From Ukraine with Love - Handmade Ukrainian Folk Ornaments

Nineteen days after the war in Ukraine started I received an email from a Ukrainian company that I had met years earlier at a Christmas trade show in Frankfurt. They explained that they and their family and neighbors were doing ok but that orders would help them stay afloat and keep people employed. So I placed a small order.

Obviously we all want to help in any small way and our customers pitched in and bought up the items we had imported and....we were able to place another order.

But this time it wasn't just to lend a hand. I was so excited about the creativity and quality of the ornaments from our new supplier Koza Dereza I ordered a whole collection of handmade folk art ornaments. Two of my favourite series in the Koza Dereza Collection are the real-vanilla-scented Red Ornaments and the Wonder Forest Collection.

Koza Dereza is a small company in Ternopil and Lviv, Ukraine founded by Viktoriya Kolodiy. In anticipation of the birth of her younger son she researched Ukrainian ornaments and traditions in order to create for him a shirt. Out of that research and creativity came a whole collection of clothing, ornaments and gifts.

In wanting to share their beloved folk traditions with the world, the team at Koza Dereza worked with ethnographers, historians and art critics to find inspiration in historical sources. Every product has a bilingual Ukrainian-English label with a brief history of the folk art.

Using both traditional and very modern techniques they create ornaments from papier mache, textiles and wood made only by hand making each ornament enitrely unique. They are hand painted with high-quality paints that do not crack on the surface and with sparkles that don't crumble over time. They are completely safe after all our products have international eco-certification. 

Many of our customers come from Ukrainian heritage (Canada is the world's second largest Ukrainian diaspora) and they told me that the ornaments and the paintings on the ornaments remind them of home or remind them of their childhood. To soak up a bit more Ukrainian culture Elizabeth and I went to the Ukraine Pavilion at Winnipeg's Folklorama and enjoyed ethnic food, dance and music!

This second shipment from Koza Dereza is expected to arrive in late-September. Pre-order them early to make sure you get your favourites.

Duzhe dyakuyu!

Tamara
Owner @ Gingerbread World