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Fair Trade promotes and supports wages that are fair, helping artisans and craftspeople earn a wage they can live on and that is relative to other skills and trades in their local economy. Fair Trade cooperatives pay between 15 percent and 30 percent of the retail price of the products to the artsans.
Some items featured in our store are available by Special Order through
their manufacturer.
If you’d like to order an item that you don’t see in our store,
please contact us at
treasureboxtoys@sbcglobal.net
Special Orders must be at least 25.00.
We cannot guarantee any specific frame of time for Special
Orders or that they will arrive in time for the Holidays but we will do
our best for you!
Manufacturers that we Special Order from are: Debresk, Choroi, LYRA, Stockmar, Ruitertassen.
We no longer Drop Ship
DROP SHIP ITEM means the item is not carried physically in stock in our store, but sent to you directly from the manufacturer.
You can maintain your puppets' appearance
by brushing whenever they need a touch up. Animals with long plush also
enjoy a nice fluffing once in awhile.
Puppet Care & Feeding
Did you ever feel somewhat droopy following a long car trip?
After several days in a stuffy box, your puppets may appear a little travel-weary.
To freshen them up, we recommend a shake-out and thorough grooming with
a wire or coarse-bristled brush. By brushing with – rather than
against – the fabric grain, you’ll quickly restore the quality
and realism of the animal’s fur. BUT NOTE THIS WARNING: a strong
brush is no friend to the eyes and ears of an animal. Both can be scratched
and damaged if care is not taken to avoid these sensitive areas.
Cleaning Recommendations
Furry Plush Puppets: (Sheepdog, Horse, Timber Wolf, etc.)
DO NOT PUT IN WASHER OR DRYER. This will destroy your puppet. Furry plush
puppets are surface-washable only. Do not submerge the puppet in water.
Use lukewarm water and sponge with Woolite® or other mild laundry
detergent to wet and lather fur. Rinse surface with sponge. Be careful
not to wring or twist the puppet, or you may end up with lumpy stuffing.
Dry by gently squeezing between towels, or hanging from clothesline to
drip-dry. After it’s dry, brush with wire dog brush to fluff the
fur. When brushing face, be careful to avoid scratching the eyes or pulling
out the threads in ears, nose, or mouth areas.
Velour Plush Puppets
(Ladybug, Baby Dragon, Large Pig, etc.) DO NOT PUT IN WASHER OR DRYER.
With the larger velour puppets, surface-wash with a sponge, mild detergent
and lukewarm water. The smaller velour glove puppets can actually be submerged
in lukewarm water to wash. Do not wring or twist puppet. To dry the puppet,
gently squeeze between towels or drip-dry from clothesline. Do not brush
the velour puppets.
"Feeding" your Puppet
The only feeding your puppet requires is lots of love and snuggly fun!
If you'd like to see product demonstration and puppeteering videos, click
here!
Read about the Folkmanis® Puppets safety
statement here.
Playing - First of all playing should be fun, not
only for a little while but over along period of time as well. A good
toy allows a lot of freedom for a child's fantasy and creativity. The
children themselves are giving them the best ideas and suggestions, which
they then transform with all of their experience.
Quality - A good toy
is a child's companion for along time. Therefore they constantly pay heed
to a careful production and an accurate workmanship of their toys.
Material - Maple and
beech-wood are their mainly used materials. They are convinced that these
pleasant natural materials, transformed in a design of plain colours and
shape, are most suitable for toys, a useful combination of material and
product being the basic requirements.
We hope you have enjoyed your introduction
to HABA® toys and games, and that you’ll enjoy browsing their list of
wonderful children’s products. And remember, if you are looking for a
HABA® product that you don’t see here, please contact
us, and we’ll order it for you.
The Käthe Kruse® Doll Studio is the oldest German doll company that is still existing and working in the traditional way. Käthe Kruse sensed the secret of her success when designing her first doll. It was Christmas 1905 and it was for her eldest daughter Mimerle. Käthe Kruse took potatoes, warm sand and a towel and made this huggable and lovable doll. She knew that “dolls had to be huggable and warm, that is the whole point of having a doll.”
Five years later Käthe Kruse dolls were an instant success at an exhibit in Berlin called “Home Made Toys” Her new career as a doll maker was launched. With the help of one painter and five sewers, her hand made doll production was in full swing. Her living room became workshop and shipping department all at once.
Today in Donauwoerth, one hundred years later, the same principles of craftsmanship still applies. The dolls are made with as much love and delicate detail as ever: hand painted faces, hand knotted real hair wigs, unique clothing designs, create warmth and naturally charming looks. These dolls are loved by millions of children and doll collectors worldwide.
Handwork, simplicity of design, integrity, and an aversion to gimmicks and fads has always been and will always be the foundation on which the Käthe Kruse® Doll Company was built. (“Handwork, I have never left this principle and I never will. The hand follows the heart. Only the hand can create what the hand returns to the heart.” Käthe Kruse 1905). This Käthe Kruse® philosophy embraces hugging, touching, feeling, listening, splashing, delighting, laughing loving. Children’s needs are their focus.
Each doll and item of doll clothing is made by hand and takes from 16 to 36 hours to make. During that time, it will pass through the hands of 8 to 10 craftspeople and artists. Four checks for quality control are made on every doll before it is shipped. Each crafts person is carefully trained to perform his or her job. It can take up to four years to just learn how to paint a doll’s face.
Because of the care that goes into making each doll, very few are made each year. Each and every doll, piece of doll clothing and (as far as possible) accessory is made by hand. Many of the doll clothes have embroidery, crochet or knitting: all carefully done by hand, not duplicated by machines. Each of the reindeer-hair-stuffed bodies is hand stuffed by one worker. This is the only way to achieve perfect symmetry of the limbs.
The human hair of the wigs is individually hand knotted into the wig cap. Käthe Kruse® is the only doll company that does so today. Hand knotting gives a more natural look as well as locking in the hair so that it can withstand brushing and restyling (for these dolls are still made with children in mind.) Today, this technique is used only for motion picture television stars and Käthe Kruse® dolls!!
Each doll’s face (and where necessary the hair) is painted by hand. This is why each doll is an individual with its own charm and expression.
The clothing is always a natural fiber. Cool, crisp cotton; rough, course lines; fine, soft silks. The fabrics are meant to be handled and enjoyed. The clothing may be hand washed in lukewarm water with mild soap.
Käthe Kruse® dolls are made to be loved by anyone who loves dolls, both children and adults alike. Many of the dolls are stuffed with reindeer hair. Reindeer hair is used to help keep the bodies in the original shape, after being loved for many generations.
In 1999 the German Waldorf School Fellowship granted the Käthe Kruse® Puppen GmbH the necessary license to manufacture their version of Waldorf dolls using the highly protected Waldorf name. Today, only Käthe Kruse® is allowed the market the original Waldorf dolls. Käthe Kruse® Waldorf dolls are one of the company’s most loved and sought after products. They are the sole and exclusive supplier of Waldorf dolls and soft toys to Waldorf Schools in Europe and the United States.
The Käthe Kruse® Waldorf dolls are carefully handcrafted and are made of natural materials, such as wool, cotton stockinet, and quartz sand. They are designed with simplicity in mind to encourage your child to develop his or her imagination. The warmth of the wool, cotton or reindeer hair tempt children to place them in their arms, to pamper, to love, to cuddle, to hold the doll, and therefore to develop and stimulate a child’s fantasy and imagination.
The simple faces allow the child to give it a “soul”. In addition, if you share the special qualities, and the amount of time and care that went into making this doll, you are encouraging your child to treat his or her doll with respect and kindness, which are important interpersonal skills.
Be careful you may fall in love with them yourself and have a hard time giving the doll away!! If you're unfamiliar with this style of doll, they may seem unusual at first, but once you have one, you'll never go back to common plastic.
Käthe
Kruse® is pleased to introduce to you a very special treasury of inspired
dolls to celebrate their 100-year history. From classic and traditional
to playful and modern, they are sure that one of them will be a perfect
doll for you or for that very special child in your life. Käthe Kruse®
is dedicated to make children’s eyes shine.
This is one more reason to give a special Käthe Kruse® gift to
someone that you love.
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Kathe Kruse Organics
An exquisite Organic product range has been added to our hand
made baby line to offer parents and children with higher standards a healthy
alternative. Warm and cozy, laugh and shine, cuddle and love in perfect
harmony with Mother Nature. Healthy toys that are consistently ecological,
nature friendly and fun to play with; that is Kathe Kruse Organics.
All natural and unique in design. Kathe Kruse uses only natural material
such as cotton, from controlled, biological cultivation (KBT) and sheep
wool, from controlled livestock (KBT)
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Waldorf Dolls
Käthe
Kruse® Waldorf dolls are so soft and warm they just ask to be pampered
and loved by a child, but be careful, you may fall in love with them yourself
and have a hard time giving the doll away!!
Waldorf dolls are designed with simplicity in mind to encourage your child
to develop his or her imagination.
Waldorf dolls are carefully handcrafted and are made of all natural materials,
such as wool, cotton, and quartz-sand. The warmth of the wool and cotton
tempt children to place them in their arms, to love, to cuddle, and to
hold the doll, and therefore the doll is perceived as an individual, which
in turn helps to stimulate and to develop a child's imagination.
The simple faces allow the child to give the doll "life". In addition,
if you share with your child the special qualities: the amount of time,
and the care that went into making this doll, you are encouraging your
child to treat his or her doll with respect and kindness, which are important
interpersonal skills.
If you're unfamiliar with this style of doll, they may seem unusual at
first, but once you have one, you'll never go back to common plastic!
CARE INSTRUCTIONS: Waldorf dolls are all made of natural
materials. Wool is a wonderful natural material that needs special care.
Käthe Kruse® recommends that all their Waldorf dolls be washed with a
mild wool soap (i.e. Woolite®) and air dried flat.
Mercurius offers a complete, thoroughly tested range of products for the Waldorf schools and kindergartens under the motto:
•
Nurturing the 12 senses
• Products for the practicing of the 7 arts
An environment rich in sensory experiences is extremely important for
healthy development of children. If such conditions don't exist as a result,
for example, of excessive TV-viewing or exclusive use of electronic toys,
it can hinder certain abilities or even cause deficits in overall development.
At the initiative of Stockmar and in cooperation with Mercurius NL they
have created an international, quality-orientated service-partnership
entitled, “Art Makes Sense.”
Their common goal is:
• to provide quality worldwide materials for art lessons at Waldorf
schools
Through their working agreements with the companies Stockmar and Choroi, for example, they are committed to continually improving and developing their product quality.
Almost
80 years of innovation in the art industry brought the Stockmar®
company, to develop specialized products to meet the unique needs of small
children and adolescents. A continuously growing number of schools have
recognized this, which is why art instruction is becoming an increasingly
important educational tool.
Stockmar's® high-level quality standards for raw
materials, processing, environmental compatibility, handling, efficiency
and colour quality exemplifies our goal of promoting the nurturing of
the senses and thereby contributing to the healthy growth of young people.
Because of their harmonious colours they are beautiful to look at, they
smell good and are pleasant to handle. Creative activity trains abilities
that are necessary to become resourceful, inventive, imaginative, ingenious
and productive individuals. Stockmar® products bring
the joy of colour and shape to life.
Art Makes Sense® is a cooperative alliance between
Stockmar® and Mercurius NL to create an international,
quality-orientated service-partnership.
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Because of NAPOLEON that Johann Froescheis was able to register his business as pencil manufacturer at the magistracy of Nuremberg, Germany in the year 1806. To differentiate his quality-products from those of lower standard, Johann Froescheis the 2nd registered the brand LYRA® in the year 1868. Such he created a trademark, which is still in use and to our knowledge the oldest trademark of our industry, worldwide. To make room for modern production and logistics yet again relocation was necessary in 1987 when a completely new factory and office building became the new home of LYRA®. Ergonomically shaped pencils, following the principle of the rounded triangular are very user-friendly and support the writing hand. This helps the beginners and also left-handed people. The principle of the rounded triangular has meanwhile found its realization in many LYRA® products. Quality however, relates not only to the product as such, it covers all aspects of a company's activities and decisions.
Well-made wooden toys are naturally beautiful
to the touch. The Selecta® design team has years
of hard-won experience in producing toys that are unique in their form,
their pictures, as well as their function. A natural beauty can be found
in well-made wooden toys. The Selecta® design team has years of hard-won
experience in producing toys that are unique in their form, their pictures,
as well as their function.
Wood comes to life in the hands of the
Selecta® experts. The wood structures convey sensory experiences
while enhancing child development. A refined finish to the wood surfaces
enhances the value of the best wooden toys. Since wood is a completely natural
material, you don't have to worry if your child puts it into his or her
mouth. Safe, water-soluble varnishes are used to emphasize the unique natural
beauty of the wood Selecta® chooses for each wooden toy. A special
heat transfer printing process gives the pictures their particularly endearing
look. An additional beeswax finish is then applied to all surfaces. This
gives the sealed surface of Selecta® toys a soft and smooth - almost
velvety - touch. Furthermore the warm wood tones are made even lovelier
through the beeswax.
Well-made wooden toys are completely safe
to play with and will last a long time. The making of their products involves
32 years of experience entwined with tradition. Specialists
ideally use this knowledge to achieve quality results. Selecta’s®
high quality standards go beyond the American Standard safety requirements.
In developing their own quality standards and adding more control stops,
Selecta® has made sure that only safe toys reach the hands of children.
A continuous international exchange of experiences guarantees that research
of new ideas and possibilities flows into production, making toys even safer
and a greater pleasure to play with. Well-made wooden toys are both beautiful
and educational.
Advice from highly qualified from education
professionals plays a major part in Selecta's product development, including
product tests within families and kindergartens. Before a new Selecta®
toy reaches final production, suggestions voiced by these professionals
have been taken into account. Selecta® started producing wooden toys
and games for kindergartens over 30 years ago. All the know-how and techniques
experienced throughout this time have gone into the development of each
toy and game Selecta® produces today. They communicate with people
all over the world to integrate their ideas and experience into their products.
Selecta® leaves no stone unturned to stimulate your children's senses.
Desert Productions® music by philip elcano
About the Artist
Born in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada,
the son of a professional singer, Philip Elcano was raised with an appreciation
of both musical and visual arts. Piano lessons began early and led to
a highlighted musical career throughout his schooling. As a child, he
played string bass with the Nevada Symphony Orchestra, and by high school,
Philip was performing with numerous jazz ensembles and studio bands.
Philip graduated
Cum Laude from the UCLA School of Music, where he took special interest
in ethno-musicology, which gave him a background in music from various cultures.
This exposure to composers and musicians from around the world has had a
striking impact on his compositions.
As a classically trained composer-pianist, Philip has an award winning background in musical soundtracks for television including, "That Was Happy Life", which won recognition as Best Documentary Short in the American Indian Film Festival, 1993.
Signifies
the Unification of Singing, Dancing and Playing
Located
in Langenthal, Switzerland Choroi Instruments have
stimulated a new style of playing for over thirty years. Since
it's beginnings is the 1960's, composers musicians and teachers who had
been looking for new ways to stimulate individual musical activity and
to deepen the awareness of the sense of hearing have found what they were
looking for in Choroi Instruments..
Choroi
Instruments stimulate a new style of playing. The flutes
encourage a flowing and natural fingering, the bowed instruments a “breathing”
bowing technique, the harps and lyres a “fluid pacing”, and
the percussion instruments a sensitive touch.
Through this quality of movement the
outward instrumental tone can arise from the player’s
inner gesture. It is as if the hidden soul of the wood, the metal, or
the rawhide drum skin is made to sound. Through elements of their design,
and the natural materials used in their construction, the instruments
allow players to experience matter and space in a new musical way.
Choroi means moving, singing, playing and listening together—music as an immediate expression of life through elementary means, but also through professional-level instruments.
Choroi
instruments are equally suitable for young and old, for beginner and expert,
for amateur and professional.
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Quality
Hand-Crafted Wooden Toys
The Debresk Wooden Toys where created in the eighties by
Joris Dekkers, Konrad Breidenstein and Anders Skånberg in the work
shop at Skäve near Järna in Sweden.
Give your children the gift of learning to work with their hands!
Established
in 1971, Harrisville Designs is a small, family owned and operated business,
known by fiber artists throughout the world for its fine yarns and floor
looms. It is that expertise and knowledge that has gone into the design
and creation of their children's products, which were developed in response
to a growing demand from parents and educators who wanted children to
experience the joy and developmental benefits of working with their hands.
They make beautiful Weaving, Knitting, Rug Hooking, Needlepoint, Crocheting,
and Felting Kits using their own 100% natural yarns and fleece.
Woolen yarn has been spun in the water-powered, brick mill town of Harrisville
since 1794. This small village is nestled in the Monadnock Highlands of
southwestern New Hampshire and is the only industrial community of the
early 19th Century that still survives in America in its original form.
In 1977, the Department of Interior designated Harrisville a National
Historic Landmark.
The last surviving woolen mill in Harrisville closed in 1970 when the
fashion world turned, temporarily, to synthetic double-knit fabrics. Harrisville
Designs was established in 1971 with a goal of preserving the textile
heritage and economic vitality that had sustained the village for almost
two hundred years. Beginning with a line of high quality woolen handweaving
yarns, they soon branched out into handweaving looms and equipment. In
the late 1980' they developed the first of their Friendly Loom Products
to introduce children to the joys of working with their hands.
Camden Rose is a collective voice of designers, artists, teachers, musicians, craftspeople, and parents who choose to bring about a better future for our children. They design and manufacture simple, elegant, unique wooden and textile toys.
Green natural materials, USA and Fair Trade manufacturing highlight their”leave no footprint philosophy.
The appeal of organic design is only partially visual; the true experience is primarily tactile. True organic design is always in touch with its surroundings. Our studio is situated in Ann Arbor, Michigan, just a few miles from the Huron River. Some forms typical to this life-sphere are:
the lively currents of the water,
the rhythmical forms of the sand on the beach,
the fluid lines of a waving river,
and, the dense comfort of the tree canopy.
Starting with the foundational design of the grown-up world and then miniaturizing to the scale of a child’s world, our items assist in the creativity of the imaginations – a place where free-thinkers are born.
Since
1925, the Dutch family De Ruiter produced leather satchels under the brand
name: ' Ruitertassen '. Through time, due to quality and professional
devotion, they expended with Ruitertassen a worldwide reputation.
It's their intention to produce quality products that will follow the
more than 75 years old RUITERTASSEN reputation of quality and originality.
Have you looked under our label?
You won't find a fancy name on our label covering up a "Made in China" tag. We just don't like the idea of products for kids that could have been made with child labor.
At Yellow Label Kids, we believe that products can be equally fun, stylish and comfortable, while still being ethically made. Each one of our products is made by hand by an artisan who is paid living wages, in accordance with Fair Trade practices.
Finally, our products are 100% made by hand, not machine made with a few hand-touches. We think that’s an important distinction, and something that makes us unique.
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