Beautiful Hand Painted Japanese Kokeshi Dolls For Your Best Friend From My Style
With all this rain we've been having, my children have really enjoyed getting stuck in to some rainy day craft activities to keep them occupied and entertained. One activity that they have really enjoyed is the Japanese Best Friend Dolls craft set from My Style. Kokeshi is an enchanting Japanese tradition where you hand paint dolls to give to friends to treasure forever. This craft kit is based on this lovely idea.
 |
| Make Your Own Kokeshi Dolls |
The Japanese Kokeshi dolls that you can make with this set are simple hand painted and decorated wooden dolls that are perfect for giving and even hold a secret message in their base. The set contains everything you need to make three dolls.
 |
| The Wooden Dolls Ready To Paint |
The chunky, solid wood dolls look a bit like door knobs but with a bit of effort using the included paints, paintbrush, stickers and pom-poms will transform into cute little Japanese figures.
 |
| Easy Instructions |
The instructions are very clear and comprehensive, with a section on how to create each of the three dolls. The paint goes on really nicely and the best result is created by painting three thin coats allowing them to dry between each coat. If you time it right you can be painting one whilst another one is drying.
 |
| Painting Hair Onto Her Doll |
After the painting is done, stickers can be added on to provide the finer detail. If you were a really good artist you could paint features on freehand, but the transparent backed stickers do a really good job and are easy to apply.
 |
| Adding The Fine Detail To The Kokeshi Doll |
Adding the details really brings these little dolls to life and the end result is really good. If you want to give the dolls away, the kit also includes some 'secret message' slips which can be written on, folded, rolled and inserted into the hole in the bottom of the doll.
 |
| Writing A Secret Message |
Kizzy has made her doll Suki as a 'going away gift' for one of her school friends who is moving house. She wrote a sweet little note to hide inside the doll.
 |
| Ready To Give Away |
The included stringed tags complete the gift and support the concept of sharing your dolls with friends and loved ones.
The Japanese Best Friend Dolls craft set really is quite lovely. It is aimed at girls aged 8 and over and Kizzy was able to make her dolls without any help. Younger children could have a go with parental assistance. We loved the idea of making handcrafted gifts to show your friends how much you care. It is a lovely tradition. The end result was really good and relatively easy to achieve with a little patience. Kizzy really enjoyed making the dolls and is excited to share Suki with her friend.
 |
| Kokeshi Dolls |