Today’s giveaway is from Made by Alejandro. Their crew consists of five children: one princess and four 1st mates. God has charted a course for them with many wild adventures (“Papa cooked what for dinner!?”) and some hair raising moments (“Mama volunteered Papa for a lead role in the ballet recital!”). Life is never dull.
Born and raised in the Bronx, NY, Alejandro began working with leather in college during a theater class. He stumbled upon a Commedia del Arte mask and it’s been an adventure in discovery ever since. Who knew leather could be so much fun to work with? For years, Alejandro has worked with leather and is always amazed at how gripping the look, feel, and smell of it is. Mask making was so much fun that Alejandro traveled to Italy to learn how the masters of the Italian Comedy originally made their masks. He returned to the U.S. with a better understanding of what leather could do and began exploring it’s many uses. It began small, with bookmarks and knife sheaths; then eventually grew to larger pieces such as an open topped box bag made from leather. Every time he made something, he was nudged further in an unexpected direction that changed him from thinking about leather as a hobby, into leather as a new art medium.
In 2010, How To Train Your Dragon opened in theaters. After seeing it, an idea sparked in Alejandro’s head. Why not make a sword out of leather so he and his kids could play? It would be safe and fun. It was a hit; the kids loved them! After the first week of ow’s and ouches, the shields were born. The shields were large enough where he could hand carve fun images into them to make them more appealing and differentiate which was whose. The day after, crawling into the bushes to find the kids’ swords resulted in him making the sword belts.
Soon, parents were placing orders because their own children were asking for Alejandro’s swords. That’s when he realized that this had the potential to become more than he imagined. Within a month, Alejandro found himself with a new title and career: Artisan Toymaker. He now sells reenactment toys and other beautiful items at art fairs across the U.S., a couple of art centers, a natural toy store, and online through Etsy.
Before Alejandro makes anything, it has to spark a child’s imagination (starting with his own). Also, it has to inspire children to want to play together. Everything he makes is by hand, and he likes it that way. This approach allows him to give each piece his personal attention and helps make the toys heirloom quality, children friendly, and mom approved.
This giveaway has ended, but you can still receive 10% of your entire purchase with the coupon code SmallThings2015. This offer is good through Thursday, November 12th.
Alejandro is excited to do something a little different for this year’s holiday giveaway. Alejandro is giving away two Pirate Sets (an eye patch & sword). The first Pirate Set will go to one of you. It contains a BLUE Eye Patch and one-of-a-kind SWORD: blue/white wrapped handle, stamped with a Celtic Cross, and coated with a silver sparkle. For a chance to win the BLUE Pirate Set, start by leaving a comment on this post. Then you will need to enter via the Rafflecopter widget below. You can visit our Facebook page (and we’d love for you to “like” it!) and “favorite” Made by Alejandro on Etsy for additional chances to win. Comments are closed, and the winner is announced below.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
The second Pirate Set will go to someone that you nominate. It contains a RED Eye Patch and one-of-a-kind SWORD: red/white wrapped handle, stamped with a Celtic Cross, and coated with a gold sparkle. Nominate someone who, due to any number of reasons, will have few gifts under their tree this year. (Not everyone knows someone who is in need, and if you don’t, it won’t affect your chances to win the blue sword.) But if you do, this is how both you and Alejandro are going to bless them this year. To nominate someone for the RED Pirate Set, leave a comment with the person’s name (Including the last name is not necessary, but make sure your email address is correct so we can contact you if the person you nominate wins. So for instance you might comment, “I would like to nominate my friend Sally.”) This portion of the giveaway is now closed. The winner has been randomly selected from those nominated using random number generator.
In addition, Alejandro is also offering 10% of your entire purchase with the coupon code SmallThings2015. This offer is good through Thursday, November 12th.
Thank you, Alejandro!
thank you for the chance.
My daughters would love this!
These are incredible! What a talent.
Oops. I forgot to nominate someone. I’d love for a set of these to go to C., an extremely needy child at the local school.
Beautiful work.
My children will be in the play Peter Pan this spring. They are hoping to be pirates.
I love this shop!
What beautifully made swords! Thankyou!
I nominate my friend Noel
Would love to win. Thank you for the chance
So beautiful!
Thanks for the introduction…love the items and have just the 5 year old who’d love them even more !
Beautifully designed and crafted. We are just getting into pirates and ships with our oldest.
So beautiful, it would be cherished for years and well played with by my girls
Someone mentioned that their kids will grow out of the desire for one of these. I can attest to the fact that you just don’t grow out of wanting to play with swords, daggers, and shields. Alejandro’s creations are perfect for any age.
So much fun! I hope we win.
I would give the second set to Patrick who, at his young age, had had to fight too many dragons already. God Bless and thank you!
I’m not sure who would love this more – my boys or my husband who also enjoys working with leather and is also a big boy himself. Thank you!
I would nominate a little boy from my hubby’s school.
I don’t know which of my five boys would like this more. We would definitely have to order more for the ones who didn’t win. Then the sword fights could begin. Thanks for sharing this shop with us. Very cool!
These are amazing! I don’t know who would enjoy them more…my kids or me, haha!
I nominate Billy.
My kids would have great fun with this. Thanks for the giveaway!
I’ve been admiring these for a while and know my kids would make full use of them!!! Wonderful!
My son would love this!
Who would not want to win this! Beautiful craftmanship.
Love his leather toys! Thanks for the wonderful giveaway! 🙂
super cool giveaway
What a wonderful give away. I would like to nominate Kris P’s son. Kris is a single female studying physics in college and applying for grad school this year so that she will have more money when she graduates from grad school in a few years to support her to children. I believe her son would love the pirates kit.
Lovely craftsmanship!
So wonderful! Perfect for my warrior son!
Oh my boys would LOVE this!
I do think these leather toys. Especially the elephants.
I would love to nominate a boy named Thaxton. He will grow up to fight dragons.
What a fabulous idea, and so beautifully made. Thanks for the giveaway. CJ xx
Wow these are beautiful, my little guys would love this. Also I’d like to nominate my sister in law Alice.
thanks much, beautiful work! thanks for having such a big heart.
Every year I think about getting one of Alejandro’s creations for my youngest son, but I can’t really justify the cost when I have six other kids to buy for. He’ll soon outgrow the desire for one! I’d like to nominate my son’s fiance’s little brother, John.
Oh, I’ve admired these for awhile! Thanks for the giveaway!
I would like to nominate my sister-in-law, Teresa. Her son would LOVE one of these under his tree!
These are incredible! Thanks for another amazing giveaway!
I would love to nominate my sweet friend Jennie! She has three little guys that would love this set!
I have a little guy who would love this set! What a fantastic Christmas present. Thank you for the opportunity.
My son would love such a wonderful sword and pirate patch!
I would love to win one of these and nominate my sister, Cortney. She has a boy my son’s age and I know they would love to have one of these under the tree. Thank you for the opportunity to win 🙂
Super cool toys! My son would love this@ Thanks so much for the chance to win.
My little pirate would love to win the blue set.
Beautiful and brilliant toys to have for such creativity! I would love to win a set for my youngest grandson and granddaughter who love anything pirate! And I’m sure their mother would know another special child for a special present. She has a school for autistic children.
Thank you so much for the generosity of this giveaway.
Claudette
My boys would love this!
What a fun giveaway. Thank you!
Every year at this time I want to invest in these for my kids. Such quality toys.
I would love to win this for Porter.
I would like to nominate an Angel Tree child whom we would pick from the tree at our church in a few weeks.