Gifts for Grandparents

The plush gifts grandparents keep are the personal ones: a doll of their grandkids, a plush copy of the family dog, or the teddy they lost as children, sewn again from an old photo. We make each one by hand from your photos. Custom toys start from $350, childhood toy replicas from $295, and making usually takes 2–4 weeks.

Nothing here sits on a shelf. Every toy is made to order for one family, and you see photos of it before it ships. SKAZKODROM has been sewing plush by hand since 2009, more than 2,100 toys so far. It works the other way round too: grandparents order from us for their grandkids.

Grandparents who have everything usually don’t want another thing. They want their people. So the plush gifts that land are copies of someone or something they already love:

• A doll of the grandchildren, sewn from photos, with the real hair, the favorite hoodie, the missing front tooth. Portrait dolls start from $365.
• A plush of the family pet, the dog that sleeps on Grandpa’s feet. Pet plush start from $390.
• A copy of their own childhood toy, from a black-and-white snapshot. Lost toy replicas start from $295.
• A toy from a grandchild’s drawing, so the drawing on the fridge becomes something to hold.

None of these can be bought in a store, because each one starts from your family’s photos.

Yes. Send a few clear photos of each child’s face and hair, plus the clothes they’re always in. We sew a portrait doll that looks like them. These dolls are usually 30–50 cm (12–20 in) tall and start from $365.

There are two kinds. A painted face carries fine detail: the eyes, lashes and blush are painted onto cloth by hand. A plush face is soft all over and stitched in thread. It doesn’t copy every freckle, it picks what people notice first. For our Orange Hoodie Girl that was the hair over one eye, the toothy grin and the hood with bear ears.

Two or three grandkids? Order one doll each, or a matching set. You see the design before we cut any fabric. Want to know more about dolls of real people? Read our mini me doll guide.

A plush portrait doll of a real girl, sewn from her photos: her hair, her grin, her orange hoodie.

The same method for a grown-up: beard, blazer and rolled cuffs, copied from photos.

For the right grandpa, yes. Our fisherman doll is a real man sewn from his photos: his orange cap, his fishing shirt and a plush tuna almost as long as he is. People order a doll like that for a dad or a grandpa who spends every weekend on the water. He has the rods and the reels. He doesn’t have himself in plush.

The outfit can show what he loves: the fishing vest, the garden apron, the cardigan with patches on the elbows. The whole outfit can come off, and it’s cut and sewn like real clothes, just tiny. A fisherman doll starts from $370. For a softer, everyday look, see the bearded look-alike doll.

A doll of Grandma or Grandpa also makes sense the other way round. The 2018 AARP Grandparenting Study found that about a third of grandparents live more than 50 miles from their closest grandchild. A grandkid who lives far away can keep a soft Grandma on the bed.

Fisherman doll with the cap off: his hair, his blue eyes, his wide grin, all from photos.

His whole fishing outfit comes off: shirt, gaiter, shorts and the orange cap.

Yes, from ordinary phone photos. We copy that one animal, not a breed template: the crooked ear, the grey chin, the patch over one eye. The fur is faux fur matched to the coat. We never use real fur.

Send a photo from the front, the side and the back, plus close-ups of the markings and the eyes. A pet plush starts from $390. It’s a good gift while the pet is still around, and a gentle one after. The Pekingese and the Spitz below were both sewn from photos of one real dog. More on how it works in our pet plush guide.

A black-and-white Pekingese plush, sewn from photos of one real dog.

A ginger Spitz plush with a white chest ruff, copied from the owner’s photos.

Often, yes, even from one faded photo. Ask Grandma which toy she slept with as a girl, or look for it in the old family albums. Half hidden in the corner of a picture is fine. Childhood toy replicas start from $295.

Our childhood raccoon started from a single family photo: a girl in a blue dress holding a raccoon with a black mask and amber eyes. The raccoon itself was long gone. We worked out its shape from that photo, matched the fur and sewed it again. Ika the monkey came back from a small, grainy black-and-white snapshot.

We make it from the pictures, so nobody has to say what it’s for until the box is opened. For more on this kind of gift, read nostalgic gifts for adults and our guide to replacing a lost stuffed animal.

The customer’s old family photo, the only picture of the original raccoon.

The raccoon we sewed from that photo: black mask, amber eyes, one paw up.

Yes, both are real options. A sound module can go inside the toy, so a squeeze plays a message. Record it in the grandchild’s voice: “Hi, Grandma, I love you”, a song, a bedtime goodnight. There are two ways to do it. You send us a finished, recorded module and we sew it in, or we build a pocket for a module into the toy, like the one on the back of our Little Witch doll.

We also embroider names, dates and short messages, usually on the toy’s clothes. Our giant bunny has two names and a date stitched on its red vest. Send the exact words and spelling with your quote request. For more ideas like this, see personalized plush.

The Little Witch, a portrait doll with a painted face and a hidden pocket for a voice message.

Her sound module pocket, lid open. A recorded message goes inside.

The toy the shops don’t have. Maybe it’s the creature your granddaughter drew last summer: we sew plush from drawings and keep the child’s lines, wobbly ears and all. Our guide to turning a child’s drawing into a plush shows how.

Or a character from a favorite book that nobody sells in the right size. One dad wanted Findus the cat from the Pettson and Findus books for his daughter’s birthday, small enough for her to carry, 25–30 cm. We had sewn a 50 cm Findus before, so we made a smaller one just for her. More are in our book character plush.

And there’s the plush that makes the distance shorter: a doll of Grandma or Grandpa to sleep with, maybe with their voice inside.

A bunny plush sewn from a child’s drawing, in a laced shirt and a blue cap.

Findus the cat from the Pettson and Findus books, sewn to order.

Custom toys start from $350. Every toy is priced on its own, by size and detail, and the quote is free. Starting prices:

• Childhood toy replicas: from $295
• Custom plush of any kind: from $350
• Portrait dolls of the grandkids or of Grandpa: from $365
• Pet plush: from $390

Making usually takes 2–4 weeks. Delivery usually takes another 7–20 business days, and longer around the holidays. For Christmas, order by November 1. In the US, National Grandparents Day falls on the first Sunday after Labor Day, so for that date start in July.

1. Send the photos through the quote form: the kids, the dog, or the old snapshot of the toy. Add a few words and your date.
2. Get a free quote with a time estimate.
3. Agree the details: size, outfit, name or voice module.
4. We sew it by hand. Making usually takes 2–4 weeks.
5. Check the photos of the finished toy. If something looks off, we fix it before it ships.

Two customers, two directions. One got the toy he’d wanted since he was a kid. The other ordered a book character for his daughter. In their own words:

“I will treasure this doll for many years to come – which for me, is a childhood dream come true to own!”

Dex, USA, about Rugby Tiger from Jim Henson’s The Christmas Toy. Read his review

“I’m sure my daughter will remember this present for a long time to come.”

Ruslan, about the Findus plush he ordered for his daughter’s birthday. Read his review

You see photos of the finished toy before it ships, so most fixes happen then. If it arrives and she doesn’t love it, tell us within 14 days, for any reason. You get a full refund and keep the toy. The details are on our guarantee page.

Send it with your idea and your date. We’ll reply with a price and a time estimate. For Christmas, order by November 1.

Custom toys start from $350.
A bigger size or extra details can cost more.