Salam, Hello, Chào!
Handmade Beginnings is a creative educational brand that promotes early learning through handmade fair-trade toys, and online learning experiences for Muslim children. It was founded in 2009 by Evangeline Do, an Early Childhood Educator with a passion for everything handmade and early learning.
Our fabric toys are designed in Canada and lovingly handmade in Turkey by Syrian refugee women. The production of our toys supports educational programs for Syrian children and vocational programs for women.
Our online classes are the first of its kind, bringing the learning straight to your home. Our online classes provide mothers with the tools and educational content they need to create fun learning experiences and memories with their children.
Thanks for stopping by! Have a look around and be sure to check out our crafts section where we have fun DIY’s, tutorials, and printables for children.
Our Team
Evangeline / Founder
I’m Evangeline, Mama of 4, and the founder of Handmade Beginnings. I launched Handmade Beginnings in 2009 as a blog where I shared fun educational activities and crafts I did with my toddler. At the time I had recently graduated from Early Childhood Education, Montessori, and Taleem Al Quran and wanted to connect with other young mothers in the community who were navigating their way through motherhood and the education of their little ones.
A lot has happened since I first started this blog, I taught Kindergarten at an Islamic School, opened an Etsy shop, taught private children’s sewing lessons, and started homeschooling my 4 children. This year Handmade Beginnings has seen some big changes with all of our toys now being completely handmade by fair-trade artisans, and all of our educational classes being offered online! I am also excited to announce that my daughter, my side-kick, my mini me, has officially joined the Handmade Beginnings team!
Asiyah / Graphic Design
Hello my name is Asiyah I am 12 years old, I design graphics and create crafts for Handmade Beginnings. I love to make all kinds of crafts, but especially love making polymer clay necklaces. Being a graphic designer is fun, because if I ever need to duplicate something I can, and when I need to erase something it’s easy! In high school and college I want to study graphic design.
I am the reason Handmade Beginning was started. When I was little, my mom made a blog to show all the toddler activities she did with me, and one of the activities was a Ramadan calendar that she made for me. She put it on the blog and people started asking if they could buy some so she decided to open an online shop too. Some of you people reading this might have one of her Ramadan calendars hanging in your home!