Siberian Craftswoman Earns Big with Russian Neo-Gothic Christmas Toys

Anastasia Arefyeva is 41 years old, and for over a decade, this Siberian woman has earned her living through handicrafts. Her specialty is Christmas tree ornaments. This small business allows Anastasia to realize her creative ideas and be independent. Moreover, she has orders both in winter and summer — including large wholesale contracts. Here«s how she turned creativity into a thriving business.

‘Now or Never’

Anastasia Arefyeva moved to Novosibirsk 15 years ago from Tyumen. Since childhood, the Siberian woman has been engaged in handicrafts; her love for creativity was instilled by her mother — a seamstress. But by education, she is a financier, though she admits that numbers are not her thing at all. Ten years ago, Anastasia was a fairly successful sales manager and earned well, but decided to radically change her career path.

“At 30, I decided that it«s now or never. I decided to make creativity my profession because at a regular job I get very bored — everything there follows certain templates. I dove into handicrafts, and for almost 11 years now, this has been my main work,” Anastasia said.

Sewing didn«t immediately bring in income. Thanks to a safety net earned in sales, the Siberian woman was able to search for her direction and try different formats.

“I started sewing, remembered that I really love it, and somehow it sucked me in. I realized that I don«t want to go to any job, I want to make this my thing,” the craftswoman admitted. “First, I came up with ‘Hugmonsters’ toys — for cuddling. Then I moved into children»s themes. Many friends had kids, they wanted to make some gift — a plushie that a small child can hug during sleep: bunnies, kitties, unicorns.”

Christmas Neo-Gothic

Gradually, Anastasia started sewing Christmas decorations as well. She used recognizable animal images, experimented, and developed her own style: Russian neo-gothic. The toys sold, and demand began to form in her social media group.

“Three years ago, I decided that I don«t want to end the New Year; it should continue all year round. Plus, when you dedicate only a couple of months a year to this, it»s impossible to carefully think through the assortment, design, and you can«t make them as beautiful,” Anastasia explained her specialization.

The base of each toy is fabric, American cotton. The master prefers it for its quality, but the material isn«t cheap either. Then, beads, rhinestones, metal materials, paint, and glass decorations come into play. And in the Christmas tree ornament, a cinnamon stick plays the role of the tree trunk — it can be used as a car air freshener.

The “model range” is constant, but each product is unique. Anastasia constantly adds or adjusts the design; there are no two identical horses in the world. According to her, it was the Christmas products that attracted and expanded her client base. Thus began her small but proud business.

‘60 Pieces a Month Is Practically Lethal’

“When I switched to the Christmas theme, I started taking it more seriously, stopped being afraid to work with partners, signing up for wholesale. I can«t make a thousand pieces, that»s impossible, but small wholesale — yes, quite possible,” the master says.

The speed of work on each product is individual. The process isn«t automated: every seam, every detail passes through her hands. The Siberian woman admitted that she has to wear gloves because all her fingers are pricked by needles — the hazards of production.

“If I really push myself, work tirelessly without a break for a whole month, I can sew around 60 pieces. But that«s practically lethal, you could say,” the woman laughs. “Otherwise, at a good pace, about 30–40 toys a month is possible. But that»s considering that I«m a wild workaholic.”

Anastasia spends the whole day with patterns, sewing, and decoration. Orders, despite the Christmas context, come year-round. Moreover, during the peak season in November and December, the craftswoman already has to turn down many who want them — there«s no time for new orders.

“If someone comes to me with an order for 150 pieces in September, it«s too late — I just won»t have time. Also, my toys go to Moscow, to the ‘Russia’ department store. Now Krasnoyarsk has been added. Next year, Khanty-Mansiysk will be ordering,” the Siberian woman describes the geography of her client base.

Many clients pay for one or two toys monthly and by the end of the year receive a full set. Some buy them not only for decorating the Christmas tree but also as an element of interior decor.

You Can«t Earn Millions

In Novosibirsk, the Museum of Funeral Culture (Muzey pogrebalnoy kultury) ordered a collection of quite specific Christmas toys: for its exhibitions, Anastasia sewed “skulls.” Through the museum, the Siberian woman met the famous comedian Victoria Skladchikova, who came to Novosibirsk to learn the basics of thanatopractice. Now the star also has toys from Anastasia Arefyeva.

The price of each product is determined by materials and labor costs. Overall, the price is stable, but from next year, Anastasia plans to increase the rate.

“The cost of a toy is from 2,500 to 4,500 rubles (about $31–$56 at current rates) — these are horses, geese, and so on. The most expensive toy is the mermaids. I don«t sew them now, but I plan to bring them back into the assortment next year. They used to cost 4,500 rubles, now they»ll be more expensive because I«m improving them,” she explained. “There»s also a series of matryoshkas in Venetian masks.”

The Siberian woman actively participates in various exhibitions and fairs, from which she rarely leaves without new clients. She says that her task is not to sell as many products as possible, but to establish contacts, including with corporate clients.

“You come to an event, sell, roughly speaking, for 20,000 rubles (about $250), but you leave with a contract for 250,000 rubles (about $3,100). My biggest contract was around 300,000 rubles (about $3,750). Not to say that it«s a huge amount, I fulfilled it in about two months,” Anastasia said. “You can earn from handicrafts, but you need to have good discipline. Don»t expect to make millions from this.”

Anastasia works alone and doesn«t plan to expand the business. She»s more interested in complicating and perfecting her products, and she doesn«t want to deal with accounting and personnel — she believes that this routine work could negatively affect the creative process.

For some people, the creative component is the main motivation. In Novosibirsk, there are other authors of Christmas toys who are inspired by childhood stories and make decorations not for sale, but for themselves. We told the story of a Siberian woman who every year makes unique toys and decorates the Christmas tree in the sports complex where she works as an administrator. It«s simply impossible to pass by.