same materials: wire, paper and cotton wool. The peculiarity of this method is thatcotton wool is not pre-painted in water. But this will not work for all animals. A goat can be white, so the cotton wool does not need to be painted. But there is another feature here - creating an outfit for the animal. It can be made of fabric. When inventing retro toys, you can dress them in national clothes, embroidery and ruffles always look beautiful. Blanks for heads are not needed here. The entire toy is created using paper and cotton wool, all parts of the body are rolled from these materials. Do not forget about glue. When the toy is created, leave it to dry, and start creating an outfit. A Kuban sarafan with embroidery is perfect as clothing. Especially inventive ones will be able to dress the animal in a fur coat of the same Snow Maiden or Father Frost. Of course, someone may say that such products are not in fashion, and in the modern world you can buy an incredible number of options for toys for the Christmas tree. But such wonderful decorations are impossible to find. Making such Christmas tree decorations can be a family affair, and in the evenings you can make toys using this technique. Mother is engaged with her daughter Even small children can participate in this. This will be an opportunity to touch the beautiful, to develop their creative abilities. And also have a hand in creating New Year's decorations for a Christmas tree. Such "old" toys can be made at home in a completely uncomplicated way. At the same time, they can be presented as a gift as a souvenir or supplement to the main presentation. Such toys give absolutely unusual, fantastic mood. To hang them on the Christmas tree is also a special pleasure. And it's not even the beauty of such products and their originality, but the fact that things created with their own hands are valued especially. The more such toys, the more colorful the Christmas tree will be decorated. Moreover, it is possible to create absolutely any toy using such technique.

Photo master-class "Guys Nalochka"

An exceptionally beautiful photo tutorial by master ChirunArt. The toys are made using the old technique of "cotton wool + paste". Natalia Rodina's toys Materials and tools: