About Carolina Wooden Toys & Gifts

Carolina Wooden Toys and Gifts is a family-owned woodworking shop in Granite Falls, North Carolina. We are not a factory and we are not a reseller. Every toy, puzzle, gnome door and gift we sell is made by us, by hand, in our own workshop.

John Gilham spent his career as a schoolteacher before retiring, and that background shapes what we choose to make. He works alongside Patsy Scott, and his daughter Brooke Dula, an experienced wood crafter, makes many of the pieces herself. A good toy earns its place by holding a child's attention and teaching them something without announcing that it is doing so. Shapes, letters, colours, cause and effect, patience, a wooden puzzle does all of it quietly.

We work with pine, spruce, walnut and padauk, solid wood rather than veneer or particle board. Every edge is sanded smooth by hand, and every piece is finished with child-safe paints and oils. Because each item is made individually, no two are exactly alike, and small variations in grain and colour are part of what you are buying.

We also build furniture, though that is available for local pickup only rather than shipped. If you want something made specifically for your family, we take custom orders, and they take no longer than anything else we make.

We started making these for our own family. We still make each one the same way. Our hope is that the piece you order outlives the childhood it was bought for and gets handed down to the next one.

Call us on (828) 726-7367 or send us a message.