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Cautionary Tales For Children
Wonderful witty poems great for reading to your children. The stories and rhymes will stay with them for the rest of their lives.
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Research has shown how important YOU are to your children and how as a dad the things you do, and keep on doing, really count, whether you live with them, or you are a single dad and are only able see them once a month, once a week or more, what you do really matters. This site is dedicated to all dads but will be of special relevance to the single dad. Remember, you are half the reason your children exist and they need you whether you live with them or not. As their dad, you have what it takes to make their lives successful and fulfilling no matter how often you see them. This site is about all the positive things that we as parents have to offer our children.
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Kokeshi Doll
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Kokeshi dolls are one of the most collectible toys in Japan - now you can make your own beautiful doll to keep or give away
Did you know that Kokeshi dolls were part of the inspiration behind those infamous little Mii avatars on Nintendo's Wii video game console?
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Kokeshi (小芥子), are simple Japanese dolls turned from wood with a very stylised form that came from northern Japan in the 17th century. Originally they were made as souvenir gifts for the visitors to the hot springs in that part of Japan. Since then, the Kokeshi doll has developed into a greatly admired art form. Over 60 years ago the art form changed to favour more contemporary designs which have become known as Creative Kokeshi.
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The beauty of this project is that you can make one of these dolls in a few minutes using only felt tipped markers, or you can lavish the whole afternoon on the design, spraying and careful painting. As far as the design is concerned, the only limit is your imagination. Simplicity and elegance are the themes and there is plenty of reference on the web of Kokeshi doll designs to inspire you, but I’m sure you can think up more along the lines of Ninjas, Manga or Sumo.
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All you need for the head and hair are two old packaging lids of slightly different sizes, so that one fits inside the other. For the head, the lid needs to have a rounded top. You will turn this upside down to make the curved visible bit of the face. The bigger lid will be the hair. There are loads of different shaped lids out there so you shouldn't have much trouble finding some nice shapes. For the body you have a few options. You can either use a simple product bottle cut down to size, like I have done. The bottle I used was a hair care product, but there are loads of lovely elegant shaped bottles to chose from in any cupboard. Alternatively you can use two identical rounded tops and stick them together to make a rounded body. To do this, you glue a paper sleeve inside one of the caps and then fitting the other to it is easy.
So try your hand at making a Kokeshi Doll, approach it with peace and create something special that will be a lucky charm and keep away the evil spirits just like a real Kokeshi Doll. As usual our instructions look lovely and are so easy to follow, easy to download and are available in both A4 and US Letter size, and this time, there are two gorgeous downloads. One shows you how to make your figure from a bottle and lids, the other shows you what to do if you only have lids. Just click on the one you want to download, and you'll be ready to start making. Don't forget to upload pictures of your finished dolls as soon as you’ve made them.
 
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Posted by jovisjoseph - kekeshi potter........................the paint was not dried when i cliked this photo.sorry
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Posted by sausages - My flowereeeee kokeshi dolls!!! I have named these "Spring Breeze" dolls. : )
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Posted by chris - I made this in about 10 minutes using only a felt tipped pen to colour it in. The body is made from a mini drinking yogurt bottle, the head from a deodorant bottle lid and the hair from a shaving foam tin cap.
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Posted by mangaboy - This is my Samurai kokeshi doll
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Make toys from junk
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You can make the most incredible toys using just about any old junk. Kids love things to be quick, so get busy with a glue gun with its instant, incredible sticking power and the ability to glue almost anything to anything. Suddenly an old detergent bottle has so many exciting possibilities.  Combine that with a can of quick drying spray paint and a permanent marker, and you don't have to be a rocket scientist to be, well, a rocket scientist, or an engineer, or a magician. The toys you can make from junk are amazing and the most fun to play with and you’ll find you can add engineer and magician to your growing list of titles. Simple, easy to follow downloadable instructions and graphic printer sheets will help you and
your kids make the most fantastic looking models. This canoe was made out of two shampoo bottles and really floats; great
All our downloads
are gorgeous, and the instructions
couldn't be easier to follow, with projects from the simplest to the most advanced, all explained in beautiful pictorial detail. The instructions are all original and like nothing else you'll find on the web. What’s more, we've made them all and had a lot of fun making them, so even before you start, you'll know it can be done. On dadcando you’ll find projects for every skill level, and my kids have play tested every model, so we know they work in the playability department as well.
In fact, it must be said, often they have more play value than expensive shop bought toys.. Don't worry if you don't have exactly the same junk as us, making things from junk is not an exact science; let your creativity and problem solving skills show through. When making from junk there are no rules. Start collecting empty packaging right now and within a week or two you'll have enough to build your first model from Junk.
Making stuff from junk is a great way to recycle your rubbish, and very soon, just like your children, when you see an empty ice cream carton, a wire coat hanger, or a used Tetrapak you won't see rubbish, you'll see a rocket port, a ship, or a dog kennel.
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