Maybe it's just my imagination, but there's a bit of competitive craftiness in our family which I think fairly typical among Mormons. It's what happens when nobody drinks, I guess. Or maybe it's just my guilt kicking in when I visit my mother's house and realize that the other grandchildren all made concrete stepping stones with their handprints in it, or that my brother whipped up some poster-sized photos.

The one time I was ahead of the game was, ironically, before I was even in it. A few Christmases ago, before the kid was born, I got my brother and his family a set of these unpainted Russian nesting dolls and a whole slew of little paints and brushes. I just imagined the whole clan back in LA on some Family Home Evening, painting little versions of themselves on the kitchen table.

Funny, I've never heard how that turned out.

The kid loves these things, too, and so my mom sent some home with her. Plays with them all the time. Naturally, I think most all those dolls are so freakin' ugly, they should all be sent to Siberia. But a set of blanks? Or maybe a set with each one painted a solid color? I think I could handle that.

The Golden Cockerel is a veritable clearinghouse of unpainted nesting dolls, from $8-70/set. [goldencockerel.com]
Canadians can buy unpainted Matryushka dolls online at Vancouver's Modernkid.com, where they're $25 CDN and actually spelled 'Matrioshka.' [Oh, and a Chesterfield's a sofa.]