Two Calgary makers. One lathe. Western Canadian maple.

Small wooden people, built to outlast the batteries.

Turned by hand, painted with milk paint, sealed with a German food-safe hardwax oil. Nothing to unbox but the toy. The first holiday batch is small, so the list hears first.

One note a month. Batch dates and nothing else. Unsubscribe any time.How we handle your email.

How one gets made

  1. Freshly turned maple blanks drying in rows on a workbench.

    1. Turned

    One blank of Western Canadian maple goes on the lathe and comes off as a person. Every edge is rounded over, which is why nothing here has a corner.

  2. Six figurines in mustard, red and teal milk paint drying on a paper towel.

    2. Painted

    Milk paint, mixed by hand, in five colours. It soaks into the wood instead of sitting on it, so the grain still shows through. The ingredients are all natural and you can actually pronounce them: casein (a milk protein), lime (calcium hydroxide), natural pigments and a plant-based filler.

  3. Rows of finished figurines with pointed hats in mustard, red, teal and dark brown.

    3. Finished

    German food-safe hardwax oil, rubbed in and left to cure. No parts, no glue, nothing that comes off.

Three sets, five paints, one price per piece

Prices in Canadian dollars. Ships within Canada only.

A set of four maple figurines, painted teal blue below bare wood heads.

Set of 4

$24 $6.00 a piece

Ships after the drop.

A set of eight figurines in teal blue and mustard yellow.

Set of 8

$44 $5.50 a piece

Ships after the drop.

A set of twelve figurines and trees in all five paints and bare maple.

Set of 12

$59 $4.92 a piece

Ships after the drop.

Checkout is on Etsy for this season. The list gets the link before it goes public.

No screen.
No plastic.
No batteries.
Just a small wooden person who is whoever your kid says they are.

We are not entirely against technology. I mean, we sell these on the internet after all. We just think a toy should be able to hide behind a couch for ten years and still work.

Join the list for the holiday drop today
Two figurines riding in the back of a yellow wooden dump truck.Figurines scattered on a rug among alphabet blocks that spell Poptj.

Questions people ask before joining

What does joining the list commit me to?
Not much. You get a welcome email, then no more than one email a week with batch updates and articles about raising kids in a digital age. If you only want the one email with the drop date, use the preference center to drop the newsletter and stay on the drop list.
When does the holiday batch ship?
The exact date is still being set, but the drop will close before mid-November so every set arrives in time for you know what. Sets ship within Canada only, in Canadian dollars, no duties.
Why is the first batch small?
There are two of us, and one is a dad who freelances around school pickups. The bench gets whatever is left after client work, family time, the exercise he keeps meaning to do, and the LEGO that has to be stepped on at least once a day. If the first batch sells, we make more and find an extra pair of hands.
What is it made of, exactly?
Western Canadian maple, milk paint, and a German hardwax oil its maker rates as food-safe. Milk paint is made with milk. One piece of wood per figurine. No glue, no parts, nothing removable.

The list hears first.

Batch date, then the link, then quiet. Say the word and we will write when the wood is ready.

One note a month. Batch dates and nothing else. Unsubscribe any time.How we handle your email.