Russian folk crafts with their own hands: symbols and materials, creative ideas and step-by-step master classes

A national folk toy is a heritage of our ancestors, passed down to us through the craft skills of the masters of the past. It is a unique combination of folk, arts and crafts and art.

Toys usually have a difference in their type, what materials they are made of and how they are made. Very important can be considered the fact that the toy is directly linked to the economic and labor details of man, with religious customs and rituals.

Figurines of people, animals and objects is part of the educational process and social adaptation to the life of children.

Symbolism of Russian folk crafts

Our toy is not only colorful, and its images pleasing to both children and adults, but also carries symbolism. Made of clay or wood crafts of living creatures or objects embedded meaning. Each figurine carries its own information from the past:

• Rooster - a symbol of sunlight. Apparently because this bird is the first to wake up and tell the world about the arrival of a new day.
• Goat - symbol of fertility and unpretentiousness.
• The goat is a symbol of fertility and unpretentiousness. And since it was mostly women (girls, girls, women, grandmothers) who carried water with a cleaver, the mistress of the house was supposed to be in charge of the family balance or harmony.
• The axe was a symbol of protection against disease and other troubles.

Materials and tools for work

The Russian toy was made and is made today from different materials: wood, birch bark, clay, straw the tools at hand, which are in every home. Depending on the material used those or other tools. Let's talk about some of them.

Toys made of wood

Toys sawed, whittled or assembled from different elements are best made of hardwoods:

• apple tree,
• pear,
• oak,
• birch,
• pine (any conifers).

In addition to measuring tools and a pencil, you will need:

• hacksaw,
• planer,
• hammer,
• screwdrivers,
• A glue gun.

To connect the structural elements you will need:

• nails,
• screws,
• wood glue,
• silicone glue.

If the crafts are made by carving, then soft varieties of wood will be needed. Lime is an excellent wood for carving. Wood carving tools will be needed for this kind of work:

• knife,
• straight and semi-circular chisels,
• dowels (narrow half-round chisels).

Clay toy

To work with this material we need to understand what clay is, and its two kinds: mountain and polymeric.

Mountain or natural clay, has several colors depending on the presence of iron, minerals and salts:

• Red. Holds temperature well. In nature, it has a brown color with a greenish cast.
• Blue. Rich in minerals and salts. A very good cosmetic.
• White. The most accessible of the natural clays. In nature it has a dirty dark gray color. Gains white color after firing.

Artificial material for modeling - polymer. It has very important for itself properties: heat resistance and plasticity.

This type of technologically new material may require firing after molding, may have properties to harden on its own.

To work with this interesting product, you may need the following accessories:

• A stable and level table.
• A rag to wipe your hands.
• Gloves, in case you have to knead the clay yourself.
• Apron.
• A small knife: cloisonne or penknife.
• Tools for making patterns. They can be not only factory-made, but also can be made from improvised means.
• "Sandpaper" from zero to five.
• A rolling pin for rolling out the clay. It can be found at any hostess.
• Decorating tools.

Ideas for clay figures

Doll - twist, what can be easier to make such a toy will need a cloth and certain skills. But you can also make a beautiful clay figure.

Animals

Start modeling with clay should be very simple. Let's assume the figure of an animal, consider the stage of modeling a fairy tale beast step by step:

1. Take a piece of clay of the size you want the figure to be.
2. Knead the substance.
3. Roll out on a surface.
4. Tear off a small piece from the rolled workpiece. This will be the head.
5. Roll a ball of a small piece (future head) of the remaining clay roll "sausage".
6. At both ends of the piece of "sausage" make incisions. This is the future legs of the animal.
7. Bend the piece "sausage" in the shape of the desired animal. We get the torso.
8. Connect the body and head.
9. Make a muzzle.

If you plan to further firing, do not make the animal too big. This can make it difficult to immerse the toy in the oven for firing.

"Barinya".

Doll in folk costume on the example of Dymkovo toy.

Consider step by step how the product is made:

1. We mold the skirt. Make a wide base hollow inside. Roll the flagellum and lay them in a circle. According to the principle: the higher, the narrower.
2. Smooth the laid out flagella, so that the skirt looks like a single piece. Should get a kind of stupa.
3. Beginning to make the torso doll. Smoke an oval, at the end of the figure do an oval already, it will be the neck. Put the head. In this skirt-stupa insert the torso with the head of the future doll.
4. We make the hands. Again we twist flagella, these are his hands. On the hands do sleeves. On the reverse side of the flagellum flatten. Hands glued to the body and put them on the waist doll.
5. We make a headdress. We make a flagellum, gently flatten it, bend it into a semicircle, put the headdress on his head.
6. Make a scythe. From the two flagella do a spiral, bend, fasten to the back of his head. Putting shoulder braid on the doll.
7. Make ruffles for a skirt. Tourniquet wavy strengthen on the hem.

The figure of Barini is ready, now we need to paint her:

1. The doll is completely covered with whitewash.
2. Dry.
3. Paint the body and braid. We do not paint the skirt and the headdress, we leave it to apply the ornament.
4. Apply patterns in the style of Dymkovo toys. The basis of the pattern of such a toy are dots, circles, wavy lines and straight lines.
5. Draw a face of Baryna.

Applications on the theme of Russian folk tales

Applique is an image of something by gluing, cutting out of any material or embroidering in any way.

Applique can be made in any style in any direction, but let's consider the theme of Russian folk tales.

For work you may need:

• White cardboard of format A-4.
• Paper for watercolor format A-3.
• Paper with a ready-made drawing on it.
• White and colored paper.
• Scissors.
• PVA glue or glue sticks.
• Black marker.

Create base background:

1. On watercolor paper glue cardboard.
2. Cut out different shapes from the paper with a drawing.
3. Glue them to the background made of cardboard.

Make a composition: "A house in a flowering meadow":

1. For the future window we cut two elements from white paper in the form of the number "9", but the tail of the numbers do not do rounded, and straight.
2. Connect the elements together.
3. Glue the window on yellow paper. We have a luminous window.
4. Cut strips of brown paper, this will be the wall of the house.
5. Cut out a triangle, this is the roof of the house.
6. Connect the elements on the main background.
7. From yellow paper cut out a semicircle, this will be the sun.
8. Cut out wide irregular shapes with wavy lines, they will be bushes and trees.
9. All this glue on the basis.
10. Cut out a regular circle, glue it near the house, draw a face on the circle. We obtained a tale of a colobok.

Matryoshka .

This Russian doll is no less popular than Barbie. And it is not difficult to make it yourself.

Made of cardboard

To make a matryoshka out of cardboard will be needed:

• Cardboard of red color.
• A set of colored paper.
• Coloring pens.
• Scissors.
• Glue PVA or glue sticks.
• A simple pencil.

We make a blank:

1. Draw the blank on the back of the cardboard and cut it out.
2. Make a handkerchief of yellow paper (or any other color you like). To do this, we put the blank on a colored sheet and trace only the top part.
3. Cut out the handkerchief, glue it to the top of the matryoshka.
4. Cut out a circle of white paper, glue it to the top of the future matryoshka. Then draw a face.

Decorate a nesting doll with a flower:

1. Cut out a square of colored paper.
2. Fold it diagonally several times.
3. Using scissors round out the ends.
4. Unfold the flower and glaze it on a matryoshka.

Birch with beads

To make this handicraft will need:

• Beads of green color.
• Wire thickness from 0.3 to 1 mm.
• String.
• Alabaster.
• PVA glue.
• Acrylic paint and a brush.

Execution of the work.

1. On a wire we put the beads and loop them. Such workpieces need 15 pieces.
2. Connect the branches together.
3. Shape the trunk.
4. Take any container.
5. Dilute alabaster with glue and water in the following proportion: 2 tablespoons of alabaster, 1 tablespoon of glue, dilute with water, leave everything for 12 hours.
6. Paint the branches of the trunk with this solution.
7. On the white dried paint we put the black one.

Russian stove

Russian stove can be made from many improvised materials. But we will consider the most popular options.

From cardboard

Stages of execution:

1. We make a marking. Length 15 cm, height with the pipe 15 cm, height with the other side of the pipe 10 cm, total width 8 cm, width with the pipe 6 cm, pipe 5 cm.
2. Make allowances for seams.
3. Cut and glue with PVA glue.
4. The pipe is made separately from thin cardboard.
5. Primed with white acrylic paint.
6. Cut out bricks, paint and glue them on the stove.

Similarly, you can also make it out of thick paper.

Crocheted

The craft is crocheted from thin and stiff yarns for crochet, the name of such yarns is "Iris".

To knit the stove, you will need Iris yarn in different colors and a crochet hook of the right size:

• White. The main part of the stove.
• Brown. Bottom part of the stove.
• Black. The damper, pot on the pipe, and the oven handle.
• Gray. Handle on the slide.
• Beige. Pot ledge.
• Orange. Fire in stove.
• Filling made of wool or synthetic cotton.
• Wire for the frame of the pot.
• Cardboard for the frame of the stove ledge.

Technology of knitting:

1. Knit the stove should be a column.
2. Do not make a hook.
3. When knitting to remove the loops on the edge of the fabric.

Russian hut from a box and clay

To make a handicraft "Russian hut" will be needed:

• A box.
• Glue strip imitating wood.
• A box cutter.
• Glue PVA, glue "Moment" or superglue.
• Scissors, string and tape.
• Plasticine.
• Brown cardboard.
• Wall panels.
• Paints and brush.

The steps of making:

1. Trim the box, but leave two sides high.
2. Cut out the windows.
3. Glue the inside of the walls.
4. Make logs of brown cardboard.

Plasticine comes in handy for making household utensils.

Rag dolls of folk themes

To make such a doll, we will need:

• Fabric of size: forty by fifteen centimeters (white, motley and monochrome).
• A small "rag" under the apron of ten by eight centimeters.
• Yarn from her we will make hair.

Stages of the doll:

1. Making the body. On a piece of white fabric we place the synthetic material and we roll the fabric in half.
2. Head. At the end we make a twist and fasten it with thread.
3. Arms. Fabric fold in half, tie the edges.
4. Tie the body and hands with thread. Thread perform a cross-shaped pattern on the chest. It will connect the hands and body. Wrap it around the belt. Tighten the thread.
5. Create an underskirt. On a solid fabric folds are formed. Thread the skirt. Put the skirt on the doll
6. Add apron and belt. Fabric for the apron with a thread attached to the front (front) of the doll.
7. We make the hair. We wrap the yarn on a heavy cardboard in several layers, then cut the yarn from one edge. Align the bundle and fasten it to the head.

The above examples are not all in the tradition of making "Russian folk toys". With this article we wanted to attract as many people as possible to the study of native traditions, rituals and history of Russia as a whole.

Photo ideas of Russian folk crafts