When I was 6 years old and in kindergarten I was deeply fascinated by this set of Russian matryoshka dolls (also called nesting dolls or babushka dolls). I could spend hours peeling off the outer “doll layers” until I got to the amazingly tiny baby one in the middle.
I’ve never owned any of these myself, until a while ago, when I spotted a set of these in a local bric-à-brac shop. They cost £1, so although they looked nothing like the classic ones from my childhood I had to buy them. They’ve been cheering up our mantelpiece ever since.
And then when I read a post on Liberty London Girl’s blog about how she had bought one of the more traditional sets while in Moscow for around £8, I decided it was time to invest in the “real thing”.
Luckily for me Sam has a very nice Russian friend & colleague, who was just about to go to Moscow on holiday. And this is what he came back with:
The perfect set, which instantly takes me back to kindergarten.
I excitedly pulled them apart to see who was nesting in the middle: and yay, there it was, the teeny weeny little baby. How cute (sorry pregnancy hormones taking over here).
The dolls make great gifts for kids too (over 3-years-old though because of the small bits). If a trip to Moscow isn’t on the horizon you can buy cheap ones online at for example Amazon or Play.com.
Or if you’re a real aficionado you can visit matryoshkastore.com, which is 100% dedicated to nesting dolls in all shapes and genres. Here’s something for everyone, from cats to Little Red Riding Hood matryoshkas.
Mette Bassett 