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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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Shadow Box Frame
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This gorgeous Shadow Box Frame is easy to make and yet perfect for displaying even the most treasured artifacts
This shadow box holds my most treasured collection of dragon scales, and for years has kept them in perfect condition, and covered an unsightly hole in the wall made by my grandfather in 1825 (read more below).
 can’t be sure, but I am reasonably certain that my family were the inventors of the Shadow Box. I say my family, however that is not technically correct, the credit should more properly go to my father’s housekeeper...
. . .
As a child, my father was not at all well mannered. Of course, he grew up to become the world renowned Lord Baron, but those who knew him well, knew also that even with his advancing years and increasing respectability, a small corner of his soul forever ran with the mischievous streak that as a child had resulted in more canings than he cared to remember. One particular escapade I never tired of hearing about, was that of the Lost Mink. Over the years the story seems to have been embellished with numerous extravagant exaggerations, nevertheless even today, the core truth of the tale can be verified by a quick jaunt down to the East Wing corridor. There, hung on the wall are fifteen or sixteen (I forget exactly how many), ancient shadow box frames. The contents of some are remarkable (the collection of dragon scales has never been equalled), but for the most part, what lurks within is not half as interesting as the tale of what lies behind each box.
. . .
In July 1825, my father was home from school for the summer holiday and within one week had become bored and determined to catch and train a wild mink, with the dream of putting on a miniature circus show for one or other of the famous guests that stayed at the house over the summer months. Insofar as a plan might be said to panning out, a live mink had indeed been trapped and although completely wild, had been kept in captivity for at least a week in a makeshift cage the groundsman had hastily thrown together. Even my father’s considerable diligence in the endeavour of training the beast had had absolutely no effect on calming it’s feral nature and two weeks in to the training programme, the only trick it seemed to have mastered was that of delivering a vicious bite to anyone witless enough to put their fingers within a muzzle’s reach of the cage bars. Consequently, feeding it could only be attempted while wearing the toughest riding gloves. However, despite the lack of civilizing progress, my father doted on the animal and maintained that he would eventually tame it.
. . .
It was during the third week that calamity struck. My father had taken to leaving the cage in the East Wing corridor. He claimed it was cooler there and in any case, he planned to make that the venue of his mini-circus, and felt that it might be as well to acclimatise the creature to its new environment as part of his instructive regime.
One morning, after breakfast, my father visited the cage and found the creature to be lying lifeless in one of its corners. No amount of coaxing, even with pieces the best fillet steak, were able to elicit so much a half-hearted nibble, let alone the ferocious bite of which the brute was known to be capable of delivering. Fearing the worst and throwing caution to the wind, my father opened the cage fully and gently lifted the mink clear. Once free of the cage, the creature made a miraculously rapid recovery and leapt from my father’s arms, making off at a lightning sprint down the hallway. About half way down the hall there was a hole in the wainscot boarding and the mink wasted no time in disappearing into it and thence in to the wall cavity. Initially my father was beside himself, but within minutes had collected his wits enough to have retrieved a hammer from the stable block and was busy running up and down the corridor knocking holes in the lath and plaster wall in an attempt to find the animal and return it to the “comfort” of its cage.
. . .
He had made about five such holes of varying sizes when his activity was brought to an abrupt halt by the bellowing voice of my grandfather, who having been alerted to the commotion by the housekeeper had wasted no time in appraising himself of the situation at first hand.
. . .
“Stand clear boy,” he boomed, raising his trusty twelve bore to his good eye, “I’ll get the blighter.”
. . .
My father knew better than to argue. My grandfather was not known to stop for anyone, and even at 50 years of age, was thought still to have had the keenest eye in all of Hertfordshire. Without protest my father ducked down and ran to the back of the hall hoping against hope that the mink might somehow still escape.
. . .
By this time most of the household, including one or two of the house guests, had assembled, all agog with anticipation. My grandfather bade everyone silent. A faint scratching was heard, followed almost immediately by the most deafening report as my grandfather discharged his shotgun into the wall exactly where he believed the varmint to be. Needless to say he missed with the first shot, although he did succeed in dislodging a fair amount of plaster and a huge quantity of dust. It took a further nine or ten thunderous blasts to dispatch the mink. A miniature circus it was not, but a spectacle worthy of the local press it most definitely was, and remained the talk of many a lively bar evening for years to come.
. . .
Quite unexpectedly my father did not get the accustomed caning for his misdemeanours over the lost mink he expected. It was said that my grandfather just lightly cuffed him round the ear and grinning like a Cheshire cat, took him down to the library and although he was only 13 years old, poured him his first whiskey.
. . .
It fell to the housekeeper to get the damage repaired, but during the summer of 1825 there was a dearth of plasterers and so as to cover the holes she designed and had made, a set of deep glass lidded box frames, arranging in each one, a little cameo of artefacts. The largest box was saved for the hapless mink, which was duly stuffed and mounted therein and hung at the end of the hall.
. . .
As the story spread beyond the immediate locality, it was not long before anyone who was anyone judged their success in the more fashionable circles by whether or not they had stood in the now infamous East Wing and looked at the ill-fated mink, presented in its charming box frame. Within a year, similar box frames were adorning the more contemporary Victorian walls up and down the country and had gained the name of shadow boxes, on account of the strange shadows cast over the contents by the sides of the box. I have heard that some uber modish souls even went as far as to “prepare” the walls with a suitable firearm prior to hanging the shadow box, but I cannot say for certain that such a thing ever really happened.
. . .
Since then, shadow boxes have become world famous and are a great way to display precious memorabilia. Now you can easily make one. This box frame displays my precious set of dragon scales. Later I will explain in detail how to make those, but for now, whether you require A4 or United States Letter size instruction, if you would like to join the ranks of the fashionable, all you have to do is click on your chosen format to get started. The instruction includes all the templates you’ll need to make an excellent job of it.
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Crafty things to do
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You don't have
to be an expert craftster
to enjoy dadcando craft projects. All our projects are designed with children in mind, and all explained in simple steps that will give you great results every time. But, even if you are experienced in the art of crafting, we're sure you'll find interesting projects here that are new and different. Bind your own book and cover it with an old pair of trousers! Or learn the modern art of papier mâché, where you can make this gorgeous
. . . . . . . . Homer Simpson
D'oh Nut
. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .
using
masking tape . . . . . . . . . and couple of plastic grocery bags. Even where we explain more tradition crafts, like painting a T-shirt, we add details to make sure that you and your children get the best results.
Dadcando′s projects are driven by what
kids want, and so you'll find many of
of them are based on films, books
and console games.
Where necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
our projects are supplied with lovely . .
download printables of the highest quality so that your models and craft will always look as close as possible like the pictures of the finished projects you see on the pages of dadcando.
Now on dadcando you can upload pictures of the things that you have made and not only show your friends but win prizes in one of the regular competitions we run for the best uploaded pictures. So what are you waiting for?
It's time to get crafting with dadcando and see what you can do.
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