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Title: Mother Nature's Toy-Shop
Author: Beard, Lina, Beard, Adelia B. (Adelia Belle), 1857-1920
Language: English
As this book started as an ASCII text book there are no pictures available.
*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Mother Nature's Toy-Shop" ***
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[=Transcriber's Note:= This book was written in a time in which we
didn't know what we know now. For example, we now know foxglove to be
very poisonous and would not suggest children use the blossoms for
fairy caps. Please use caution if attempting any of these crafts. And
don't play with foxglove.
As to this text version, italic text is surrounded by _underscores_ and
bold text by =equal signs=.]
Mother Nature's Toy-Shop
By
LINA BEARD AND ADELIA B. BEARD
With Many Illustrations
by the Authors
Charles Scribner's Sons
New York Chicago Boston
COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
SPECIAL NOTICE
All the material in this book, both text and cuts, is
original with the authors and invented by them; and
warning is hereby given that the unauthorized printing
of any portion of the text and the reproduction of
any of the illustrations or diagrams are expressly
forbidden.
PRESENTATION
MOTHER NATURE is every bit as fond of the little folks in her human
family as of the grown-ups, and while she prepares untold joys for
lovers of the outdoors among men and women and larger boys and girls,
she never forgets the little ones.
For their benefit she keeps an open toy-shop full of marvellous
playthings, all free to any child who wants them, and instead of the
children paying her for what they take she pays them for coming to her
by giving them rosier cheeks, brighter eyes, and stronger bodies. She
puts more glee into their laughter and greater happiness into their
trustful little hearts.
As in the large department stores in big cities, the goods in Mother
Nature's shop are changed for each season of the year; so the little
shoppers have constant variety and hail every new season with fresh
delight. This book is written to call attention to the beautiful and
wonderful things to be found in Mother Nature's toy-shop and to tell
what to do with them, for one must know how to use the amusing material
that is furnished.
After really getting into this most enchanting of all toy-shops with
eyes open to see its wonders, we found that the difficulty to be met
was not how to write about them, but how to stop writing. The display
was so varied and so inviting, it seemed that we must tell the children
about everything we saw, but if we had gone on seeing more and telling
more there is no saying what size this book would have been.
LINA BEARD,
ADELIA BELLE BEARD.
CONTENTS
PART I--WILD FLOWERS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. DAISIES 1
II. JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT 5
III. RED AND WHITE CLOVERS 8
IV. CLOVER DESIGNS 12
V. OTHER WILD-FLOWER DESIGNS 19
VI. PUSSY-WILLOWS 24
VII. ARRANGEMENT OF FLOWERS 33
PART II--GRASSES
VIII. FAIRY-TREES MADE OF GRASSES 40
IX. A HOUSE MADE OF GRASS 45
X. GRASS DRESS AND GRASS HEAD-DRESS 56
PART III--GREEN LEAVES
XI. OAK-LEAVES 61
XII. GRAPE-LEAF DRINKING-CUP 68
XIII. GREEN-LEAF DESIGNS 71
PART IV--CULTIVATED FLOWERS
XIV. PHLOX 76
XV. CULTIVATED FOXGLOVE 81
XVI. MISS HOLLYHOCK'S GARDEN-PARTY 88
XVII. DAFFODILS 92
PART V--SEED-VESSELS
XVIII. SEED-VESSEL PLAYTHINGS 96
XIX. BUCKEYE HORSE AND BUCKEYE RIDER 103
XX. BURDOCK-BURRS 108
XXI. THINGS TO MAKE OF ENGLISH-WALNUT SHELLS 117
PART VI--VEGETABLES
XXII. THINGS YOU CAN MAKE OF LIMA BEANS 123
XXIII. SWEET-POTATO ALLIGATOR AND WHAT TO MAKE OF A RADISH 130
XXIV. GREEN-PEA TOYS AND A GREEN-PEA DESIGN 136
XXV. CORN-HUSKS AND CORN-COBS 148
PART VII--FRUIT
XXVI. THE FUNNY ORANGE-HEAD 163
XXVII. APPLES AND APPLE FUN 171
Mother Nature's Toy-Shop
_PART I_
WILD FLOWERS
CHAPTER I
DAISIES
What You Can Do with Them
WILD flowers, like children, are up early. _They_ don't want to lie
abed after their long winter's sleep; they want to be awake and see
what is going on in the world. While you think it is still winter there
is a stirring going on under the blankets of brown earth, and sometimes
before the snow is off the ground you may find the little things
working up through the stiff soil and opening their eyes to the gentle
spring sunshine.
It is remarkable the way the soft, tender sprouts force their way
through hard ground that we would have to take a knife or trowel to dig
into. But they do it. Not all at once with a great, blustering rush,
but gently, steadily, and quietly they push and keep on pushing until
their heads are above ground; then they begin to grow in good earnest,
and pretty soon they laugh right out into blossom.
The pleasure these earliest wild flowers give us is in going out to
look for them and in gathering handfuls to carry home and put into
little glass bowls to be "Oh'd" over and wondered at, to be admired and
loved because they are lovely, and because they bring some of the sweet
outdoors of spring into the furnace-heated house.
They are too delicate and fragile, these anemones, hepaticas, and
bloodroots, to be handled and played with, but later come the stronger,
sturdier flowers and with many of these you can do all sorts of
entertaining things. You don't have to look very far for them either.
They are in the fields, by the roadsides, and even along the edges of
the streets of a village or small town. You won't find them in the city.
To begin with, there are the daisies. How white the fields are with
them! If they are fine, large daisies on tall, strong stems they will
reach up to your waist--that is, if you are a little girl. If you are
bigger they will come well above your knees. There are a number of
things that you can do with them. First, you can make a really beautiful
Daisy Crown
for a May queen, or to wear yourself just for the fun of it.
[Illustration: Fig.1 - Begin the wreath in this way.]
[Illustration: Fig.2 - Turn the stem of B under the stem of A.]
Gather a whole lot of daisies with rather long stems. They will stay
fresh longer if you put them into a pail of cool water and let them
drink a little before using them; and if they have wilted while you
carried them, the water will bring them up again as fresh as--why, as
fresh as a daisy to be sure. This is the way to make the crown. It is a
new way and a good way.
[Illustration: Fig.3 - Bring B around and in front of it's own upright.]
Take one daisy in your left hand and hold it, not upright but in what
is called a horizontal position like the one marked A in Fig. 1, then
with your right hand hold another daisy upright and place its stem in
front of and across the stem of the first, as you see it in Fig. 1.
[Illustration: Fig.4 - Let the stem of B rest on the stem of A.]
This second daisy we will call B. Now turn the stem of B under the
stem of A and up at the back as it is in Fig. 2. Bring this same stem,
B, around and in front of its own upright part like Fig. 3. Turn it
all the way around the upright part and let the stem of B rest on top
of the stem of A. Fig. 4 shows this, but in the drawing the stems
are separated a little so that you may see each one plainly. It is
something like weaving, you see. And it is weaving of a sort.
[Illustration: Fig.5 - Weave another daisy, C, on the first two stems.]
Across the stems of the daisies A and B, two stems this time, place the
stem of another daisy that we will call C, and weave it on the first
two stems exactly as you wove B onto A (Fig. 5). The stem of the fourth
daisy will have to cross three stems, A, B, and C. The fifth daisy-stem
will cross four stems, but after that the end of the daisy-stem A will
probably have been passed and you will be weaving on the others. It
depends upon the length of the stems how many are woven over; sometimes
there may be five. It is not well to have more than that number. You
can cut a stem off when it seems to be going too far around the crown.
[Illustration: Fig.6 - A new way to make a Daisy Wreath.]
Place the daisies close enough together to have their petals touch,
or even crowd a trifle, because when the crown is curved and the ends
brought together the flowers will separate and leave wider spaces. When
you have woven enough daisies to make your crown the proper size to fit
your head, cut the last stems off about two inches from the last flower
and, with a strong blade of grass or piece of string, tie them to the
stem of the daisy A, just back of the flower. Fig. 6 shows what the
daisy crown looks like when finished.
CHAPTER II
JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT
ONE of the earliest wild flowers to show its head above ground is
Jack-in-the-pulpit. It is an odd plant and what we call the flower is
not the blossom at all, but a protecting leaf called a spathe which
surrounds the tiny flowers growing on the club-shaped spike (or spadix)
standing upright inside.
That is a good thing to know and remember, but what concerns us now is
that there is a pulpit with its curved sounding-board--or perhaps it is
a striped awning--overhead, and that in the pulpit is Jack.
He is a cheerful little preacher and his pulpit is somewhat gayer than
we usually see, but no one ever told Jack that to be good he must be
solemn and that to preach he must have a pulpit rich and sombre. The
good God who made him gave him his pretty, striped pulpit with its
striped awning to shelter it, and Jack goes on preaching his cheerful
sermons from this as long as he lives. Hear what some one has said of
him:
"Jack-in-the-Pulpit preaches to-day,
Under the green trees, just over the way;
Squirrel and Song-Sparrow high on their perch,
Hear the sweet lily-bells ringing to church.
"Come, hear what his reverence rises to say,
In his low, painted pulpit, this calm Sabbath day.
Fair is the canopy over him seen
Pencilled by Nature's hand, black, brown, and green."
Some people who love the woods and the wild flowers can understand
Jack's wild-wood language. They will tell you that over and over again
he is saying: "Come into the clean, shady woods and learn to love
all the wonderful living, growing things to be found here. Come into
the green woods and hear what we can tell you of beauty and love and
kindness; of courage and perseverance and strength, for plants must
have courage and perseverance as well as strength in order to live."
All the time these plants are working in the ground and above it to
make their flowers perfect and their seeds fruitful. Sometimes it is
difficult work, too, if the soil does not give them enough food, or a
dry summer chokes them with thirst. Sometimes they must struggle hard
to gain a footing between the rocks where they were told to grow, or to
keep from being crowded out by stronger, coarser plants that are called
weeds.
But they keep on trying to do their part and to do it well; they work
and love, and their children, the blossoms, laugh, laugh, laugh with
the happiness of it all.
[Illustration: Fig.7 - Cut a hole at the back of the Pulpit.]
Now if Jack seems to you to stand too still in his pulpit while he
preaches all this, why you can make him move around. He can turn first
to one side then to the other, and he can lean forward over the front
with extended arms as some preachers do when they are very much in
earnest.
For this you will first have to cut a hole at the back of the pulpit
near the bottom, as is shown in Fig. 7, then, slipping your knife
inside, cut Jack loose from the flower and drop him out from the top by
turning the pulpit upside down.
[Illustration: Fig.8 - The Spike.]
Cut off the lower, thin part of the spike to which the arrow points in
Fig. 8 and, after puncturing a deep hole in the end, push in a very
slender twig or grass-stem. Fig. 9 shows how this is done. For arms
that will make Jack seem more like a little man, push a short piece of
grass-stem through the spike near the top where you see it in Fig. 9.
Make a hole all the way through the spike with a pin so that the arms
will slip in easily.
[Illustration: Fig.9 - This is Jack.]
When you are ready for Jack to preach put him in his pulpit, sliding
the grass-stem through the hole at the back. While you hold the stem of
the pulpit in one hand take the grass-stem in the other and, by moving
it up and down, twisting it one way, then the other, and tipping it up,
you can make him rise up tall and straight, then sink down; you can
make him turn to the right and to the left and lean forward. That is
being active enough in such a small pulpit, isn't it?
CHAPTER III
RED AND WHITE CLOVERS
BY the roadside, through the meadows, on the farm, at the cottage
door, and in your own yard those dear, familiar little friends, the
clover-blossoms, come to greet you. Even in city parks you may find
them, and always they are ready and glad to help you have a good time.
Gather a lot of these flowers and sit in the shade under a tree with
your lap filled with them while I tell you how to make a
Clover Wreath
Select some long-stemmed blossoms and leaves, bunch them and bind their
stems together their full length with strong grass or string. Wind the
grass around and around the stems, tucking the ends securely in under
the last wind. You may need several long blades of grass for binding
one bunch.
In the same way make a second bunch and fit the flowers up close
against the first bunch of blossoms, with their stems lying along the
side of the first stems. Do not lap the flowers of one bunch over the
flowers of another. Fasten the second bunch in place by binding the
stems to those of the first bunch; then make a third bunch and bind
it on next to the second bunch. Continue making these clover bunches
and binding their stems to the stems of those already a part of the
wreath until the strip is long enough to fit around your head. Try it
on and, if it is the proper length, join the two ends by binding the
last stems to the stems of the first bunches. Fig. 10 shows the clover
wreath complete.
[Illustration: Fig.10 - Wreath of freshly picked Clover.]
You should also have a
Clover Bracelet
to wear with the wreath. Make this as you did the wreath but with much
smaller bunches. Keep binding the bunches together until the strip for
the bracelet fits your arm (Fig. 11), then join the two ends, and slip
the pretty thing on your wrist. Of course, you will want
Clover Earrings
to match, and those two plump, full, fresh blossoms lying at the top of
the others on your lap are exactly what you need.
[Illustration: Fig.11 - Clover bracelet.]
[Illustration: Fig.12 - Clover earring.]
[Illustration: Fig.13 - Clover Blossom ring.]
[Illustration: Fig.14 - Clover Blossom pendant on Clover necklace.]
Take one of these clovers and fit it in tight between your cheek and
the lobe of your ear (Fig. 12). Be careful not to break the long stem,
for you must bring it up snugly just back of your ear along the line
where the ear joins your head, and when this is done, bend the end
of the stem down gently over the top of your ear. The stem will hold
your earring in place. Make the other earring in the same way. The
two clover-blossoms used for the earrings should be as much alike as
possible both in size and shape. They should be matched carefully, as
pearls and diamonds are matched in a pair of real earrings.
Now for a "solitaire"
Clover Ring
Choose the finest clover for the jewel, and hold it against the back of
your left forefinger while you wrap the stem once around the finger,
loop it over the blossom and draw the loop tight. Fasten the end by
tucking it under and over, and again under the stem ring on your
finger. This clover ring is really very effective, and can be made of
any colored clover. Fig. 13 gives an idea of how it looks.
A Necklace of Clover
will complete your beautiful set of flower jewelry. Make the necklace
as you made the bracelet and fasten three pendant blossoms at the
centre, allowing the middle clover to hang down a little below those on
either side (Fig. 14).
Now you are ready, with the addition of a long, straight twig, at the
top of which you have fastened a bouquet of clover, to play that you
are queen of all the clover fairies, and that your clover-tipped twig
is your magic wand.
Other Things of Clover
The running, vinelike clovers are fine to use for climbing-roses
on outdoor doll-houses. They can also be trained over the doll
garden-frames and arches.
CHAPTER IV
CLOVER DESIGNS
HAVE you ever admired the pretty patterns on wallpaper of flowers and
green leaves? Have you ever embroidered dainty designs in colors on
white linen, and do you love it all? If you do, you will like to make
some designs yourself in a new way, and with real flowers and real
leaves.
You don't have to know how to draw or to paint in this designing, for
the flowers are there ready for you to use, more exquisitely drawn and
colored than the greatest artist could do them. Your part is to group
and arrange them on a sheet of paper so that they will form beautiful
designs; designs that will not only delight you, but that may be copied
in embroidery or in other ways.
Merely to place the flowers on the paper in some sort of a pattern is
interesting, but the design won't last because the flowers won't stay
in place. Your sleeve may wipe them all off, or a puff of air blow them
away, so a method has been invented especially for you that will keep
them where you want them to stay, and that method is simply to _paste_
them there.
You can make designs of almost any kind of flowers, the common
pink-and-white clover that grows underfoot nearly everywhere makes
a particularly pretty one. This is the long-stemmed, viny kind, and
its name is alsike clover. Fig. 15 shows what the alsike clover looks
like, and you will see that its leaves are rather pointed at the tip,
and shaped more like the leaves of the large red clover than like the
almost round ones of the little white clover.
[Illustration: Fig.15 - The Alsike Clover. Deep rose color. The way it
grows.]
[Illustration: Fig.16 - Upright design of Alsike Clover.]
The graceful, upright design (Fig. 16) was made of the alsike clover,
the blossom of which was a deep-rose color, and the original design
when finished looked like a piece of embroidery done in silks. It was
so lovely I wish that it could be given in its natural colors here.
[Illustration: Fig.17 - Parts of upright Clover design.]
Look at Fig. 16 carefully and see that while the sprays of clover
at the right and left appear to be exactly alike, though turned in
opposite directions, they are not really so, and the little differences
help to make the design interesting. They keep it from being what we
call monotonous. Now look at D, E, and F, Fig. 17. These are tracings
of the sprays of clover before they were grouped together to form the
design Fig. 16. The spray on the left, marked D, is just as it grew
and as it was used in the finished design; but F, on the right, had to
have the little budded spray added at the place on the stem shown by
the arrows to make it resemble and balance the other. This bud with its
leaves was clipped from another clover-vine.
[Illustration: Fig.18 - Running design of Clover.]
The spray in the centre of the design was like E, Fig. 17, and it was
necessary to give it the extra leaves shown at its right because,
without them, it was not symmetrical, which means evenly balanced, and
it would not have looked well in the design.
[Illustration: Fig.19 - Parts of running design.]
When all of the material was collected and ready to be put together,
the central spray, E, was laid in the middle of a sheet of unruled,
white paper with the lower end of the stem near the bottom edge, then
the sprays D and F were placed on the right and left of the centre
one and tried first in one position, then in another, until it was
decided that they looked best arranged as in Fig. 16. After that the
extra leaves for the middle spray, and the bud and its leaves for the
right-hand spray, were put in place.
[Illustration: Fig.20 - Large Red Clover design.]
It all seemed charmingly satisfactory, so the design was taken apart
that it might be fastened permanently in place. The middle spray had
to be adjusted first, and a drop of good library paste was put on the
under-side of the clover-blossom, a drop on the under part of each
leaf, and on the under part of the stem at the lower end. Then the
spray was laid in the middle of the paper just where it was at first,
and pressed down to make it stick. Paste was put on the under part
of each of the three leaves to be added and on the under part of their
stem at the end, and they were pasted down to look as if growing on the
main stem, opposite the other leaves.
[Illustration: Fig.21 - Design of leaves and buds of Red Clover.]
[Illustration: Fig.22 - Parts of leaf and bud design.]
Next the left-hand spray was pasted in place in the same way, then the
right-hand spray, to which was given its bud that curves in to almost
touch the bud on the other spray. Paste was also put half-way down on
the under part of the long stems of each of the side sprays.
This completed the clover design and it was exceedingly pretty, but
after it had been sufficiently admired it was placed between papers
under several heavy books to press, that it might be more durable.
It was after it had been pressed that it looked like a piece of silk
embroidery.
Pasted designs can be made without pressing; but while they are more
beautiful they will not last as long as the others. You can enjoy your
fresh designs for a while and then press them. Do not make the mistake
of covering the entire under part of a flower or leaf with paste as if
it were made of paper; a drop is all that is needed, more will spoil it.
Flowers do not always grow exactly as you want them for your designs,
but a too straight stem can be coaxed to curve by drawing it between
your fingers, and leaves and sprays can be cut away or added as has
been shown. All this changing about only makes it more fun to work out
the design.
Fig. 18 is a running design of clovers which can be used for a border.
The little arrows on Fig. 19 show where the different parts are joined.
The large red clover was used for the design Fig. 20 and the leaves
and buds of the red clover for Fig. 21. Fig. 22 shows how the parts of
Fig. 21 are put together. These drawings are all original from designs
actually made of fresh clover-blossoms and their foliage.
CHAPTER V
OTHER WILD-FLOWER DESIGNS
Daisy Fleabane Design
ISN'T the design Fig. 23 what grown-ups call Japanesque? Doesn't it
look as if it had been copied from a printed pattern on a piece of
Japanese cotton cloth?
[Illustration: Fig.23 - Daisy Fleabane design.]
Well, it was not. It is from a design made especially for you of real
wild flowers, freshly gathered. The name of the flower is the daisy
fleabane which grows in almost all open grassy fields where daisies and
buttercups and clovers are found.
The illustration Fig. 24 shows how the daisy fleabane looks when first
gathered. Sometimes the blossom is entirely white, sometimes it is
tinged with purple, and it has a bright-yellow centre. Its petals are
as fine as a fringe, like those of the asters that blossom in the fall.
In making the design the full-blown flowers were pressed down flat,
which makes them round like a sunflower, while the buds and partly
open flowers were left as they naturally grew. The composition, or
arrangement, of this design is like that used for the upright clover
design (Fig. 16), that is, it has two tall side sprays and a shorter
middle spray; but see how very different the two designs are in
appearance. The clover is all graceful curves, the daisy fleabane is
stiff and formal with straight lines and angles.
If you use the white flower, make the design on a sheet of tinted
paper, else the flower will not show. All white flowers should have
tinted paper for a background.
Wild Mustard Design
The small, yellow blossoms of the wild mustard and its compound leaves
make very dainty designs. Fig. 25 is one of them.
[Illustration: Fig.25 - Wild Mustard design.]
[Illustration: Fig.26 - Wild Mustard.]
[Illustration: Fig.24 - The Daisy Fleabane grows like this.]
From the drawing of the wild mustard (Fig. 26) you will see that the
flowers do not grow close to the leaves as they are placed in this
design, but on tall stems which lift them far above the scattered
leaf-sprays. The design Fig. 25 was made by cutting off a number of
flower-clusters and leaves, and grouping first one flower-cluster and
one leaf-spray together, with the ends of their stems touching, then
another flower-cluster and another leaf-spray. The arrows in Fig. 27
show where the stems are brought together, and the design Fig. 25 shows
how the joining of the first two is covered with one of the small
leaves of the second leaf-spray, and how the joining of the second two
is hidden under a leaf of the third leaf-spray, and so on.
[Illustration: Fig.27 - Parts of Wild Mustard design.]
There are four flower-clusters and five leaf-sprays in the design. You
can have as many as you wish but must end them with a leaf-spray.
[Illustration: Fig.28 - Buttercup design.]
Buttercups--a Design
Buttercups are so beautifully golden, so glossy and bright, you would
think they could be made into many nice things, a gold necklace for
instance. And so they could if they only would not wilt almost as soon
as they are gathered. To be sure, they will revive and freshen up when
put in water if they are not too much wilted, but we cannot make them
into jewelry while their stems are in water.
Still there is something buttercups can be used for, and that is
designs. Fig. 28 is a drawing from the simplest kind of a buttercup
design but a pretty one. It shows five wide-open blossoms placed in a
row at equal distances apart with a little spray of leaves and bud at
the lower end of each stem. These sprays do not grow as they are in the
design but are added after the flowers are placed in a row.
As in all other designs, each flower, bud, and stem is touched with
paste on the under-side to hold it in place on the paper. A design like
Fig. 28 should be pressed after it is arranged, and it will last a long
while and keep its bright color. A number of other and very beautiful
designs can be made of the common wild buttercup.
CHAPTER VI
PUSSY-WILLOWS
WE all welcome and love the dear little pussy-willows (Fig. 29) whose
fur is so soft and silvery. How pretty they look sitting along the
slender, bare branches of the small American willow-tree which is their
home. The pussies like to come early to assure us that spring is here.
They are very tame little kitties, and will allow you to carry them
away to your school or to your home.
[Illustration: Fig.29 - Pussy-Willows.]
Sometimes pussy-willows turn into little rabbits, squirrels,
bumblebees, and mice, but they need your help, they cannot make the
magic change alone. It will be lots of fun helping them if you do it
this way.
[Illustration: Fig.30 - The Rabbit and the Rabbit's ears, enlarged.]
[Illustration: Fig.31 - The Pussy-Willow Bunnies.]
[Illustration: Fig.32 - Pussy-Willow Squirrel, enlarged.]
[Illustration: Fig.33 - Paper tail, enlarged, for squirrel.]
Pussy-Willow Rabbits
Take a small branch of the very largest pussies you can find, have
ready some scraps of smooth, fresh writing-paper, a piece of cardboard,
pair of scissors, and some good paste. It only requires long ears
to change the pussy-willows into bunnies. Cut the ears from your
writing-paper like the pattern Fig. 30. Put paste on the strip
between the letters G and H, then take a pussy from the branch and
stick the paste-covered strip just above the small end of the pussy,
which will be the bunny's head. The arrow I, Fig. 30, points to the
place for the ears. When the paste has dried bend the ears up like the
ears of the rabbits in Fig. 31. Make three or four rabbits to keep each
other company and paste them in a row on your piece of cardboard.
[Illustration: Fig.34 - The Pussy-Willow Bumble-Bee.]
A Pussy-Willow Squirrel
This little gray squirrel (Fig. 32), sitting up in such a lifelike
pose, must be made of a slightly bent, rather long, slender pussy.
Pull forward some of the fur near the small end so that it will
look like the front legs of the squirrel when he holds a nut in his
hand-like front paws, and push up two tufts on the head for ears. The
pussy from which Fig. 32 was made already had these tufts for legs and
ears, and it looked so much like a squirrel one simply had to add the
tail and let it be a squirrel.
[Illustration: Fig.35 - Parts of bumble-bee.]
[Illustration: Fig.36 - Draw the legs of the bee like this.]
Cut the paper tail like the pattern Fig. 33, fringe it along the edge
and bend forward the little lap at the bottom which is separated from
the tail by the dotted line. Curve the tail backward, put paste on top
of the lap, and stick the lap to the under part of the large end of the
pussy; then paste the finished squirrel to a piece of pasteboard cut
round or square as you like best.
Pussy-Willow Bumblebee
Mr. Bumblebee (Fig. 34) needs one whole pussy for his body, one-half
of a pussy for his big, round throat, and a small piece of the pussy
for his head (Fig. 35). On the piece of cardboard which is to hold the
bee, draw his legs like Fig. 36, then paste the three parts--body,
throat, and head--on top of the legs. Fig. 37 shows how it would look
underneath if you could see through the paper, so you will know exactly
where to paste first the throat, then the head, and lastly the body.
The edges of these parts where they join must be pushed close together.
[Illustration: Fig.37 - Paste the three parts of the bee on top of the
legs.]
[Illustration: Fig.38 - Mr. Bumble-Bee, enlarged, ready for his wings.]
A bumblebee has slightly curved spikes extending from his head which
are called antennæ. Fig. 38 shows you where to draw them. You will also
see on the same diagram how to widen the six legs, making them thicker
and more lifelike. Cut paper wings the shape of Fig. 39, making them
the proper size to fit your bee. Remember that a bumblebee has small,
short wings compared to the size of its body. Bend the lap at the
bottom of the wing along the dotted line, and paste the lap of each
wing onto the sides of Mr. Bumblebee's chest. The wings turn back over
the laps and hide them. (See Fig. 40). The finished bee is shown in
Fig. 34.
[Illustration: Fig.39 - Pattern of bumble-bee wing.]
[Illustration: Fig.40 - Showing lap of wing bent back.]
If you cut a leaf out of green paper and put your bumble-bee on that
instead of on the cardboard, he will look, with his extended wings, as
if just ready to fly, and will make a fine addition to your collection
of things made of outdoor material.
[Illustration: Fig.41 - Pussy-Willow Mouse, enlarged.]
Pussy-Willow Mouse
Then there is the pussy-willow mouse (Fig. 41). He is a nice little
gray mouse with a long tail.
Choose a large pussy-willow for this mouse, ruffle the fur up on top of
the head and it will look like ears. The head is at the small end of
the pussy. Paste one end of a piece of cotton string under the large
end of the mouse, and that will be his tail. The string should be white.
[Illustration: Fig.42 - Jumping Pussy-Willow Game-Board.]
Finish by pasting the mouse to a round or square piece of pasteboard.
Jumping Pussy-Willows--a Game
This is a good game and it will make you laugh to see the pussies leap
up in the air, sail along a short distance, and land on a numbered
square of the game-board.
The board (Fig. 42) should be ten or twelve inches square. Cut it from
a flat, even box lid or any other pasteboard you happen to have. Draw
straight lines from top to bottom about one inch apart, then more
straight lines from side to side one inch apart. This will divide the
board into squares like a checker-board. Each of these squares must
be numbered and you can draw or paste them in. Fig. 42 shows how the
game-board should look.
To play the game, lay the board down on a flat surface, a stone will
do if you are out-of-doors, or even the ground; and a table, if in the
house. In front of the board draw a short line for the starting-post.
The line should be ten or more inches from the board according to the
distance you can make the pussies jump. Any number of players may join
in the game and each player should have his own jumping pussy.
[Illustration: Fig.43 - Place your finger on the Pussy-Willow and make
it jump.]
Fig. 43 shows how to place the pussy under the tip of your right
forefinger, with the large, blunt end standing a little out beyond the
finger-tip. When ready to shoot, press down suddenly on the pussy and,
as your finger slides off the small end, away jumps pussy and lands
on a square of the game-board. Each player plays in turn, always, of
course, placing the pussy on the starting-line when shooting. The
player whose pussy lands on the highest number wins the game. Jumping
pussy-willow can also be played by dividing the players into two even
sides; then the side which has the highest score, after the numbers won
by them have been added up, is the winner.
Pussy-Willow Bouquet
A nice, big bunch of pussy-willows makes an attractive bouquet, and a
very welcome one early in the spring. "The pussies are out!" we hear
some one say, and then the boys and girls vie with one another in their
effort to be the first to find and bring home branches of the little
catkins as proof that spring has come and they were the first to see
her.
CHAPTER VII
ARRANGEMENT OF FLOWERS
THE arrangement of flowers is interesting and means a great deal. It
means that this chapter will tell you what wild flowers look prettiest
on the dinner-table and in bowls and vases in other parts of the house;
what flowers and vines will keep fresh longest, and the kind that do
not need water but are beautiful when dry. It means that you can learn
not to force a tightly packed handful of all sorts of flowers into a
small vase and expect them to look well. Flowers don't like crowding
and are quite particular about their associates.
If you come in hot and tired after your walk, put the flowers you have
gathered into a pail of fresh water and let them stay there until you
have rested and are ready to sort them out and make each kind look its
very best. All flowers do not appear well in stiff, straight vases; all
do not look well in bowls. That is the first thing to learn, and the
next is that while some flowers seem to smile upon and nestle lovingly
up to some others, there are kinds that they seem to draw away from
and frown upon. Only a few examples can be given here. If you love the
flowers you will find out more for yourself.
The Wild Morning-Glory
In your walks through the fields and along the country roadsides have
you ever noticed the wild morning-glory? Of course, you have seen it
and, perhaps, gathered some blossoms, only to find them in a short time
wilted in your hand or turned into little, long bags, puckered at the
top as if drawn up with a string.
[Illustration: Fig.44 - This is the way the Wild Morning Glory looks.]
When I say noticed, I mean have you thought about the flowers while you
looked at them? Have you noticed their shape and beautiful color, and
have you seen the great difference between the green leaf of the wild
morning-glory and that of the cultivated one?
The wild morning-glory leaf (Fig. 44) is more beautiful in shape, the
vine is more graceful, and the blossom just as lovely as the cultivated
morning-glory, and all this beauty need not be left behind when you
gather the wild flowers which are to make the rooms of your home
charming.
While I write this, July 7, there stands on a table in our living-room
a tall glass vase, wide at the top and holding plenty of water. It is
filled with a mass of wild morning-glory-vines, and there are four new,
entirely open, pink and white blossoms while others are just twisting
open.
[Illustration: Fig.45 - The Wild Morning Glory blossomed after it was
gathered.]
Four days ago, when out for a walk in the country, I gathered the vine
by the roadside where it grew in the company of daisies, buttercups,
and wild mustard. Lifting themselves up into the light, where the
warmth of the morning sun could open the buds and where the leaves
could breathe in the fresh air, some of these trailing vines had wound
themselves in masses around tall, strong weed-stalks.
I gathered the vines, weed-stalks and all, breaking them off close to
the ground; and now these stalks hold most of the vines upright in the
vase, while other sprays droop gracefully over the edge and hang down
almost to the table-top. Only one or two flowers were in bloom when I
found the vines, but there were quantities of green buds which I hoped
would open later, and that is just what they are doing. It is like
having wild flowers growing in one's window. And as for decoration,
nothing can be more beautiful (Fig. 45).
Trailing vines always make pretty decorations, and many wild ones keep
fresh a long while when given plenty of water. Some have flowers, some
have not, but in any case they are worth gathering when you have large
vases to fill.
The Wild Balsam-Apple
or as some people call it, the wild cucumber, is very decorative.
That means it has beautiful curves and twists, and its small, white
flowers, prickly, egg-shaped fruit, and long tendrils twisted spirally,
like a steel watch-spring let loose, make us love to look at it. The
leaves are pretty, too, being shaped almost like a five-pointed star.
Sometimes this vine is cultivated and you will find it trained up on
strings to shade the porch, or over the kitchen-door of a farmhouse.
Wherever you find it, it is beautiful. A large jar filled with sprays
of the wild balsam makes a good centrepiece for the table, or a tall
vase holding some upright and some drooping sprays looks very pretty
when placed near a window where the light will fall on it. Do not mix
other flowers with it, its own blossoms are sufficient.
Wild Clematis
The wild clematis is another beautiful vine, and you will find it
clambering over fences and bushes along the country road. Its masses of
white flowers fill the air with a sweet, spicy perfume that delights
you.
You can gather the clematis when it is in blossom, and keep it fresh in
water for some time if you put it in root ends down. This vine does not
wilt as you carry it. Later in the season, when the white flowers have
turned into balls of silvery fringe, the vine is lovely in a different
way. Then you can gather great armfuls and take it home to hang over
mirrors or picture-frames, letting it become quite dry. It is best to
strip the leaves off the sprays at first because they are not beautiful
when dry. In a day or two after hanging up your clematis the balls of
fringe will become a mass of soft down which will cling to the vine for
many weeks. Later, when it becomes dusty, take it down.
Bittersweet
Then there is bittersweet, another wild vine that we gather in the
fall. It covers fences and bushes as the clematis does, but instead
of turning into fringe balls its small, creamy white flowers become
bunches of berries.
The berries are yellow at first; when ripe they split open and curl
back to show the brilliant red seeds inside that look like coral beads.
Gather the bittersweet while the berries are yellow, strip off the
green leaves, and hang the vine up dry or put it in a large vase
without water. Then the berries will open and last all winter.
Snapdragon and Wild Carrot
Both of these are pretty flowers and worth gathering. The snapdragon
(perhaps you call it butter-and-eggs) does not mind at all where
it grows. Field, roadside, or even the village streets may be its
home, but wherever it lives, it makes the spot shine joyously with
its stalks of yellow blossoms. Snapdragons combine well with the wild
carrot, whose other name is Queen Anne's lace, and together they make a
delicate and beautiful bouquet.
If you have a large glass fish-globe fill it with fresh water, and put
in the snapdragon and wild carrot in a loose bouquet. Nothing could be
prettier for the August lunch-table than this.
Wild Roses
look best in a low glass bowl, for they have no stems to speak of.
Short-stemmed flowers do not belong in tall vases. The roses wilt
quickly out of water and should have plenty of it.
Do not put any other kind of flowers in the bowl; the roses won't
like it; neither will you when you see how much better they look by
themselves.
Daisies and Buttercups
so friendly in the fields, look pretty when arranged in a deep jar
together, but I would not mix daisies with any other flowers, unless it
is the lacy wild carrot. Buttercups look well with the carrot, too, and
buttercups look pretty mixed with grasses. You see they all know each
other very well, growing in the fields together.
The Wild Flag, or Iris
whose home is along the banks of ponds and small streams, should be
put into a tall clear glass vase or pitcher, where its stems will show
through, that it may look its best.
There is the yellow iris, the white and the purple, and they are
very beautiful when combined but not crowded. Always put some of the
long-spiked leaves in with the flowers.
Clover Bouquets
Clover bouquets make delightful centrepieces for the table. Arranged
loosely with its own green foliage, the rose-colored clover is
especially beautiful in a clear, green glass bowl of water. The sprays
should be brought over the edges of the bowl, and allowed to droop
down, resting partly on the table.
Yellow clover and its foliage mingled with white clover makes a
charming combination as a bouquet for almost any occasion. The name of
the yellow clover is hop-clover. It is not as common as the other kinds.
Green Bouquets
When there are no flowers to be had you can have bouquets and
centrepieces of green leaves, ferns, and vines, and you will be
surprised to find what pretty ones can be arranged and how much they
will be admired.
Ferns will wither soon unless taken up with the roots and the soil
surrounding them; but if they have the roots and soil they will last
a long while, provided you put them in a bowl or jar and keep them
_always wet_. That does not mean to water them as you would any other
growing plant, but to keep them _standing_ in water _all the time_.
Maidenhair-fern kept in this way makes a delicate and beautiful
centrepiece for the table.
Sometimes you will find varieties of foliage that are full of color. In
early summer the young leaves of the scrub-oak are very brilliant in
reds and yellows, and I have made bouquets of nothing but leaves from
the rose-bushes. These are often tinged with red and purple. Sprays of
the barberry-bush with its rows of dangling red berries are pretty in
a green bowl. Be careful of the thorns when you gather this. Cut the
stems; do not try to break them.
_PART II_
GRASSES
CHAPTER VIII
FAIRY-TREES MADE OF GRASSES
SOME of our grasses appear like very large trees to the little grass
fairies who, we like to pretend, hide in their midst; while other
grasses, with their jointed, bamboo-like stems, seem to these tiny
people to be tall forests of real bamboo.
Why not play that you are a little fairy and live among the grasses?
But to see the grasses as the fairies see them you must lie down and
bring your eyes very near the ground; so stretch yourself out flat,
face down, with your head lower than the grass tops; then look steadily
ahead through the tall grass stems. What do you see?
The five fairy-trees standing by themselves in Fig. 46 are four
short-stemmed tops of the Scribner's panic-grass. Fig. 47 shows
exactly how the grass looks before you pick it, and Fig. 48 gives a
simple design that you can make by placing the tips of the four grass
tops together, allowing the stems of two heads to lie in a straight
horizontal line (that means a line running from left to right), and the
stems of the other two heads to lie in a straight line vertically (that
means up and down).
While you are playing with the grasses you can begin to learn something
about them. The beard-grass, which some people call the little
blue-stem (Fig. 49), has near relatives named forked beard-grass and
bushy beard-grass. These are stiff and angular, with bamboo-like stems,
just the thing for trees in a little Japanese garden which some time
you will want to make. You may run across them anywhere, for they are
common in all parts of our country.
[Illustration: Fig.46 - Trees of Scribner's Panic-Grass.]
[Illustration: Fig.47 - Scribner's Panic-Grass as it grows, Panicum
Scribnerianum.]
Make friends with these and with other grasses. As you find them learn
their names just as you would learn the names of new playmates. Take
the grasses home, show them to your father and to your mother; if they
do not know their names, carry them to school and ask your teacher
about them. In case she cannot tell you, go to the public library with
your grasses and persuade the librarian at the desk to help you find
their pictures and names in some of her books. All grasses have names,
so [Illustration: Fig.49 - You will run across these anywhere.] keep
asking and hunting until you know what to call them. When you know
their names you will be glad to see your friends, the pretty green
grasses, whenever you find them.
In Chapter XVIII, which tells how to make a burdock-burr house, you
will find more about grasses.
[Illustration: Fig.48 - Scribner's Panic-Grass. Design made of four
grass heads.]
CHAPTER IX
A HOUSE MADE OF GRASS
REAL people live in grass houses way off in the Philippine Islands.
That is, their houses are made of bamboo, which is a kind of giant
grass. It must be a pretty airy, comfortable house in summer, and it is
always summer in the Philippines, but we never see that kind of houses
here. One reason is because in most of our country a grass house would
be very cold in winter, and another reason for not building them is
because the bamboo grows only in the extreme south, and even down there
people want more substantial homes.
A prettier playhouse, though, could not be devised, and if you could
see a Filipino house you would want it immediately, but since you
cannot have a real one you can have the fun of making a little doll
Filipino house, and of making it exactly as the little brown Filipino
men make theirs. Suppose you gather some grass and twigs now, and build
the little house for your doll.
Some of the queer little people whose home is in the Philippine Islands
perch their houses like birds' nests up in the trees, but often they
are built on stilts to lift them high from the ground. Our little house
(Fig. 50) shall be on stilts. We will make the floor first. If you do
not understand how to measure by inches, ask an older person to help
you.
The Floor
Find two straight, round sticks, not quite as large round as a
lead-pencil. The sticks must be cut six and a half inches long, then
two sticks of the same kind five inches long; after that there must be
six more sticks five inches long. Split these last six sticks in half
lengthwise.
The Philippine people do not use nails, or screws, or glue, and not
even wooden pegs, in building their houses; they bind and tie the parts
together with rattan, and as we are going to build just as they do we,
too, will tie the parts of our house together, but will use raffia in
place of the rattan.
[Illustration: Fig.50 - The little Grass House you can make.]
Hold one of the six-and-a-half-inch sticks (letter J, Fig. 51) upright
in your hand while you cross it a short distance below the top with a
five-inch-round stick (letter K, Fig. 51). The distance from the top
of the upright stick to the crossing and the distance from the short
end of the other stick to the crossing must be the same.
[Illustration: Fig.51 - Begin binding them together.]
[Illustration: Fig.52 - Carry the raffia over and between the two ends
of the sticks.]
Begin binding them together as shown in Fig. 51. Then carry the raffia
(string will do if you cannot get raffia) over and between the two
ends of the sticks (Fig. 52), and wind it opposite ways several times
around the sticks, bringing the raffia between as well as over them.
This will lash them firmly together. Now turn this beginning of your
floor around so that the short stick will be upright and the long one
extend from side to side. Do not let the binding loosen; hold it tight
and cross the long stick with one of the split five-inch sticks (Fig.
53). Be sure that the flat side of the split stick is next to the
long stick, and that you leave a slight opening between it and the
first crosspiece. Pull the raffia tight and bind it over this second
crosspiece (Fig. 54), then back, crossing it as in Fig. 55.
[Illustration: Fig.53 - Turn the sticks, bringing J in horizontal
position.]
[Illustration: Fig.54 - Bind raffia over second stick.]
[Illustration: Fig.55 - Then bring raffia across front of second stick.]
Bind on the next split crosspiece in the same way, and go on adding
crosspieces until they reach almost to the end of the long stick, then
let the last crosspiece be the second unsplit five-inch stick. When
all the short crosspieces are properly bound onto the long stick,
bind the other six-and-a-half-inch long stick under the opposite ends
of the crosspieces in the same way, and just as carefully (Fig. 56).
This makes the floor and we must lash it to the stilts, which are four
upright sticks, each seven and one half inches long. Fit the stilts in
the outside corners made by the crossing of the end and side sticks of
the floor, and, holding the floor about four and a half inches above
the lower ends of the stilts, bind floor and stilts together (Fig. 57).
Of course you can put the stilts on only one at a time.
The Walls
Make the framework for the walls by binding and tying onto the stilts
near the top two sticks, each six and a half inches long, one stick on
each side. Across these sticks, from stilt to stilt, at each end, bind
a five-inch-length stick (Fig. 58).
[Illustration: Fig.56 - Make the floor this way.]
The Roof
To support the roof there must be two upright sticks, each seven inches
long, and these sticks must be bound and tied to the middle of the end
sticks of the floor and the end sticks of the wall. They are lettered L
and L in Fig. 59
[Illustration: Fig.57 - Lash the floor to the stilts.]
[Illustration: Fig.58 - Bind on four more poles making framework for
walls.]
Fig. 60 shows the framework of the house without the bindings, so
that you may see exactly how the sticks are put together. There is
a ridge-pole which forms the top ridge of the roof. This must be a
stick about seven inches long, and it is to be tied to the uprights
lettered L and L that you have just fastened on the two ends of the
house. (See Fig. 59, L and L.) Four other sticks, M and M and N and N,
long enough to reach from the ridge-pole, crossing above it, to the
side crosspieces of the wall, you must tie to the ridge-pole and the
side-wall sticks, placing them slanting, as you see them in Fig. 60, at
each end.
The Porch
Like many other people, the Filipino wants a porch to his house.
Perhaps he sits there to smoke his curious little pipe, which is not
much larger than the one you make of an acorn. I have never seen him
on his porch, but I have seen him smoke and afterward tuck his pipe
away in his long, fuzzy hair, where it remained in safety even while he
leaped and pranced about in the wild dance he loves so much.
[Illustration: Fig.59 - End poles are added to hold up the roof.]
[Illustration: Fig.60 - This is the way the house is put together.]
But we must not forget the porch. If the Filipino has one to his
house, we must have a porch to ours. We won't make it separately and
add it to the part already built, but, as the Filipino does, we will
use part of the house-floor for the floor of the porch, and let the
roof cover that as well as the house. To do this we must separate the
house part from the porch part by putting up two more uprights, one on
each side, a little way back from the front of the house, and these
uprights will form the boundary-line. Letters O and P in Fig. 60 are
these last uprights, the sticks which form them being long enough to
reach from the wall side-piece to the floor, and extend a little above
and below where they cross the upper and lower sticks.
[Illustration: Fig.61 - Fresh grass instead of palms over one side
wall.]
[Illustration: Fig.62 - Strips of wood to bind down the grass on wall.]
Thatching
Now we come to the real grass part of the house, for we have had to
use small sticks for the framework instead of bamboo, and where the
Filipino uses palm-leaves we will use grass.
Gather some long, coarse, fresh blades of grass for thatching both
the roof and walls, and begin with the walls. Bunch the grass evenly,
the stem ends all together, bend the bunch at the centre, then spread
it out at its centre, and hang it thickly over one side-wall beam,
which is the upper stick (Fig. 61). Have the stem ends inside the house
hang down as long as the tip ends on the outside, and let the outside
ends hang down below the edge of the floor; then take a flat strip of
wood and place it near the top of the grass-covered wall, bend the
ends a little and slide them back of the uprights (Fig. 62). Smooth
the grass down evenly and put in another flat stick, this time at the
bottom (Fig. 62). If you want the inside of the house as perfect as the
outside, slide in two other strips on the inside of each wall to hold
the grass down. Fig. 62 shows the grass partially trimmed off to make
it even at the bottom.
[Illustration: Fig.63 - Pole rafter being thatched for roof.]
[Illustration: Fig.64 - Shows exactly how the raffia is tied.]
[Illustration: Fig.65 - Hang grass over ridge pole of roof.]
To thatch the roof you will need two more sticks for rafters. Over one
stick, near the end, tie a bunch of grass into a tassel, using a piece
of raffia to bind it; hang more grass over the stick or rafter, and tie
it into another tassel, and with the same piece of raffia tie a third
tassel (Fig. 63). Fig. 64 shows exactly how the raffia is tied. Make
the tassels rather thick and put them close together so that there
will be no space between.
When this rafter (the stick) is covered with thatch lay it across the
side of the roof half-way between the ridge-pole (top stick on the
roof) and the stick forming the side wall of the house, and tie the
ends securely to the slanting sticks of the roof. Thatch another rafter
and fasten it on the opposite side of the roof, then cover two shorter
sticks with thatch and tie one across the front, the other across the
back peak of the roof on a line with the thatched rafters on the sides.
Fasten more thatch at the front and back peak of the roof, tying it
to the ridge-pole, also to the two slanting sticks. Allow the grass
to hang down far enough to cover the top of the thatch below it (Fig.
50). This thatch must entirely fill up the ends of the roof made by the
peak. Now hang grass over the ridge-pole at the top of the roof as you
would hang your doll's little sheets on your toy clothes-line (Fig.
65), and bring the ends down over the thatched rafters on each side of
the roof. Hold this top thatch in place by laying sticks across the
grass just below the ridge-pole on each side of the roof. Bind and tie
these sticks at each end to the framework of the house (Fig. 50).
If grass cannot be had for thatching, soak hay in water to make it
soften and take the stiffness out, then use that. Raffia dyed green
might do, or should all else fail, take fine broom-straws softened in
hot water for the thatch, and use loosely twisted string for binding
and tying. Of course the string should not be white, but you can dip it
in coffee and dry it; the color will then be like the color of rattan.
The Ladder
The spry little Filipinos use ladders instead of stairs to reach their
living-room, so we must make a rustic ladder for our house.
Cut two slender sticks about six and one-half inches long for the
sides; then cut seven or eight short sticks for the crosspieces or
rungs. The rungs should be one and three-quarter inches long. Bind
and tie the ends of the rungs to the side sticks (Fig. 66), placing
them about three-quarters of an inch apart. The ends of the rungs must
cross the side sticks and extend out about one-quarter of an inch. If
properly tied, your little ladder will be firm and strong.
[Illustration: Fig.66 - The ladder will be strong and firm.]
Place the ladder one end resting on the ground, the other end on the
front edge of the porch, then stand off and admire your work. It is
certainly worth admiring, for the house will be a perfect miniature
Filipino home, and you may imagine you can see tall cocoanut-palms and
many other strange and beautiful trees and plants that grow in the hot
Philippine Islands. You might copy some of these with grasses and small
flowering wild plants.
If you have a Noah's ark it will be a good idea to select some of
the animals that live in the Philippines and put them in the little
rattan and bamboo jungles which you have made of grasses. A piece of
looking-glass or plain window-glass can represent water not far from
the house, and here you should have a crocodile sunning himself on the
bank. Let a wild boar be plunging out of the jungle, and deep in the
bamboo grove you might hide the tremendously large snake called a boa.
I don't think there will be a boa in your Noah's ark, but you can make
one of bread dough, or of clay. With all these dangerous creatures
prowling round, do you think it strange that the Filipino people put
their houses on stilts?
If this were a real house in the real Philippines you might see a
number of natives, wearing little or no clothes, coming toward you
bringing small snakes which they had caught to sell in the towns for
rat-catchers. And near the house there would be most wonderful flowers,
some of them orchids, the flowers that live on air; while all around
would be strange and rare birds.
At one side of the house, some distance away, there would, perhaps, be
a wet rice-field where the queer water-buffalo, called a carabao, would
be drawing a strange-looking plough, the driver, a little brown man,
wearing an immense umbrella-like hat woven of palm-leaves.
Listen! Do you hear that deep, booming sound? It comes from the
peculiar tree which a native is striking with his big club in slow,
heavy blows on one of its immense, wall-like roots. The sound goes
rolling far over the land, telephoning to other natives that white
people are coming.
A Doll Filipino Woman
To make the little house seem more real, dress a doll in genuine
Philippine costume and stand her near the ladder with arms extended as
if in welcome. The dress must be a white waist with flowing sleeves,
a light-colored skirt, a large gay handkerchief, called a _pañuelo_,
folded around the doll's neck, and an overskirt made of a square of
dark cloth drawn tightly around her body from waist to knees. No
stockings are needed, but you can give her heelless slippers with only
a narrow strip over the toes to keep them on.
CHAPTER X
GRASS DRESS AND GRASS HEAD-DRESS
LOOK at the little girl in the photograph who is wearing her new grass
dress made of the wavy hair-grass and playing that she is a wood-nymph.
She feels very proud and is greatly pleased with her pretty costume.
[Illustration: Fig.67 - Bring the long end of string across front of
second bunch and form loop A.]
[Illustration: Fig.68 - First loop, A, on front of grass and string
passed around back of grass forming second loop, B.]
[Illustration: Fig.69 - String brought forward again and slipped
through first loop, A.]
Almost any kind of long, slender grasses can be used for a dress of
this kind, but you must gather an armful or more. It takes a good deal
of material, for the fringe must be close and thick. [Illustration:
She is greatly pleased with her pretty grass costume.]
Divide the grass into bunches, each bunch about as thick as your thumb,
and have the heads of all the grasses together at one end of the bunch,
and the stem ends together at the other end.
[Illustration: Fig.70 - Use a strong string for tying the grass fringe.]
Tie a strong string around the stem ends of one bunch. Hold this tied
bunch under your left arm, stem ends to the front, and take up another
bunch (Fig. 70). Bring the long end of the string across the front of
the second bunch and form a loop (A, Fig. 67). Hold the loop while you
pass the string around the back of the bunch (Fig. 68), then slide the
end through the loop A, Fig. 69. Draw this loop-fastening very tight
and it will hold. Now place the second bunch under your arm with the
first bunch, and make a loop-fastening around the third bunch. Keep
on adding bunches of grass in this way, always drawing the last bunch
close to the one before it, and holding them all together under your
arm as in the photograph (Fig. 70). In this picture the grass bunches
are purposely left far apart that you may see exactly how to make the
fringe.
[Illustration: Fig.71 - Bristle-spiked Cyperus grass used for
head-dress. See photograph.]
The grass dress will be finished when you have made a strip of fringe
long enough to reach around your waist, for the skirt--it needs no
waist--is really only a fringe of grasses to be worn over a light
summer dress.
Grass Head-Dress
The grass head-dress to be worn with the wood-nymph skirt is quite as
wild-looking, but is simply a band of grasses, with bunches of the
bristle-spiked cyperus grass (Fig. 71) hanging downward on each end.
The band goes across over the top of the head, and the grass side
ornaments fall over the ears.
Wear the grass costume and carry a light branch of green leaves in
each hand when you give your next outdoor fancy dance, or take part in
outdoor tableaux where you could represent either a wood-nymph or the
spirit of the grasses.
_PART III_
GREEN LEAVES
CHAPTER XI
OAK-LEAVES
TO dress up and pretend is something every little girl, and boy too,
for that matter, likes to do, and there is no better place for having
this kind of fun and no greater storehouse for dress-up material than
the wide, sunny fields and green, shady forest on a summer's day.
[Illustration: Fig.72 - The Robinson Crusoe Hat.]
If you want to be a wood-nymph, a fairy, or a pioneer; if you would
be a fashionable lady decked in jewels rare, or a rollicking cowboy,
or Robinson Crusoe, it is all the same to Mother Nature's department
store. Fields, Woods & Co. can furnish all you need. If the goods are
not always ready to wear, they are at least ready to be made up into
what you want.
Why, you can even be a little savage and wear a skirt made of a fringe
of long grasses, like the wood-nymph's dress, and bracelets of slender,
golden-brown rootlets, if that pleases you; all the materials are ready
to your hand. And you can make a
Robinson Crusoe Hat
of the large leaves of the scrub-oak--a pretty and becoming hat and
one that will keep your head cool though you walk under the hottest of
noonday suns.
The photograph given here shows one little girl who likes immensely to
wear her Crusoe hat, and Fig. 72 shows just how the hat looks when not
on her head.
It won't take more than five minutes to make the hat, but first you
must gather the leaves. Ordinary oak-leaves are too small to use; it is
on the scrub-oak that you will find them large enough. The scrub-oak
grows low, like a bush, and the leaves will be quite within your reach.
Like a good shopkeeper, this kind of oak shows his customers leaves of
various sizes, but it is the very largest that you must take, and only
the ones that are dark-green in color. The pretty new light-green or
brownish leaves will soon wilt and curl on the edges, while a hat made
of the older, tougher ones will last in good condition several days if
left out in the dew at night or kept damp in the house.
[Illustration: The Robinson Crusoe Hat is pretty and becoming.]
The number of leaves needed depends upon the size of the leaves and the
size of your head. It is well to have at least a dozen and a half; then
you can select the best. The largest leaves are not always perfect,
but unless very much torn or eaten away by insects they will answer.
To gather all you need you will probably have to visit several of the
little scrub-oaks.
If you are at home when you make your hat, use broom-straws to pin the
leaves together; if you are in the woods find some smooth, slender
twigs, break them in short pieces, and they will take the place of the
straws.
Begin by pinning two leaves together as they are in Fig. 73. These
leaves are lettered U and V. You see that U is lapped over V and then
pinned to it in two places, first near the stem and then through the
lower side lobe. The next leaf would be letter W, and W would be pinned
to U just as U is pinned to V. Make the stems meet at the top and keep
adding leaves, pinning one to another, until the hat is large enough to
fit your head comfortably, then pin the last leaf to the first.
[Illustration: Fig.73 - Pin the leaves together in this way.]
Do not make the hat too flat; if you find it flattening out, lap the
leaves over more at the bottom. When finished it should be shaped like
Fig. 72.
Oak-Leaf Mask
Among other frolics in the woods you can have a masquerade--a real
one, where you wear a mask, and that mask made of one of the largest
leaves of the scrub-oak. Not even a pair of scissors will be needed to
make this mask, and it is a funny one too (Fig. 74). See the turned-up
eyelids and the wide nose tilted at the end.
When you have found a leaf large enough (the one in the drawing was
nine inches long and seven inches wide) use your thumb-nail to cut out
the eyes and nose. The outlines at the top of Fig. 74 show how to shape
them, and the dotted lines show where they are bent up.
[Illustration: Fig.74 - The Oak Leaf Mask.]
There is no mouth, none is needed, for the leaf, below the nose, drops
down loosely over your mouth like the curtain on a mask one buys at a
shop. The oak-leaf mask will stay on your face if you wet the under
parts of each side and stick them to your cheeks.
Another way to make the mask is to turn the leaf around, stem down,
and then cut the eyes and nose in the wide part, leaving the narrower
stem end for a long chin. This kind you can hold in front of your face
by taking the stem in your hand. It requires so short a time to make a
mask that when one wears out or is lost you can have another to replace
it in a minute or two.
[Illustration: Fig.75 - The little Oak Leaf Dog.]
[Illustration: Fig.77 - This shows how the dog was made.]
[Illustration: Fig.76 - The leaf the dog was made of.]
The Little Oak-Leaf Dog
He has the funny expression of a real dog when he is making up his mind
what to do next, even if he is only an oak-leaf. It was an ordinary
leaf four inches long which was, by tearing a little here and bending a
little there, transformed into his absurd dogship (Fig. 75).
Fig. 76 is the tracing of the leaf actually used for the dog. Fig. 77
shows the same leaf with its stem nipped off and the other end torn up,
not very evenly, where the dotted lines are in Fig. 76. This makes the
little dog's tail. The tear on either side reaches to the mid-rib of
the leaf, but does not cross it, and the mid-rib being unbroken holds
the tail out stiff and straight.
The two hind legs are bent down just where the tear ends in making
the tail. The dotted line in Fig. 77 shows this. The other two legs,
formed by the side lobes of the leaf, are bent down as the dotted lines
indicate. The tip of the lobe on the left side had to be torn off
because that leg was longer than the opposite one.
In making the neck the narrow part of the leaf was bent up and then
down, the two dotted lines show where. Then the ears were bent up and
the little oak-leaf dog was placed standing as you see him in Fig. 75,
to have his picture drawn.
CHAPTER XII
GRAPE-LEAF DRINKING-CUP
A WILD-GRAPE leaf will do quite as well as a cultivated one for a
drinking-cup if it is large enough. You want a large leaf, because a
small one will hold only a sip of water, and when one is really thirsty
that is certainly not enough.
Whether wild or cultivated, the grape-leaf should be washed in clean
water to take off dust and any possible insects that may be on it.
Where there is water to drink there is water for washing the leaf,
so there can be no difficulty about that, and the large green leaf,
freshened by the water, looks very cool and inviting.
It is simply a matter of folding, first one way, then the other, that
turns the grape-leaf into a cup. Fig. 78 is a tracing of the leaf from
which the cup (Fig. 79) was made. It measured eight inches at its
widest part, almost seven inches from tip to stem, and the cup held a
good supply of water.
Begin to fold by bringing the two lower lobes of the leaf together in
the way shown in Fig. 80. This makes the middle bend that is indicated
by the dotted line in Fig. 78. Then bring the two lobes around to the
left, or to the right if that comes easier, hold them close together
and lap them over the upper lobe on that side. That makes the two side
bends which join at the middle bend (Fig. 78), and rounds the cup into
shape.
[Illustration: Fig.78 - The drinking cup was made of a leaf like this.]
[Illustration: Fig.79 - A fine drinking cup made by folding a Grape
leaf.]
[Illustration: Fig.80 - Bring the two lower lobes of the leaf together.]
The bottom of the cup is pointed, as you see, and, of course, will not
stand; then, too, the cup falls apart when you loosen your hold, but
neither of these things are of any consequence, for you can let your
cup lie flat and fold it again very quickly when it is needed. As
long as the folds are held tight in your fingers, the cup will keep
its shape and hold water without leaking a particle. Use the upper, or
green, side of the leaf for the inside of the cup; the under, or light,
side is fuzzy and may harbor small insects even after it is washed. Be
sure you look into the water before drinking it. This should be done no
matter what you drink from or where you get the water.
CHAPTER XIII
GREEN-LEAF DESIGNS
Beech-Leaves
REMARKABLY pretty designs can be made entirely of green leaves; also
with leaves and their seed-pods, their nuts and berries. You can press
a design of leaves alone, but one having seed-pods, berries, or nuts
cannot be pressed. It is fun to make it, even if it cannot be preserved
by pressing, and you will like to do it.
[Illustration: Fig.81 - Two twigs broken off a Beech Tree made this
design.]
Fig. 81 is the drawing of a charming design made of two twigs broken
off a beech-tree. On one twig were two beechnuts in their pretty green,
spiky outer shells; on the other was just one nut. Each twig had three
leaves. Nothing was cut off and nothing was added for this design; the
twigs were used exactly as they came from the tree. The stems were
simply crossed, with the lower leaf of one twig falling over the stem
of the other twig, and that finished it. The easiest thing in the world
to do if you happen to think of it.
Violet-Leaves
There is one thing about the green leaves of the violet which makes it
a joy to use them in a design, and that is, the stems are so pliable,
so easily bent and curved, you can do almost anything with them.
[Illustration: Fig.82 - Design made of Violet leaves.]
See how the stems add to the beauty of the violet-leaf design Fig. 82.
[Illustration: Fig.83 - The stem curves naturally.]
[Illustration: Fig.84 - Under side of the small leaf in the design.]
The curve of the stem of Fig. 83 is a natural one for it to take, and
you can probably find a leaf with its stem curved very much like it,
but it is another thing to come across one of the same size which has a
stem curved in the opposite direction, and such a stem is necessary for
a design like Fig. 82.
Very well! Since the stem does not naturally curve the way we want it,
we will make it do so. All we have to do is to draw it through our
fingers several times and, by pressure, gently persuade it to turn as
we wish.
Fig. 84 is the under-side of the small leaf at the bottom of the design
(Fig. 82), and shows how the stem loop above the leaf was made.
[Illustration: Fig.85 - This is the way the curling Ground-Pine grows.]
First a violet-leaf with stem curved like the one in Fig. 83 was laid
down on a sheet of paper, then another leaf of the same size, with stem
_made_ to curve in the opposite direction, was placed beside but not
touching the first leaf, and with its stem crossing the other stem. The
two stems meeting at the bottom formed a pear-shaped loop. The small
leaf, after its stem had been formed into a loop and the end tucked in
at the back, was fitted on top of the stems of the large leaves, as you
see it in Fig. 82.
[Illustration: Fig.86 - Beautiful, tiny, green Pine-Tree made of a
curling branch of the Ground-Pine.]
Violet-leaves are seldom flat; they are apt to curl at the edges; some
are so curled as to form little cornucopias. Choose the flattest you
can find for a design like Fig. 82, and paste them to the paper with a
touch of paste on the under-part of the tip and of the two lobes at the
bottom of each leaf. Paste the stems down also with a touch of paste
here and there.
The violet-leaf design can be pressed.
Ground-Pine
Deep in the shadowy woods, often where pine-trees are growing, you
will find the ground-pine. Clinging close to the ground, curling in
feathery, green clusters on its vine-like root, it runs for yards over
the surface, while its root, lying along the top, sends down slender
rootlets into the earth. Push away the dry leaves or pine-needles that
usually cover the root, and you can pull up long strips and soon gather
enough to make the prettiest kind of festive decorations.
Festoons of the ground-pine are very pretty on walls, stair-banisters,
porch-railings, over picture-frames, and hanging from chandeliers, and
this ready-made evergreen rope is as suitable for outdoor as for indoor
decoration, as beautiful in summer as in winter.
When you want to "dress-up" in the woods use the ground-pine for
trimmings. Loop it over your skirt and make a wreath for your
hair. Last summer at camp we used the ground-pine in this way and
the little girls, arrayed for a dance, never looked prettier. For
table decorations at camp and for decorating the tent doorways the
ground-pine is charming.
Fig. 85 shows how the short, curled clusters grow on the long root, and
Fig. 86 gives a wee pine-tree made of one cluster picked off the root
and planted in an outdoor doll's garden.
This is what our American writer and poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson, said of
the ground-pine:
"As I spoke, beneath my feet
The ground-pine curled its pretty wreath."
_PART IV_
CULTIVATED FLOWERS
CHAPTER XIV
PHLOX
Phlox Tower and Phlox Design
IN a great bunch of garden-flowers given me by a friend I found some
pink-and-white phlox (Fig. 87), and from it I made first a
Phlox Tower
As you know, the blossom is trumpet-shaped and flares at the open end
into five petals. The tube part is long and narrows to a point, so
it is easy to push one flower into another. That is what you do in
building the phlox tower. You pull the blossom off its stem and out of
the little green calyx which holds it, then you push the end of the
tube part into the round red eye in the centre of another flower as far
down as it will go. Then you push another blossom into that one and
build up until your tower is as high as you want it, or as high as it
will stand without toppling over. A bud stuck in the top flower makes a
good finish (Fig. 88).
Phlox Design
The design Fig. 89 was made by first putting three blossoms together,
sticking one inside the other as for the tower, to form the long side
sprays, and afterward arranging three blossoms below the side sprays
and one above with their stems meeting at the middle, as they are in
Fig. 89. On each side of the upper flower was placed a sprig of buds;
then the tube part of a blossom was cut off and the petal part fitted
in the centre of the design to cover the ends of the other flowers
where they met.
[Illustration: Fig.87 - Blossoms of the Phlox.]
[Illustration: Fig.88 - Build your Phlox Tower like this.]
The tube parts of three more flowers were cut away, and the petal parts
arranged in the position shown in Fig. 89. This formed a scattered
design quite different from any of the others made of flowers.
Touches of paste on the under part held all the flowers in place. The
phlox design is a good one to preserve by pressing.
The Tiger-Lily Leopard
[Illustration: Fig.89 - This phlox design should be pressed.]
From the brilliant-orange tiger-lily, with its dark-brown or black
spots, we are going to make a--tiger? No, a leopard. Tiger-lilies may
have spots, but tigers, you know, are striped.
It is really wonderful how much this little animal, made of parts of a
beautiful flower and broom-straws, looks like the stealthy, prowling,
wild creature which lives in Africa and Asia. The yellow coat of the
live leopard is covered with black spots, and so is that of our flower
leopard. The fierce living animal has a long tail that it moves slowly
back and forth in anger or when it threatens to attack another animal
or a man. Our little leopard also has a long tail which, if it does
not really move, looks as if it were just going to. But while the live
animal is ferocious and will kill, we can only pretend that of the
tiger-lily leopard. Though he looks dangerous, he cannot even nibble a
green leaf.
The illustration of the tiger-lily given here is a drawing of the one
from which the lily leopard (Fig. 90) was made. You will notice that
at the right of the flower (Fig. 91) there is the stem and pistil of a
blossom that has fallen apart.
[Illustration: Fig.90 - The stealthy, prowling Leopard.]
[Illustration: Fig.91 - The leopard is made from a Tiger Lily like
this.]
When we make the leopard we cut off this lily-stem close to the stalk,
leaving the pistil attached, to use for the back-bone and tail. Four
broom-straws, about an inch and a half long and sharpened at one end,
we use for legs. The pointed ends of two of the legs are pushed into
the stem at the front, and the other two in part of the pistil at the
back, as shown in Fig. 92. That makes the skeleton.
[Illustration: Fig.92 - This is the skeleton of the leopard.]
[Illustration: Fig.93 - The leopard's spotted coat.]
Now we have to fit on the skeleton the leopard's spotted coat. After
pulling the perfect flower apart we select the petal best suited for
this purpose (Fig. 93), and then take the curl partially out of it by
pressing it down on the table with our fingers. The tip of the petal
will have to be cut off because it comes down too far over the tail.
The blunt end of the petal will be the leopard's head, and it can be
rounded up and moulded with your fingers until it looks like the head
of the leopard in Fig. 90. Small ears of bits of broom-straw, pointed
at one end, we must stick in the head where they belong and then, in
order to make the coat stay in place, we will pin it to the skeleton at
the neck, in the middle of the back, and again at the tail, with fine
broom-straws. So we have the little leopard complete.
CHAPTER XV
CULTIVATED FOXGLOVE
Fairy-Caps
[=Transcriber's Note:= Foxglove is poisonous. Do not play with
foxgloves.]
DO you know the cultivated foxglove with its tall spikes of
thimble-shaped flowers, prettily spotted inside? (Fig. 94.) And do you
know that these flowers will fit on the ends of your fingers like tall
caps on the heads of little fairies?
Perhaps there are foxgloves growing in your garden now. If there are,
pick five blossoms off the stalk, selecting a large one for your thumb
and a small one for your little finger; the others should be of a size
in between these two.
Turn these blossoms upside down and they at once become fairy-caps. Fit
the caps on all five fingers of your left hand. Then on your fingers,
just below the caps, draw little faces with pen and ink. Now you have
five living, moving fairies who will do all sorts of things and be very
spry about it (Fig. 95). They will nod at you joyously, they will bend
low in solemn salute, and they will put their little heads together to
plan some piece of mischief.
They can be fairy children at school, if you like, with the short, fat
thumb fairy for the teacher; and you can make the fairy pupils stand
close together, shoulder to shoulder, then at a word from the teacher,
separate and stand alone again.
It will be fun to name the fairies, such names as Pepper-grass,
Mustard-seed, and Catnip, and with the teacher standing before his
class, have him call the roll and have each fairy bob his head as he
answers to his name.
[Illustration: Fig.94 - "Do you know the cultivated Fox Glove?"]
Perhaps you will want the teacher to require each pupil to sing a
little song or recite a short verse. When a fairy does that, he moves
forward in front of the others, and stays in that place until he has
finished. Here is a pretty verse for a flower-capped fairy to recite:
"I wonder what the Clover thinks,
Intimate friend of the Bobolinks,
Lover of Daisies, slim and white,
Waltzer with Buttercups at night.
* * * * *
Oh, who knows what the Clover thinks?
No one! Unless the Bobolinks."
Sweet Pea--the Peacock
[Illustration: Fig.95 - Five living Fairies.]
You use a little pretended magic when you turn a sweet-pea blossom into
a peacock, and that makes it seem more mysterious and more interesting.
It doesn't take a second but while you are doing it you must repeat
this transformation rhyme:
"Sweet Pea, Sweet Pea,
Your petals unlock.
I turn two down,
And you're a peacock."
Pick out a fine, large sweet-pea blossom. It doesn't matter about the
color. If you have a number to choose from, suit yourself. Hold the
flower in your left hand by its stem and recite the first two lines:
"Sweet Pea, Sweet Pea,
Your petals unlock."
[Illustration Fig.96: - "Sweet Pea, Sweet Pea, Your petals unlock."]
[Illustration Fig.97: - "I turn two down and you're a Peacock."]
Then as you reach around to the back of the flower with your right hand
and put your thumb on one curled petal, X, and your first finger on the
other curled petal, Y (Fig. 96), finish the rhyme:
"I turn two down,
And you're a peacock."
and at the same time turn these petals down as they are in Fig. 97. You
will see right away that the turned-down petals at the sides are the
wings, the upright petal at the back is the tail, and the closed middle
part is the body. The tipped-up point of the body part makes a very
good head for the little sweet-pea peacock.
[Illustration: Fig.98 - The blossoms of the cultivated Snapdragon are
large.]
Snapdragon--Lady's Head and Lion's Head
The magic that turns a blossom of the large, cultivated snapdragon into
a little lady's head, upon which rests a dainty, ruffled sunbonnet, or
into a ferocious-looking lion's head, is the magic of pen and ink, not
of rhyme.
[Illustration: Fig.99 - The Snapdragon Lady's Head.]
[Illustration: Fig.100 - The Snapdragon Lion's Head.]
The blossoms of the cultivated snapdragon are very much larger than
those of its wild cousin, called by some people butter-and-eggs, but
the cultivated flowers grow on a stalk in the same way as the wild
ones. You would hardly recognize the cultivated flowers as snapdragons
because of their size and wonderful colors. A sure test is to pinch
one; if it opens its mouth it is a real snapdragon; if it doesn't it
is not; but you must know how to pinch it, else it may refuse to snap.
The illustration (Fig. 98) shows a stalk of the cultivated flower, and
looking at the blossoms in that position you can see neither the lady's
head nor the lion's, yet they are there.
LADY'S HEAD
Pick a blossom off its stalk, leaving the little stem attached, and
turn it around until you discover the sunbonnet and see that it looks
like Fig. 99, then with pen and ink draw eyes, nose, and mouth on the
part under the bonnet that is the face. This part is white, while the
sunbonnet is sometimes a dainty pink and sometimes a gorgeous scarlet
or orange, with deeper color on the edges.
LION'S HEAD
Turn another blossom upside down and the crown of the bonnet becomes
the lower jaw and beard of the lion, while the other part is the lion's
face. On the face you must make two fierce eyes like those in Fig. 100.
When you take hold of the lion's jaws at the back and pinch them he
will open his great, wide mouth as if to send out a tremendous roar,
only to snap it shut again without a sound as you stop pinching. Fig.
100 shows how to hold the flower to open the lion's mouth.
The pink snapdragon is best to use for the lady's head and the
orange-colored one for the lion's. If you would rather call it a
dragon's head, you can, you know, but it looks more like a lion.
CHAPTER XVI
MISS HOLLYHOCK'S GARDEN-PARTY
[Illustration: Fig.101 - Miss Hollyhock gives a garden party.]
WHEN Miss Hollyhock gives a garden-party the scene is a gay one.
All the ladies, and you can have as many as you want, are in their
freshest, crispest summer gowns. There are dainty pink ones, white,
rose-colored, and deep red; there are light yellow and orange; there
are gowns almost brown and others almost black, but whatever the color
of the skirt the waist is always green. Green waists are the style
where Miss Hollyhock lives, and she and all her friends follow the
style very closely.
[Illustration: Fig.102 - Cut the Pistil out of the flowers.]
The hats these little ladies wear to the party are of the same silky
material as their skirts and are usually of the same color, though
sometimes a lady in white will appear in a pink or yellow hat, or a
pink lady can be seen wearing a white hat, and the lady in rose knows
how well she looks in a hat that is almost black. When there are two
or more gowns of the same color the hollyhock ladies prefer to have
different colored hats so that they will not all look alike.
Fig. 101 shows how Miss Hollyhock and her friends are made from the
flowers of that name. When you have gathered the flowers you must cut
off the stem of each close to the green calyx which is Miss Hollyhock's
waist, and then cut out the pistil which grows inside the blossom. This
pistil is shaped something like a little club, and is covered with the
yellow grains of pollen (ask some one what pollen is). It looks like
Fig. 102. The pollen will make the flower wilt quickly. That is why it
is best to take the pistil out.
[Illustration: Fig.103 - This is the way to make Miss Hollyhock.]
Now select a nice, round, hard, green bud for a head and leave its stem
on for the neck. Turn the sharp point of your scissors around in the
top of the hollyhock calyx to make a little round hole, then push the
stem of the bud into the hole, screwing it round and round until the
bud almost, but not quite, touches the calyx. If you push it all the
way down your lady will have no neck; her head will grow directly out
of her shoulders.
[Illustration: Fig.104 - Miss Hollyhock's Tea Table.]
[Illustration: Fig.105 - Teapot and cups for the Hollyhock tea table.]
Wooden toothpicks are used for legs, arms, and support, but strong
broom-straws will answer as well, or straight, slender twigs. Push
three toothpicks, twigs, or broom-straws up into the centre of the
flower, two in front and one at the back as you see them in Fig. 103.
The dotted lines show where they go inside the blossom. Be sure to have
all three the same length so that the little lady will stand firmly.
The arrows on Fig. 103 show where to insert the arms. Cut sharp points
on the broom-straws to make them slide in easily. Blunt ends will tear
the flower.
With pen and ink make the eyes, nose, and mouth on the head, and use
a petal of another hollyhock for a hat. Pin the hat to the top of the
lady's head with a pin or short broom-straw.
A garden-party would not be complete without
A Tea-Table
Make the tea-table of the hollyhock's round cake of unripe seeds which
most children call a cheese. This is covered with a green case which
is easily taken off and then you have a round, white disk like a
little table-top turned up at the edge. Select the largest one you can
find and push the ends of three toothpicks or broom-straws into the
under-side for the table legs (Fig. 104). Now the tea-table must have a
Teapot and Cups
Find a green bud for a teapot shaped like Z (Fig. 105). Push two short
straws into the bud in the places shown by the arrows in Z (Fig. 105),
one for the spout and one for the handle. Cut the tops off smaller buds
to make them into teacups (A and B, Fig. 105). A drop of paste at the
bottom of the teapot and the cups will keep them in place on the table.
CHAPTER XVII
DAFFODILS
Dancing Flowers and Whirligigs
DAFFODILS, yellow as sunshine, always come with the beautiful
springtime. The blossoms of the single daffodils, with their tall,
golden cups resting in the saucers of lighter-colored petals, are
the daintiest, though both single and double are so like a song of
cheerfulness it is a joy to have them near. They look as if they wanted
to dance for sheer happiness and, wonder of wonders, you can actually
make them dance.
[Illustration: Fig.106 - The Daffodil Dancer.]
[Illustration: Fig.107 - The Daffodil Animal.]
Gather a few of the single daffies, leaving on them the very short
stems which hold them to the main stalk. These little green stems will
be the stiff ornaments at the top of the dancers' green caps when you
turn the flowers upside down, which is right side up for the dancers.
Daffodil Dancers
To make a flower stand alone and give it feet to dance on, push three
wooden toothpicks firmly up under the little yellow skirt into the
centre of the blossom. It doesn't matter if a flower has three feet;
like an insect, it may have more than two and it won't stand on two.
Spread the bottom ends of the toothpicks out a trifle like a tripod to
make the flower stand steady (Fig. 106).
When you have made several dancers, stand them on a tin tray, and they
will be a group of "daffy-down-dillies just come to town," arrayed in
their best gowns and ready to take part in the dance. Tap the tray
gently from underneath and the dancers will begin to move. Tap a little
harder and they will begin to dance. Tip the tray slightly forward and
they will dance toward you; tip it backward and they will dance away
again.
[Illustration: Fig.108 - Daffodil stalk for you to turn into a
whirligig.]
[Illustration: Fig.109 - The Whirligig.]
A Daffodil Animal
Queer little animals that come only from Daffy land can be made of the
single daffodil-blossoms. Take one of the flowers and carefully cut
away the outstanding petals, leaving the perfect, long cup. Hold the
cup in your left hand with the short, green stem hanging down; the stem
is the animal's head; then break off about half an inch from the blunt
ends of four wooden toothpicks and use the longest parts for legs. Push
the pointed ends of the tooth pick legs up into the under-side of the
long, slender cup as it is held in your left hand. Keep the legs of an
even length and the animal will stand firmly. This little fellow, with
his green head and long green nose, is very comical (Fig. 107). He can
dance on the tin tray too, and run about when you tip it.
The daffodil toys will keep their color a long while even after the
blossoms are dry. Do not take off the brown calyx which is lightly
wrapped around the bottom of each flower. It represents the hair of the
dancers and the ears of the animal.
The Whirligig
You can have some fun with the daffodil stalk, too, after taking off
the flowers.
Fig. 108 is a daffodil stalk; look at it closely, then look at Fig.
109. They are really the very same though they appear to be so
different. One seems to have a blossom at the top, and you know that
the other has not.
If you want to do the trick and make a stalk blossom, select a stalk
like Fig. 108, hold the stem closely between your open hands and roll
it rapidly by first sliding your right hand forward while the left
slides backward, then the left forward and the right hand back. This
makes a whirligig of your stalk, and the flower will appear at the top
as you see it in Fig. 109.
Try making whirligigs of other kinds of stems; of grasses, twigs, and
leaves.
_PART V_
SEED-VESSELS
CHAPTER XVIII
SEED-VESSEL PLAYTHINGS
WHEN the flowers have gone then come the seed-vessels, equally as good
for playthings but very different.
Of course, you know the rose-haws, the little red and yellow and green
apples that you find on the rose-bushes in the fall. They are the
seed-vessels of the rose, and every rose which is allowed to remain on
the bush until it fades and falls apart leaves a seed-vessel to take
its place.
[Illustration: Fig.110 - Rose-haw apples for your doll's table.]
[Illustration: Fig.112 - The bronze-green Rose-haw.]
[Illustration: Fig.111: - This necklace is made of Rose-haws and
Plantain Lily seed pods.]
The Doll's Fruit Piece
The rose-haws look very much like little apples. Rosy-cheeked Baldwins,
yellow harvest-apples, and greenings, and they will make a fine
fruit-piece for the centre of your doll's table. Pile them up on one
of the toy dishes and put the smallest of green rose-leaves around the
edge (Fig. 110).
Rose-Haw Necklace
But the rose-haws can be used for something besides toy apples; you can
pretend they are jewels and string them for a real necklace.
One necklace can be entirely of the haws and another like Fig. 111,
which is made of bronze-green haws (Fig. 112), and the long, green
seed-pods of the plantain (Fig. 113). The blossoms of the plantain
are pale purple or lavender, and hang from the stalk as the seed-pods
do. They are bell-shaped and about an inch long. The leaf is like a
lily-leaf.
[Illustration: Fig.113 - The long, green seed pods of the Plantain
Lily.]
[Illustration: Fig.114 - The seed pod earring.]
As you see, the haws and seed-pods are strung alternately; first a
haw, then a seed-pod, again a haw and so on. Thread your needle with
strong thread and be sure the thread is long enough for the necklace.
Measure it around your neck, letting it droop as much as you wish; then
allow several inches at each end for tying. If you cannot find the
large, brownish-green haws use yellow or red ones, but the green haws,
when strung with the green seed-pods, are more beautiful.
[Illustration: Fig.115 - This necklace is made of Barberries and
Plantain Lily Stalk.]
[Illustration: Fig.116 - A branch of the Barberry Bush.]
Seed-Pod Earrings
To match the necklace, make long, green earrings of the plantain
seed-pods. Fig. 114 shows a seed-pod earring. You see it is strung on
a thread and the ends of the thread are then tied to form a loop. The
loop must be just large enough to fit comfortably over your ear, and
when you wear the earring, the green jewel will hang down and dangle
delightfully. The upper end of the seed-pod should almost touch your
ear.
[Illustration: Fig.117 - Make the earring in this way.]
Necklace of Barberries and Plantain-Stalk
Plantain is very useful in making jewelry because you can use the stalk
as well as the seed-pods.
Fig. 115 is a necklace made of the plantain-stalk cut in short pieces,
all the same length, and the coral-red berries of the barberry-bush.
The crooked branches of the barberry-bush grow very close together and
are covered with thorns which stand out straight and sharp like pins.
That is why it is so often used for hedges; nothing can get through it
without being terribly scratched. From the branches the red berries
hang down like coral drops. Fig. 116 shows the way they grow. To make
this necklace, string first a piece of the plantain-stalk, pushing the
needle through lengthwise, then string a barberry and again a piece of
the green stalk; after that a barberry. Keep on in this way until the
necklace is as long as you want it.
[Illustration: Fig.118 - Maple seed vessel used as bird wings.]
The berries are exceedingly pretty strung as you see them, hanging down
in their natural way, and really, you cannot string them any other way.
The upper part of the berry is the only part through which you can
pass your needle because of the large, hard seed which fills the space
below.
Plantain-Stalk and Barberry Earrings
How to make the earrings to complete this set of jewelry is shown
in Fig. 117. First you string a piece of the plantain-stalk, then a
barberry; then you put your needle back through the stalk and tie the
thread at the top. After that you make the loop to put over your ear as
you did in making the seed-pod earring.
Birds of Maple-Tree Seed-Vessels
You see it is not only the seed-vessels of flowers that can be turned
into playthings. The trees also furnish abundant material for toys.
[Illustration: Fig.119 - Maple seed vessel bird.]
Gather the winged seed-vessels that fall from the maple-trees, Fig.
118 is a maple seed-vessel, and let us sit on the dry, sun-warmed
grass and turn them into odd little birds like Fig. 119. These birds
are very near the size of our ruby-throated humming-birds, a trifle
larger perhaps, but they do not in the least resemble the beautiful,
jewel-colored, long-beaked wild bird, either in looks or habits.
However, they are nice, tame, quiet little birds and never object
to being handled, played with, and placed on any bush or low tree
where you may happen to want to put them. You cannot say that of the
humming-bird, can you?
You will need two seed-vessels for each bird. Divide one through the
centre, separating the two wings, and use one of these wings for the
body of the bird, as you see in the diagram Fig. 120. Clip off the two
corners of the square end where the arrows point to shape it like a
bird's head, then carefully bend up the seed-vessel pair of wings, and
fit the body down in between them, resting it on the centre part that
holds the wings together. One or two stitches with needle and thread,
passed through wings and body, will keep them close and secure.
[Illustration: Fig.120 - Bird's body.]
When your bird is finished (Fig. 119), thread a needle with black
thread, tie a good-sized knot in the end of the thread, and push the
needle from underneath up through the back of the bird where it will
come out between the wings. Draw the knot up close to the body and tie
the other end of the thread to a low branch of a tree. When you stand
off a little distance you cannot see the thread and your bird will seem
to be hovering in mid-air. A gentle breeze will stir the bird and make
it look as if flying. If there is no breeze, you can blow on it, or fan
it until the little thing flutters about almost as if alive.
Be careful to string the thread through the bird at a place that will
make it evenly balanced.
CHAPTER XIX
BUCKEYE HORSE AND BUCKEYE RIDER
All children love the clean, glossy, brown horse-chestnuts or buckeyes.
There are so many buckeye-trees in Ohio that it is called the Buckeye
State, and many villages of Long Island are full of them. They are
used for shade-trees and often line the streets, where they send
down showers of their nuts, pretty but not good to eat. Everywhere
the children gather basketfuls and take them home to play with, and
in other Beard books we have told of some things that can be made of
buckeyes, but the buckeye horse and rider which you see here have just
arrived.
He is a very remarkable-looking horse with his funny round head and
stiff legs and tail, though not more remarkable than the little man
who rides him. Both are made simply of buckeyes and slender twigs. The
head and body of the horse and of the man are buckeyes. The neck, ears,
tail, and legs of the horse are smooth, straight twigs; the neck, arms,
and legs of the man are also twigs.
The Buckeye Horse
When you make a horse let the light-colored part of the buckeye be his
face. This part usually has a dark spot on it which looks like an eye.
You will see it in Fig. 121. He will have only one eye unless you put
in another with lead-pencil or pen and ink, but very frequently horses
are blind in one eye, so it will not matter whether he has two eyes or
one.
Stick two short pieces of twigs in the head for ears and a longer
twig for the neck. You will have to sharpen the ends of the twigs
to a point so that they will go in easily. The neck twig will need
sharpening at both ends.
Before putting the head on the body of the horse, which should be as
large a buckeye as you can find, push in four twigs for the legs. The
front legs must slant forward, the hind legs slant backward. This will
make him stand firmly. Then choose a slender twig for the tail, and
split it several times at one end to show that it has hair on it, as
in Fig. 121. Fasten the tail on and then push in the neck twig. This
finishes the horse.
[Illustration: Fig.121 - He is a remarkable looking Horse.]
The Buckeye Man
For the body of the man who sits astride the horse, choose a buckeye
which is rather flat on one side. A round buckeye will roll off. Find a
small buckeye for the man's head and give him a twig neck (Fig. 122).
Do not make his twig arms stand out straight at his sides; push them in
slantingly so that he will hold them out in front. Put his twig legs in
far apart and slant them a little forward.
Now place the man on the horse, and if he does not fit, change the
position of his legs until he sits securely. Your buckeye man and
buckeye horse will then look like Fig. 122.
Pine-Cones. Pine-Cone Forest
Of course you like to gather the rich-brown pine-cones that lie
scattered on the ground under the pine-trees; we all do. Collect
a number of those which have loosened and opened out their little
leaf-like scales, then stand them up like trees in an open space on the
ground. They look so much like toy trees we immediately want to play we
are foresters, way off in the wild western lands, planting forest-trees
for Uncle Sam.
[Illustration: Fig.122 - The Buckeye Horse and Rider.]
We can make our forest as large as we want it and plant trees every day
if we like, or we can gather up our nice, clean, dry cones and take
them into the house to use in some other way. They make nice playthings.
A Fruit-and-Vegetable Market
If you find small, short cones, not fully opened out, notice how
much they look like little pineapples; you must save these for
our fruit-and-vegetable market, where we sell fat, short acorns
as hazelnuts, the long acorns as pecans, and the buckeyes, or
horse-chestnuts, all shiny, dark, and smooth, as eggplants, and
rose-haws as apples.
There are other things in our store, too. String-beans, which are
really locust-pods, and heads of white cauliflower made of bunches of
the wild carrot or Queen Anne's Lace blossoms, tied together so that
the pretty white flowers of the wide-spreading clusters lie evenly with
edges touching. A number of these clusters are used for one head of
cauliflower, and around each head are arranged green leaves with their
tops cut off just as you see them around the real vegetable.
Cone Card-Rack
Save one of your fine, large-sized, wide-open cones and make a
card-rack of it like the one shown in the photograph Fig. 123.
[Illustration: Fig.123 - Card rack and pin box combined.]
You must have a small, round or square wooden box for the base and glue
the flat bottom of the cone on the lid. The box can be filled with
small brass clips for holding sheets of paper together, or with pins,
and it will then make a fine birthday or Christmas present for some
one. The cone card-rack is very useful on a writing-desk.
If you make a number of these cone-racks they will be something new for
your next fair. Remember to stick some pretty cards in each rack.
Christmas-Tree Ornaments
Perhaps you would like to keep some of your cones for Christmas-tree
ornaments; they make very pretty ones.
Gild several until they shine like gold, then silver others, and they
will look as if covered with white frost. If you have collected any of
the prickly sweet-gum balls that look as if they were carved in little
starry patterns, gild and silver these, too, and let them dangle from
the tree on long gilt or silver cords.
These natural, outdoor ornaments are not easily broken, and may be kept
from year to year for your Christmas tree.
CHAPTER XX
BURDOCK-BURRS
The Little House of Burrs
NOW let us build a little woodsy house of burrs (Fig. 124) and put
it in a little garden. Gather two heaping handfuls of large-sized
burdock-burrs, small ones are not strong enough, and begin building.
These burrs grow on a bush; they are about the size of a marble, are
almost round, are prickly, and are pinkish at the top.
Make the roof first (Fig. 125). Stick ten or twelve burrs together in a
row with pink heads all pointing in the same direction. Place this row
on a flat, smooth surface, a board, flat stone, table, or, perhaps, the
hard earth, and attach another row of burrs along the side edge of the
first row. Continue to add more burrs until you have six or seven rows
fastened into one flat piece.
Be sure that this piece does not bulge out or sink down in places, for
the roof must be perfectly flat. Make the two side walls (Figs. 126 and
127) and the back wall of the house as you made the roof; the back wall
must be the length of the roof and the height of the side walls (Fig.
128). The side walls must each fit on the ends of the roof and be high
enough to look well.
The front wall of the house must have a doorway and a window (Fig.
129). But first make it solid, exactly like the back wall and exactly
the same size, then lay it down on the flat surface that you are using
for a table, and open a hole for the doorway by taking out five or six
burrs, counting from the bottom up, and two or three burrs, counting
from side to side. That will make about ten or twelve burrs to be
removed. Take out the burrs for the window and make the opening three
or four burrs high and two burrs wide. (See Fig. 129).
Use four burrs for each side of the hollow square chimney (Fig. 130),
which is open at top and bottom.
[Illustration: Fig.124 - The little woodsey house of Burdock-burrs with
ornamental trees of grass.]
To put the different parts of the house together lay the roof down flat
and stick the edge of the back wall on top of the outer row of burrs
which forms one of the long edges of the roof. Fasten one side wall on
one short edge of the roof in the same way and press the edge of the
back wall and the edge of the side wall together, making the corner
firm and square. Next attach the second side wall, and lastly fit in
the front wall.
[Illustration: Fig.125 - Roof of house of Burs.]
[Illustration: Fig.130 - Chimney of house of Burs.]
[Illustration: Fig.126 - Side wall of house of Burs.]
[Illustration: Fig.128 - Back wall of house of Burs.]
[Illustration: Fig.127 - Side wall of house of Burs.]
[Illustration: Fig.129 - Front wall of house of Burs.]
Now lift the house carefully, place it right side up on the ground, and
adjust the chimney to the roof. As you work keep the picture of the
house in front of you so that you may see at a glance whether you are
building it correctly or not. If you cannot find large burrs, let the
sides and the roof of the house be two layers of burrs stuck firmly
together. Make a path leading up to the door of very small shells,
sand, or fresh earth.
[Illustration: Fig.131 - Cat-tail for little pond made of
Timothy-Grass.]
[Illustration: Fig.132 - Cat-tail held upright by Burdock-burrs.]
Pond, with Water-Lilies, in the Garden
Would you like to have a little pond near the house, with white
water-lilies floating on its surface and wee cattails growing here and
there in and near the water's edge?
You can easily make such a pond. Sink a shallow pan in the ground, a
hole must be dug to fit it, you know, and fill the pan with water.
Cover the edges with moss or earth and plant short-stemmed heads of
timothy-grass (Fig. 131) and slender, stiff grass-blades in scattered
groups near the water. It is timothy-grass that looks so much like
cattails, and also the grass called foxtail.
[Illustration: Fig.133 - The play Water-Lily made of a White Clover
floating on water.]
[Illustration: Fig.134 - Cut leaves for the water lilies from a Maple
leaf as shown here.]
Some of the cattails can be made to look as if they were growing in the
pond if you make a flat-bottomed ball of burrs around the ends of the
stems to hold them upright (Fig. 132), and put some small stones on top
of the ball to weight it down in the water.
For the little water-lilies select perfect white clover-blossoms (Fig.
133), and for the leaves, or lily-pads, use any rather small, smooth,
round leaves. The marsh-marigold leaf will answer, or you can cut out
water-lily leaves from oak or maple. Make them the shape of the pattern
Fig. 134. The pattern here is laid on a maple-leaf ready to cut out a
leaf for the water-lily. Make a number of lilies and float them and the
leaves on top of the water.
[Illustration: Fig.135 - Pea-pod Canoe.]
[Illustration: Fig.136 - Cut open the pea-pod along dotted line.]
A Pea-Pod Canoe
You might add a pea-pod canoe (Fig. 135), with a tiny American flag
standing proudly erect at the bow.
When you make the canoe, open the pod where you see the dotted line
in Fig. 136. To keep the pod open make little braces of broom-straws,
and put them in crosswise with one end against each side of the canoe.
There are four braces in the canoe (Fig. 135), but you may not need
that many.
The Trees
In the picture given here the tree on the left of the little house
of burrs is just two stalks of the common grass called meadow
muhlenbergia, which are held up as if really growing, by several green
burrs left from building the house. The burrs are squeezed up tight to
the grass-stems and then pressed down tight to the ground. You can find
the grass for these trees almost any place; it is very social and loves
to make its home with other grasses.
[Illustration: Fig.137 - Burdock-burr target.]
The graceful, drooping tree on the right of the house is made of the
grass called brome-grass. Keep your eyes open and you will find it some
time while playing out-of-doors. As soon as you see it, run to the
brome-grass and whisper its name. You will be glad to discover it and
will remember its name afterward whenever you see the grass.
Look at the picture again and notice the odd plants near the
brome-grass tree. Their name is Bermuda-grass. See how they spread out
their long, slender fingers. They look very much like a grass named the
small crab-grass, and another the large crab-grass, and like another
still called the wire-grass; but if you put all these side by side and
examine them closely you will see how they differ.
Burdock-Burr Game
Besides making things of burdock-burrs, you can play a game with them.
The game is something like archery, only, instead of shooting arrows at
a target, you throw burrs at it.
Get a good-sized piece of woollen cloth or some kind of material with a
rough surface to which the burrs will cling. Tack this up on the fence
or on a board; then, with a large piece of chalk that will make a wide
mark, draw four circles, one inside the other like Fig. 137. It doesn't
matter if your circles are not perfect. Do the best you can and finish
your target. Number the spaces between the circles 1, 2, 3, 10. The
outer space is 1, the next, 2, next to the centre 3, and the centre 10.
The centre, being the bull's-eye, counts most.
[Illustration: Fig.138 - Hold the burr this way when you throw it at
the target.]
Have ready a lot of burrs for each player; mark a boundary-line on
the ground, beyond which no one must step in throwing the burrs, and,
standing at the boundary-line, let each player in turn throw three
burrs at the target. The burrs that stick to the target make the score
if they are in the numbered spaces. Fig. 138 shows how to hold the
burr. Suppose one burr sticks to the space numbered 2, and the two
others are in number 1, the player would then have two ones and one two
which, added together, make four; her score then would be four.
Always pull the burrs of one player off the target before the next
player takes her turn, and there will be no question as to who should
claim them. After each player has had three turns, let every one add up
her scores. The player who has the highest wins the game. If divided
into sides, the players on the side having the highest score are the
winners and they should be given a hearty cheer by the losing side.
Even very little girls and boys should learn to be good losers and to
help celebrate the victory of others.
CHAPTER XXI
THINGS TO MAKE OF ENGLISH-WALNUT SHELLS
NUTS are the seed-vessels of the nut-trees; did you ever think of that?
They do not grow only that we may have something delicious to eat. They
ripen and fall on the ground, where some of them take root and grow up
into trees themselves. If you plant a hickory-nut a little hickory-tree
should come up, and it will if the conditions are all right. If you
plant a walnut it will be a walnut-tree that will appear; so you see a
nutshell is the seed-vessel of the nut-tree.
English walnuts do not grow wild in this country, but are cultivated
here and you all know what the English walnut is like. Our American
walnut is very hard to crack; its shell is rough and deeply grooved,
but the English-walnut shell is smooth and without sharp edges, though
its surface is uneven. There is a shallow groove running round the
shell, like a seam, and the shell cracks open along this seam evenly
and easily.
To Open an English Walnut
The easiest way to open an English walnut so that the shell will be
in two perfect halves is to push the tip of a penknife-blade into the
groove at the large end of the nut, and then slowly and carefully turn
the knife to pry the halves apart. When opened this way the shell is
never broken (Fig. 139).
After you have opened several nuts and taken out the kernels, use the
knife to cut away the thin, papery divisions inside the shells. You
will then be ready to make
The Professor
and one half-shell is to be his head. Draw a face on the shell like
the face of the professor (Fig. 140). The narrow part of the shell is
his chin, the wide part, the top of his head. He has an intellectual
forehead, high and broad, with furrows of thought showing plainly on it.
[Illustration: Fig.139 - This is the way to open the shell.]
The Professor's Robe
As a rule professors wear black robes when they wear any, but our
nutshell professor wears white because it is more becoming to his dark
complexion, and because it is more effective and draws attention to
him.
[Illustration: Fig.140 - The English Walnutshell Professor.]
[Illustration: Fig.141 - The Professor's Robe.]
To make the robe, fold an oblong piece of white paper into a square,
which makes the square double. The edges should measure about four
inches. If you have a large white envelope cut off one end to make it
square and use that. Fold the square diagonally across from point to
point, as is shown by the dotted line in Fig. 141. Now turn back first
one side point, then the other side point, and make them meet over the
first fold to form a fanlike pleat, wider at the bottom than at the
top. The dotted lines on either side of the middle one in Fig. 141 show
where the folds should come. The middle fold is bent out, or toward
you; the side folds are bent in, or away from you. The side points now
extending toward you are the wide, flowing sleeves of the professor's
gown.
Take the robe in your hand at the bottom point, holding it from the
back, and on the top point hang the professor's nutshell head (Fig.
140).
[Illustration: Fig.142 - The Nutshell Mouse.]
[Illustration: Fig.143 - Ear for the mouse.]
While the head balances quite securely on the point, you can make it
wag from side to side, make it shake and tremble when the professor
grows very earnest in his discourse, and make the chin thrust itself
forward when he is emphatic. You do all this merely by shaking
and tipping the paper robe. He is an amusing little lecturer, this
English-walnut shell professor, and seems very much alive.
English-Walnut Shell Mouse
It is a far cry from a lecturer to a little mouse, yet one
English-walnut shell will make both, half a shell for each.
This is a nice, cosey-looking little mouse who crouches down
comfortably and does not show his legs (Fig. 142).
The point of the shell is the nose of the mouse; above it make two
round, black eyes and then paste on two brown-paper ears. Cut the ears
like Fig. 143, bend back the little stems at the bottom, put a touch
of paste on each stem and stick the ears to the mouse's head in the
position shown in Fig. 142. Cut a piece of string about three inches
long for the tail and paste one end of it on the inside edge of the
shell at the large end.
[Illustration: Fig.144 - The Nutshell Thimble Box.]
[Illustration: Fig.145 - Tie a ribbon around the nut.]
If you make three of these mice and glue them to a piece of cardboard
they will look very cunning. Or you can glue one mouse to a small card
and use it for the top of a Christmas pen-wiper.
English-Walnut Shell Thimble-Box
A pretty way to give a small present at Christmas or on a birthday is
to put it into an English-walnut shell box. A thimble fits in the box
beautifully (see Fig. 144).
Open the shell of an English walnut in the way described (Fig. 139).
Cut away the inside partitions and, with jeweller's cotton, make a
soft little bed in one-half of the shell. Press down the cotton in the
middle to make a hollow, and in this hollow fit the new thimble. Put a
layer of cotton over the top of the thimble and tuck in the edges. The
way to close the box is to cover the edges of the other half-shell with
glue and then fit it on the half that holds the thimble, just as it was
before you opened it.
Now you have a whole nut again, but the meat inside is very different
from that which you took out. You can gild the nutshell after the
glue has hardened or leave it as it is. Its own brown color is pretty
enough. In either case you must have a piece of narrow ribbon to tie
around the box and form a loop by which to hang it (Fig. 145).
Pass the ribbon under the small end of the nutshell, then bring it up
and tie it securely at the top of the large end. The ribbon should not
be over the seam but should pass across the middle of each half-shell.
It will then hold the two parts together and keep the glue from
loosening. After the ribbon is tied at the top of the nut, make a long
loop above it and tie again in a bow-knot.
_PART VI_
VEGETABLES
CHAPTER XXII
THINGS YOU CAN MAKE OF LIMA BEANS
[Illustration: Fig.146 - The Lima Bean Fish will swim.]
[Illustration: Fig.147 - The pod for the fish must be open at the
bottom.]
VEGETABLES are good to eat, certainly, and you know what they are like
when cooked and on the dinner-table; but many are also good to play
with. You can make fine toys of them, toys that are entirely different
from any you have ever seen. Here is the
Swimming Fish Made of a Lima-Bean Pod
A fish that really swims, not on top of the water but in it, is the
little fish (Fig. 146). You won't find that in a shop or anywhere
else, for I have only just discovered how to make it myself.
A paper tail and two paper fins must be added, but that won't take
five minutes when you know how to do it. The tail and fins make it
wonderfully lifelike, for when the fish swims around in a big basin
or dish-pan, the tail sways this way and that, the fins move back and
forth exactly as they do on a living fish in a real lake or in the
great ocean.
[Illustration: Fig.148 - The fin of Bean-pod Fish.]
[Illustration: Fig.149 - Tail of Bean-pod Fish.]
Choose a good, firm bean-pod, one as flat and even as you can find,
open it carefully along the straight edge and take out the beans. Save
the beans, for you can make something of them too. Do not let the pod
close again after the beans are out. It must be open about half an
inch, or maybe a little more, at the middle. You can widen the opening
by pushing your finger in. Be careful not to split it along the upper
edge. It should be like Fig. 147, which shows the opening at the bottom.
With the small blade of a pocket-knife make a slit on each side of the
pod at the large end where it is marked C in Fig. 147.
[Illustration: Fig.150 - The Lima Bean Man will stand.]
These slits are to hold the fins. Directly on the curved edge of the
small end of the pod, at the place marked D, cut another short slit.
Don't let it reach the lower edge. This is to hold the tail.
From writing-paper, not the very heavy kind, cut two fins like Fig.
148. Double the paper and cut out both at once so that they may be
exactly alike. From the same kind of paper cut the tail like Fig. 149.
All you have to do now is to push the sharp point of one paper fin into
the slit on one side of the pod, the other fin into the slit on the
other side of the pod, and the sharp point of the tail into the slit
in the edge of the pod, and there is your fish. You see the fins and
tail are not pasted on and they really seem a living part of the fish.
Notice that the top of fins and tail are different from the bottom, and
be sure to have the top edge up when you put them in the slits.
[Illustration: Fig.151 - Parts of Lima Bean Man]
The way to make the lima-bean fish swim is to place it, open edge down,
in a large basin of water; then with a stick or spoon begin at the
centre to stir the water gently and gradually round and round until
it all moves faster and faster, and keeps on moving after you stop
stirring. Then your little green fish will swim. Round and round the
basin he will go, his tail waving and his fins moving so naturally you
will shout with delight.
If at first the fish insists upon turning over on his side and floating
about like a dead fish, don't give him up. He is only playing 'possum.
He _can_ swim and he _will_ if you are patient and keep setting him
upright until he gains his balance and becomes used to the water.
Remember to put the fish _in_ the water, not on top.
Don't let the beans, that you have taken out of the pod when making the
fish, get dry and hard. They can be turned into a
Lima-Bean Man
Three beans and several strong, straight broom-straws you will need for
making this comical little fellow, who, upright and independent, stands
squarely on his own feet. That is a good thing for any one to do, let
alone a little bean man (Fig. 150).
The beans should be of different sizes. A large one for the body, next
in size for the feet and a smaller one for the head. Some beans have a
little point that stands out on one edge and looks like a tiny nose,
while below it there is a round hollow that looks like a little open
mouth. That is the kind of bean to choose for the little man's head.
The broom-straw for Mr. Bean's arms should be quite four inches long,
if he is to be four inches tall. Cut one end of this broom-straw
slanting to a point like E in Fig. 151, and push the point through the
upper part of the body bean and out far enough on the other side to
make the arms of equal length; then bend one arm up at the middle where
the elbow should be, and the other arm down as you see them in the
drawing of the man (Fig. 150).
The broom-straws for the legs must be two and a half inches long and
cut pointed at both ends, for one end of the leg is pushed into the
lower part of the body bean and the other end into the half bean which
is the foot. Split the foot bean in half to make two feet and push the
leg straw into the rounded side. The flat side is the bottom of the
foot.
[Illustration: Fig.152 - The beans are not taken out of the pod for the
Lima Bean Pig.]
A short piece of broom-straw, hardly an inch long, is the neck. Cut
this straw pointed at each end, push one end into the top of the body
bean and the other end into the lower part of the head bean. Use
one-half of the outer skin, that comes off the foot bean when you split
it, for a hat. Being curved like a rose-petal, it fits the head very
nicely, but a drop of paste on the little man's head will make it more
secure.
Your lima-bean man may be a farmer and own
A Lima-Bean Pig
--a funny pig with fat sides and a turned-up snout (Fig. 152).
Look over all your bean-pods that still have beans in them, and select
the one shaped most like Fig. 153. Do not take the beans out of the
pod; they make the pig fat and solid. The stem end forms the snout and
the head.
[Illustration: Fig.153 - Choose a bean-pod shaped like this for your
pig.]
Cut four broom-straws about one and a half inches long for the legs.
Sharpen each of these straws at one end and push the pointed end into
the lower part of the body, two on each side, in the places shown by
small rings on Fig. 153.
From part of another bean-pod cut two ears like F, Fig. 154, and pin
them on the pig's head with a short straw as they are shown in the
picture of the pig. Run the straw through one ear near the bottom,
through the head and then through the other ear on the other side of
the head.
[Illustration: Fig.154 - Make these of a bean-pod or of paper.]
Pull a narrow strip from the edge of a bean-pod for the tail (G, Fig.
154). Curl it by drawing it lightly over the blade of the scissors.
Punch a small hole with the point of the scissors in the upper edge of
the pig's back at the place marked by the arrow on Fig. 153, and push
one end of the tail into the hole. Make small round dots with a pencil,
or pen and ink, for the eyes. The ears and tail may be made of paper if
you find that easier to use.
CHAPTER XXIII
SWEET-POTATO ALLIGATOR AND WHAT TO MAKE OF A RADISH
IF you have ever seen an alligator, a long-tailed sweet potato will
make you think of one immediately.
Fig. 155 is a baby alligator with a sweet-potato body and paper head
and legs. It is just the size of the little alligators they sell for
pets down in Florida. That is, the alligator from which the drawing was
made is the size of the live ones; the drawing is, of course, smaller.
[Illustration: Fig.155 - The Baby Alligator made of a Sweet Potato.]
[Illustration: Fig.156 - Find a potato shaped like this for the
alligator.]
Find a potato shaped like Fig. 156. Cut a slit in the large end and
two slits on each side where you see them in Fig. 156. When you make
the side slits push your knife in with the blade slanting upward and
backward for the front legs, and slanting downward and backward for
the back legs. This will allow the paper legs to slide in without
bending.
[Illustration: Fig.157 - Make the alligator's head like this.]
[Illustration: Fig.158 - Cut two front legs by this pattern.]
[Illustration: Fig.159 - Make the two hind legs by this pattern.]
Use brown paper, as near the color of the potato as you can get, for
the alligator's head and legs. Make the head like Fig. 157, cutting
along the heavy lines and bending along the dotted ones. Bend down the
sides of the head and of the neck, then bend the head first up, then
down, to lift it above the neck (Fig. 155.)
The eyes of a baby alligator are large and prominent. Draw them on the
head as you see them in Fig. 157. That is as near as we can come to the
real eyes.
[Illustration: Fig.160 - The Radish Imp is a decorative little fellow.]
Cut out of the same paper used for the head two fore legs like Fig.
158, and two hind legs like Fig. 159. Slide the fore legs into the
slits nearest the large end of the potato and the hind legs into the
slits near the tail. Push the point of the paper neck into the slit at
the large end of the potato. That finishes the baby alligator, which is
wonderfully true to life.
What to Make of a Radish
A crisp, fresh, clean radish is very tempting, but don't eat it this
time; turn it into something else by the magic your ten fingers can
work.
The Radish Imp
Fig. 160 shows a round white radish which, with its long, slender root
and leaves still on it, has been changed into a queer little radish imp
by using strong broom-straws to stiffen his leaf arms, his leaf legs,
and his leaf body. His eyes are bits of broom-straw, his mouth is a
slit with a broom-straw tongue, and his absurd, stand-out ears are also
pieces of stout broom-straw.
The root growing out of the top of his head is like a Chinaman's queue
standing on end with little, crinkly separate hairs at its base.
[Illustration: Fig.161 - Cut two broom-straws for the arms and two for
the legs.]
When you make your radish imp cut two broom-straws about four inches
long for his arms; point these at the ends. Cut two more strong
broom-straws a little longer than the distance between the radish and
the tips of the two longest leaves. Point these at both ends (Fig.
161). Now choose two leaves of even length, nearest the radish, for the
arms. Don't take them off but push a broom-straw through each leaf,
first in, then out, then push the other end of the straw into the thick
part of the stems just under the radish. Look at Fig. 160 and see how
this is done.
[Illustration: Fig.162 - White Mouse.]
[Illustration: Fig.163 - These belong to the mouse.]
The leaves with the longest stems must be used for the legs. If there
are more than two long-stemmed leaves, cut off all except those wanted
for the legs. Bend the long, stout broom-straws at one end, as in Fig.
161, and push the other end up through the thick part of the stems and
into the radish; then with a piece of string or strong blade of grass
tie the stems of the leaves to the straws, as shown in Fig. 160. This
forms a little belt at the waist-line. Leave a large leaf with short
stem loose at the back for a cape and run the bent ends of the long
straws in and out of the leaves intended for the feet.
Cut a curved slit in the radish for a mouth and push in a small piece
of broom-straw for a tongue, then put in bits of straw for eyes, nose,
and uplifted ears.
A White Mouse
You can make a most amusing little white mouse of a white radish; not
a round one like that used for the imp, but egg-shaped, like Fig. 162.
The long root is the tail of the mouse and the other end of the radish
is his head. Cut two paper ears like H, Fig. 163. Make two slits in the
head and slip the pointed ends of the ears into the slits.
For whiskers (all mice have whiskers) find two sprays of fine branching
broom-straws (I, Fig. 163), cut them the proper length, and push a
spray into the head on each side of the nose. Put bits of broom-straw
in for eyes and then cut four thick straws like J, Fig. 163, and push
the pointed ends slantingly in the lower part of the radish for the
feet of the mouse. His legs are not seen because he is crouching. The
drawing of the mouse shows where to put the feet.
CHAPTER XXIV
GREEN-PEA TOYS AND A GREEN-PEA DESIGN
PRESS your thumb on the rounded edge of a fresh, fat green pea-pod,
and, pop! it goes splitting open at the top. Then push your thumb into
the opening, run it down the pod and the two halves separate, showing
a row of fine, large peas that look like great green pearls in a soft,
silk-lined case made expressly for them.
[Illustration: Fig.164 - The Green Pea Greenies, cousins of the
Brownies.]
You have done this ever so many times when helping mother, haven't you?
And you know that the next thing to do when the pod is open is to run
that same little thumb down again and scoop out all those round green
peas, letting them fall with a patter into the pan in your lap.
Now as a reward for such helpfulness suppose you ask mother or the cook
to give you a good big handful of peas which have not been shelled, and
ask also for some wooden toothpicks such as are used in the kitchen
for fastening meat together; or a number of nice, straight, strong
broom-straws if there are no wooden toothpicks. Take all these out
on the porch if the day is fine and sit down comfortably to make the
remarkable things which I am going to tell you how to make. It is a
good plan to have a box and its cover to hold the shelled peas and
their pods, but it does not really matter except that the round peas
are apt to roll away and get lost if you put them in your lap.
[Illustration: Fig.165 - Parts of the Greeny Girl and how to put them
together.]
The Greeny Girl
The little green-pea greenies, cousins of the brownies, shown in the
illustration are funny, aren't they? But the drawing is not as funny
as the real greenies, and you can make them in all sorts of absurd
positions.
Two little men and a widely smiling greeny girl are given here (Fig.
164). The large green peas that come late in the season are used to
make these little people. In fact, it is only the large peas that
can be used for any of the things described. Fig. 165 shows how the
greeny girl is put together. Her arms, legs, and neck are made of
broom-straws. Her body and head are green peas. Her dress is one end of
a pea-pod and her feet are bits of a pea-pod cut the shape you see in
Fig. 165.
First cut short pieces of broom-straws for the legs and point them at
both ends so that they will be easy to push into the peas and pods. Cut
another piece the same length, pointed at the top end for the support.
Push the legs and support into the large pea used for the body as you
see them in Fig. 165. Now cut another piece of broom-straw pointed at
both ends for the neck and push one end into the pea you have selected
for the head.
[Illustration: Fig.166 - Begin the tent in this way.]
[Illustration: Fig.167 - The Greenies' Pea-pod tent.]
Cut off the stem of a large pea-pod, leaving the little leaves at the
top, which were the calyx of the pea-blossom, for a collar, and then
cut the pea-pod dress the proper length to fit the little woman. When
that is done put the dress on over the headless body and push the lower
end of the broom-straw neck in at the top, down through the collar,
and into the pea which forms the body. With a pin make a hole on each
side just under the collar and push a broom-straw arm in each of the
armholes you have made. Bend one straw in the middle, as in Fig. 165,
to give the bent elbow.
Last of all cut two three-cornered feet like the one in Fig. 165 from
a pea-pod and push a foot on the end of each leg. Turn the toes in and
the little figure will look very comical. To give her a face, dip a pen
in black ink and make two round eyes in the head, a round nose, and a
wide mouth turned up at the corners. The pen must be pushed through the
skin of the pea to do this. When the greeny girl stands up, her dress
hides the support at the back so that it cannot always be seen, and she
looks as if she stood on her two feet just as you stand on yours.
The Greeny Men
The illustration (Fig. 164) shows how the greeny men are put together.
The little dancing fellow must have two supports because one foot is
lifted. The tiny ridiculous cap on the head of the other man is the
little cap that holds the pea to the pod and sometimes clings to the
pea after it is shelled.
Pea-Pod Tents
The greenies' little tents are made of pea-pods and it takes three pods
for each tent. After you have taken out the peas split the pods up
along the back edge, but leave the two halves fastened together at the
stem. Stand up two pods by pushing the stem end of one pod between the
two halves at the top of the other, as they are shown in Fig. 166. Then
separate the halves of the third and longest pod and place it astride
the first two (Fig. 167). This will make quite a strong tent, and, if
you like, you can have a whole camp of them.
The Green-Pea House
The greenies need not always live in tents. Like other people, they can
have houses as well.
It is best to use the wooden toothpicks in making the house. They are
stronger than broom-straws and all the same length. Begin by putting
the front of the house together. Make the peak first. Choose a large
pea, push the end of a toothpick into it, then not far from that push
in the end of another toothpick slantingly so that the lower ends will
be separated as you see them in Fig. 168. On each of these lower ends
stick a pea like Fig. 169. That is the peak for the roof. Now make a
long upright for each side by using a pea to join two sticks (Fig.
170), and push the upper end of each upright into the peas at the lower
ends of the peak (Fig. 171).
[Illustration: Fig.168 - Begin the peak in this way.]
[Illustration: Fig.169 - Stick a pea on the lower ends of each
toothpick to finish the peak.]
Shorten two toothpicks by breaking half an inch off each of them, then
join them as you did the uprights by pushing one end of each stick
into a large pea (Fig. 172). This is the front joist or crosspiece of
the upper floor of the house, and you must fit it in between the two
uprights of the front by pushing the ends of the crosspiece into the
peas at the middle of the uprights (Fig. 173).
[Illustration: Fig.170 - The long upright.]
[Illustration: Fig.171 - Add the uprights to the peak.]
[Illustration: Fig.172 - This is the front joist.]
[Illustration: Fig.173 - Fit the joist in between the two uprights.]
[Illustration: Fig.174 - The back of the house.]
The back of the house is made in the same way with a third upright
added which runs down through the middle from the point of the peak
to the bottom of the house. This third upright is made by shortening
two toothpicks and joining them with a pea, then fitting them in
between the pea at the top of the peak and the pea at the middle of
the crosspiece. A whole toothpick with the upper end pushed into the
lower part of the pea at the middle of the crosspiece finishes the long
upright (Fig. 174).
[Illustration: Fig.176 - The Greenies' little house.]
When the front and back are made all there is to do to finish the frame
of the house is to put in the crosspieces to hold them together. Fig.
175 shows all these crosspieces or joists. One crosspiece between the
two peas at the top of the front and back peaks for the ridge-pole (K,
Fig. 175), one on each side between the peas at the bottom of the peaks
(L and M), one at each side between the peas at the ends of the front
and back crosspieces (N, O), and one between the two peas at the middle
of the front and back crosspieces (P).
[Illustration: Fig.177 - The first bar of the fence.]
[Illustration: Fig.175 - This is the frame of the house.]
Now you have the frame of a two-storied house or a house with only
an upper story, but it needs a roof and a floor. Split some of your
pea-pods in half and lay one at a time across the ridge-pole at the
top and the crosspiece at the bottom of the peak. Put half of a pod on
one side of the peak, half a pod on the other side of the peak, then
another half pod on the first side, and the next one on the second
side, and so on until the space is covered and the house is roofed in.
The stem ends of the pods must be up. The stems lock together and hold
the roof in place.
Make the loosely laid floor also of the split pea-pods, putting them
across from front to back.
[Illustration: Fig.178 - Push in two uprights.]
Your little house (Fig. 176) now looks like those which strange people
in far-away, hot countries build for themselves. They have no lower
story or what we call a first floor, but are lifted on posts far above
the sometimes very damp ground, and out of reach of any wild animals
that may be prowling around.
The Fence
You can make a fence to put around the house in this way: Push a large
pea on each end of a whole toothpick like Fig. 177, then break a
toothpick exactly in half, stick one end of each half into the lower
parts of the peas to form uprights, and push the lower end of each of
these uprights into another pea as shown in Fig. 178. For the slanting
crosspiece stick one end of another toothpick into the upper pea at the
left-hand side, and the other end into the lower pea at the right-hand
side (Fig. 179). Add a toothpick between the two lower peas, and one
section of the fence is finished (Fig. 180).
[Illustration: Fig.179 - Put in a slanting crosspiece.]
[Illustration: Fig.180 - The finished section and the way to begin a
new section of the fence.]
Begin another section by sticking one end of a toothpick into a new pea
and the other end into the upper pea at the left side of the section
you have just finished (Fig. 180), then put in half a toothpick for
the upright, a pea on the bottom of that, a whole toothpick for the
slanting crosspiece, and another whole toothpick for the bottom.
In this way you can keep on adding section after section and make your
fence any length. To turn a corner all you have to do is to push the
toothpicks which form the upper and lower crosspieces of a new section
in at the back of the top and bottom peas of an end section of the
fence.
The Tropical Plant
You will notice that in the illustration there is a plant growing at
the side of the house which looks something like a cactus and adds to
the tropical, or hot-country look of the little greeny people's home.
[Illustration: Fig.181 - Draw curves like these for the design.]
[Illustration: Fig.182 - The Green Pea design.]
Seven half pea-pods are used to make this plant, four to stand up and
three to lie down flat. Wrap and tie the stem ends of the four half
pods together with a bit of string. Push a toothpick for a flower-stem
through the middle of the bunch. Cut away the stem of a pea-pod, then
cut off the calyx, or circle of little leaves, with the knob below
attached. This is to be the blossom of the strange plant. Stick the
flower on its toothpick stem, knob down, as you see it in the picture.
To make the plant stand firmly lay the three extra half pods down flat
with the stem ends one on top of the other and the outer ends at equal
distances apart, and force the toothpick flower-stem through the pods
where they cross. These three flat pods make a base which holds the
rest of the plant upright, while they look as if they were a part of it.
A Pretty Design of Green Peas
This is not a toy, but you will like to make it just the same, and
afterward, perhaps, you will want to try another design all by
yourself. If you can draw at all, with a soft pencil make some curves
on a piece of white paper like Fig. 181, only ever so much larger,
then a straight line up from the centre. The distance between the two
largest curves at their widest part should be about eight inches. If
you cannot draw these curves, ask some older person to do it for you.
[Illustration: Fig.183 - Do not open the pods wide.]
Lay your paper with the pattern drawn on it flat on the table before
you, shell some peas and carefully place them on the pencil lines of
the curves. Begin with the largest peas at the centre of the design and
finish with the smallest at the ends of the curves. Fig. 182 shows how
this is done. Put the first pea on the curve at the place shown by the
arrow in Fig. 181.
You won't be able to keep the peas in place unless you stick them to
the paper with paste. Hold the tube of paste in your left hand, squeeze
out a very little, take it off the tube with one of the peas and push
the pea, paste side down, onto the paper where it belongs.
When the peas are all placed on the curves open two pea-pods as you
did for the greenies' tent, slide one pod between the two halves of the
other, and with a little paste on the stem ends and the tips, fasten
them in the middle above the curves of peas as they are shown in Fig.
182. The two halves of each pod are not opened wide but are like Fig.
183. Above the pods, on the straight, upright line, place four more
peas, beginning at the bottom with a large pea and ending with one much
smaller.
The success of this design will depend upon making one side just like
the other and in keeping it equally balanced. That is, one side must
not sag down below the other and the pods at the top must fit exactly
on the line, half on one side, half on the other.
The peas, you see, do not touch each other, but are separated by little
spaces, and the spaces are all of the same length.
CHAPTER XXV
CORN-HUSKS AND CORN-COBS
How to Make American History Seem Real--Our First Thanksgiving
LET us play that we are really celebrating America's first Thanksgiving!
You can see one of our long, rude puncheon tables spread out in the
mild, sweet air of Indian summer, laden with delectable dishes of clam
chowder, oysters, fish, turkey, duck, goose, venison pasties, turnips,
dumplings of barley flour, corn bread, wheat cakes, pumpkin pies,
grapes, plums, great flagons of cider, and "all manner of tasty eats."
William Bradford, our good governor, with his old flintlock in hand,
is just returning from a successful hunt for additional wild turkey.
We shall need these, as ninety friendly Indians are to be our guests
for three days and nights. Later they, too, will hunt and bring us wild
deer.
Elder Brewster, in his festive doublet and hose, has stopped a moment
to speak to Master Bradford. Sitting at table, you can see Captain
Miles Standish with arms outstretched in glad welcome as he calls more
Indians to join the feast, while Massasoit, the mighty chief, stands at
the table signalling with his arrow for the braves to approach.
Already Quadquina and Hobomok are at the festive board, seated between
Captain Miles Standish and John Alden. Squanto, who tells the boys how
to trap game and teaches settlers how to plant corn, is resting on the
ground with his feather-bedecked shield in one hand, and the calumet,
or pipe of peace, in the other.
[Illustration: The First American Thanksgiving Dinner in the year
1621.]
Now winsome Priscilla Alden comes, bearing on a pewter platter one of
her savory hot baked turkeys, and her friend, Mary Chilton, is watching
the delicious stew which simmers in the big iron pot over the outdoor
fire.
[Illustration: Fig.184 - Begin to make the pioneer in this way.]
Mistress Brewster, on her way to cut pumpkin pie, must needs stay her
steps a moment to give ear to Governor Bradford's remarks, and Desire
Minter is hurrying forward, ahead of the other young women, to serve
the men at the feast.
All this would be told you by one of the little corn-husk pioneers
shown in the photograph if only they could speak.
[Illustration: Fig.185 - Fold the husks across the centre.]
At all events, they can stand alone. They can be made to sit down, too,
and their arms can be bent in any position. You may lift and place them
in various parts of the grounds at pleasure. You might even imagine
them to be the real characters they represent, and so live over again
that Thanksgiving of 1621.
The making of these little people is most interesting. Use the rather
soft between-layers of corn-husks; about two husks for each pioneer.
If the husks seem brittle, soak them in water and make them pliable.
Lay one husk partially over the top of the other (Fig. 184), bend them
across the centre (Fig. 185), and let the smoothest side be the front
of the doll. Fold each side of the front to the back until the front
somewhat resembles Fig. 186; then wind slender, soft string around to
form the neck and head of the doll. Wind another soft string around
lower down for the belt-line (Fig. 187).
[Illustration: Fig.186 - The head and neck are made.]
[Illustration: Fig.187 - Wind the waist with string.]
[Illustration: Fig.188 - Arms for the pioneer.]
Make the arms of soft corn-husk (Fig. 188) by turning the lengthwise
edges of the husk inward again and again, until the roll is of the
desired size. Cut off the ends evenly and wind the arms with string at
the centre and near each end.
Run the small blade of a penknife through the shoulders of the doll
from side to side. Turn the blade flat side uppermost and allow it to
remain in this position while you slide in the arms and screw them
through the opening, pushing them along on top of the flat side of the
blade. When in place, withdraw the knife and your little woman will be
ready for her costume.
[Illustration: Fig.189 - The pioneer is ready for his costume.]
To make the man, cut Fig. 187 up from the bottom to within a short
distance of the belt, thus dividing the husk skirts into two equal
parts. Wind each half with string at the top, middle, and near the end
to form the legs (Fig. 189).
Use black tissue-paper for the loose knee-trousers. Cut
[Illustration: Fig.190 - First leg of the trousers.]
[Illustration: Fig.191 - The trousers are pushed into shape and coat
is ready for its belt.] two strips of the paper, fit one strip over a
leg (Fig. 190), push the paper up on the inside until it resembles Fig.
191, then fasten in place with strong paste. Make the other trouser leg
in the same way (Fig. 191).
[Illustration: Fig.192 - Pattern of pioneer's collar.]
[Illustration: Fig.193 - Make the hair of paper fringe.]
[Illustration: Fig.194 - Crown of pioneer hat.]
[Illustration: Fig.195 - Glue the hat crown on the man's head.]
[Illustration: Fig.196 - How to slash the hat brim.]
Cut the coat from a folded piece of dull-green tissue-paper, and
just at the neck make a hole large enough for the man's head to slip
through (Fig. 191). Paste the front edges of the sleeves over the back
edges and lay the front edges of the coat over those of the back. Fit
the coat in at the belt-line with your fingers. Cut a black belt of
tissue-paper, fold it lengthwise, and belt in the fulness of the coat,
then paste the belt ends together. Be careful to make the belt loose,
for men's waists are large. Make the collar (Fig. 192) of white paper
and fasten it around the man's neck with a drop of paste in front.
From black, brown, or drab-yellow tissue-paper cut a strip of fine
fringe and paste it on the man's head for hair (Fig. 193). Then make
his hat. To do this, roll a small square of stiff black paper into a
cornucopia to fit the man's head, paste the edges together, and trim
off the corner which hangs down at the bottom (Fig. 194). Glue the
hat-crown on the man's head, cut off the sharp top peak, and tilt the
crown back a little (Fig. 195).
Now cut a disk of the black paper for the hat-brim, slash it across
the centre into four points (Fig. 196), but only just far enough to
make the opening fit over the hat-crown. Slide the brim on the crown,
allowing the slashed central points to lie up against it, and fasten
them there with paste (Fig. 197). Glue the pioneer's feet into holes
cut part-way through a small piece of the corrugated flat pasteboard
used for packing purposes. In this way the little man becomes
independent and able to stand alone (Fig. 197).
[Illustration: Fig.197 - The pioneer is fully dressed and wearing his
hat.]
The corn-husk women also wear tissue-paper clothes. The waists are
made in the same manner as the men's coats, only shorter and confined
at the belt-line with paste. Straight dress skirts are slipped over
the waists, and held in place at the belt by winding string around the
pinched-up gathers. Long, severely plain white aprons, minus strings,
are pasted to the waist-line, and white-bordered black caps and large
white three-cornered neckerchiefs complete the costume.
The cap is a straight piece of black tissue-paper with a narrow strip
of white folded over the front edge. When ready, the white-bordered
black strip is laid over the head, smoothly brought down on the sides,
puckered together at the back and tied around the neck with a string.
You have only to clip loose the outside layer of white close to the
string at the neck-line to give the flare to the cap's white border.
The crisp dress skirt forms sufficient support to enable the little
women to stand alone.
With the exception of Squanto, whose manly chest, back, and arms
have no covering, the Indians wear suits of tan tissue-paper made on
the same principle as the white men's costume, only the trouser-legs
are narrow, long, and have the seam cut in fringe and run up on the
outside. The bottom edge of the coat and the sleeve seams are also
fringed. The coat is not wide and no belt is worn.
Pieces of colored tissue-paper adjusted blanket fashion over the
Indians, and fastened here and there with bits of paste to hold them in
place, form the Indian blankets.
The Indians' hair is merely a strip of black tissue-paper pasted over
the top, back, and sides of the head with the ends loosely twisted and
allowed to hang down in front on either side.
[Illustration: Governor Bradford, Priscilla, Chief Massasoit and Elder
Brewster. Made of corn-husks.]
The war-bonnet is cut from a strip of white writing-paper, the tips
of the feathers are inked, and one end of the strip is then pasted
around Massasoit's head, as shown in the picture.
It is best to make a number of corn-husk people at one time. Put the
two husks together for each pioneer and Indian, then wind a string
around the neck of each to form the head (Fig. 186). Again tie a string
around each at the belt-line (Fig. 187). Continue making the people in
this way, step by step, until all are finished at the same time. Have
ready as many arms as you have people, and run the arms through each,
one after another.
When bending the arms or legs of the little people do it slowly and
gently. If they are inclined to spring back, tie them in position
overnight and they will stay bent.
When dressing the dolls, cut out all the men's collars at one time. You
can do this by cutting through as many layers of paper as there are
men. Adopt the same plan with the other parts of clothing for the men,
women, and Indians, and your work will be rapid.
With ink draw features on all. The women must have ink hair, parted in
the middle.
Remember when making Miles Standish to cut his hair of red paper, for
he had auburn hair.
The "sad" colors worn by the pioneers were really the cheerful autumn
hues, rich, dull reds, greens, browns, and yellows. These will give you
quite a variety of colors for the costumes of both men and women.
Make the puncheon table of a flat, narrow piece of wood. With a gimlet
bore holes through the board, slanting them toward the centre, one hole
near each corner. Any kind of round sticks will do for the legs. Cut
them all of the same length and glue one in each hole.
[Illustration: Pioneer puncheon table spread for America's First
Thanksgiving Dinner.]
The pewter dishes are made from one of the collapsible lead tubes
used for oil-paints and various other things. Cut open the empty tube
and smooth it out flat, then cut out round pieces for plates, mould
the plates over the tops of wooden spools, and the flagons over a
pen-handle or other round stick. Make the flagon-handles of slender
strips of the tube bent into rings, and slip one end of the strip over
the edge of the flagon.
A piece of yellow paper pasted over the cover of a very small
baking-powder can makes a pumpkin pie. The turkey is merely pinched-up
paper with brown tissue-paper laid smoothly over the breast. Its wings
and legs are of bits of lighter-colored paper rolled and bent into
shape, then pasted on the turkey.
[Illustration: Fig.198 - Corn-cob log for pioneer log cabin with
notches cut and marked.]
Fresh, green, uncooked corn-cobs from which the corn has been cut and
scraped make delightful pioneer log-houses. Cooked cobs are too hard
to cut. Choose slender cobs, long ones for the front and back of the
house, shorter ones for the sides. Cut a notch, or saw it, if the cobs
are dry and hard, on the tops of the ends of each of the two foundation
logs (Fig. 198). Cut a notch on both top and bottom of each remaining
log as indicated by the black lines in Fig. 198.
Always make a larger notch in the small end of the cob than in the
large end, so that the large end of another cob may fit in it; for,
when building, it is necessary to place small ends and large ends
together, and never two large ends or two small ends, or the house will
be unevenly balanced.
Lay the two foundation cobs down parallel to each other and a short
distance apart; then bridge across the ends with shorter cobs, fitting
the notches into each other. Continue building in this log-cabin
fashion until the house is of sufficient height.
On the front of the house draw two straight lines down across the cobs,
one for each side of the doorway. Then take your house apart and cut
the doorway out from the marked cobs. Rebuild the house, gluing layer
upon layer. Make the doorway jambs of straight pieces of corn-stalk,
and glue them on each side of the open doorway.
[Illustration: Pioneer log cabin made of corn-cobs.]
Before the roof can be added, corn-cobs, graduated in length and
without notches, must be laid at each end of the house to support
the roof and give it its gable ends. These graduated cobs are the
"trap-logs." They rest upon long strips of corn-stalk, called "ribs,"
which are placed across from one end of the house to the other. Build
the roof log-cabin fashion as you built the body of the house, laying a
rib between the ends of each layer of graduated cobs, and as you build,
fasten the parts together with glue.
Cut enough clapboards of corn-stalk to cover both sides of the roof.
Make them all of the same length and long enough to reach from the top
of the roof to a trifle beyond its lower edge.
The clapboards must be held down by means of "weight-poles" laid
across, and to keep the weight-poles from rolling off use pegs called
"knees."
Make the knee-pegs of corn-stalk. Cut a hole near both ends of four of
the clapboards and glue in pegs, slanting them upward. You will then
have two pegged clapboards for the front of the roof and two for the
back. Place them near the ends of the roof and glue all the clapboards
in place. Cut four slender lengths of corn-stalk for weight-poles, and
lay them across the roof, resting against the knee-pegs. Glue them to
the roof only where they buck the knee-pegs. When finished, set the
house aside until the glue is entirely dry. It may then be moved.
Corn-tassels standing in empty spools make fine trees.
It is fitting that the story of our country's first Thanksgiving should
be retold this year by means of corn. You remember, of course, that
friendly Indians showed the pioneers how to plant and cultivate corn,
which, to them, was a new grain. Later, when a wonderful harvest had
been gathered, our forefathers decided to set aside a day to thank God
for His goodness. That was the first Thanksgiving.
PART VII
FRUIT
CHAPTER XXVI
THE FUNNY ORANGE HEAD
YOU will hardly believe it is only an ordinary, everyday orange when
you have made it into the head that I am going to tell you about.
Select a small, firm, perfect orange and with a pencil mark features on
it, first the eyes like Fig. 199. Carefully cut out the little spaces
of skin between the lines, then mark the nose (Fig. 200); cut this and
mark the mouth (Fig. 201); cut this and at each side of the head draw
the ears like Fig. 202. You will see that the line of the ear does not
continue all the way around; that means that you are simply to run your
knife along the line, cutting through the skin so that the ears may be
lifted up and peeled forward to stand out from the head; the front part
remains attached (Fig. 203).
Make the neck of a slender, strong, round stick sharpened to a point at
one end. Push the point up into the under part of the orange, where the
neck should be, by twisting the stick around as it goes in (Fig. 204).
The orange is the head, but your hand and fingers are to be the body
and arms to go with it. Look at Fig. 204. That will show you how to
hold the stick firmly and at the same time leave your first finger and
thumb free to use as arms.
[Illustration: Fig.199 - Eyes marked on orange head.]
[Illustration: Fig.200 - Eyes cut, nose marked.]
[Illustration: Fig.202 - Ear marked, ready to cut and peel forward.]
[Illustration: Fig.201 - Nose cut, mouth marked.]
[Illustration: Fig.203 - Mouth cut, ears cut and peeled forward.]
Pin a handkerchief, or other soft cloth, around Mr. Orange's neck,
bring it around to cover your hand and then pretend he is talking while
you move his arms and say as many funny things as you can think of.
By moving the stick while you hold it in your hand, you can make the
orange head turn in various ways (Figs. 205 and 206), and a little
paper hat fitted on it will make it still funnier (Fig. 207).
[Illustration: Fig.204 - Hold the orange this way.]
The orange need not always be a man. You can play it is a little girl
and make a cunning little wreath of flowers for her small head; or
pretend it is a baby and have it wear a baby's cap made of paper.
If you want to turn it into a young lady, pierce the ears and fit
in earrings made of violets. You do this simply by threading the
flower-stems through the holes you have pierced, and drawing the
blossoms up close to them. Then, you can make believe the orange is an
old man and put a pipe in his mouth. Make the pipe of an acorn with a
twig for the stem. If you want the baby to cry, squeeze the orange a
little and tears of orange-juice will roll from its eyes and stream
down its face. Little holes must first be punctured in the eyes to let
the tears run out.
[Illustration: Fig.205 - "Now I'll tell you a funny story."]
Things You Can Make of Orange-Skins
A TOY JAPANESE STOOL
The soft, golden orange-skin, lined with silvery white, is fine
material for moulding and making into different kinds of things to play
with. Bring your orange and we will begin by making a toy stool for
your doll-house (Fig. 208). It will look very much like the real stools
which the Japanese make for real people to sit on, though nothing is
used for it but the orange-skin.
[Illustration: Fig.206 - "Can't remember what I was going to say."]
First cut the orange across from side to side, making two halves, and
after you have taken out the pieces of juicy fruit and enjoyed eating
them, examine the two pretty yellow orange-skin bowls that are left.
See how soft and pliable they are. Now take one of the bowls and pinch
the edges of two opposite sides toward each other; hold them steady
while, with your other hand, you pinch the other two sides toward each
other. Hold all four sides bent inward for a moment, then let go of
them and the sides will stay bent while you wind string across, first
one way then the other, between the curved stool legs you have just
made by bending the sides of the bowl inward.
[Illustration: Fig.207 - "What a joke."]
[Illustration: Fig.208 - Japanese stool made of half an Orange peel.]
Set the stool away to dry and stiffen into shape; then, when it has
become hard, take off the string and you will have a little Japanese
stool quite as strong as if made of wood.
A CANDY-BOX
A candy-box can be made in the same way of the other half of the
orange-skin, but you must curve the sides in only a little for this;
not nearly as much as for the stool. Stand the candy-box, with open
part up, ready to be filled with candy.
A BASKET
An orange-skin basket is a substantial little affair when finished, and
will hold almost anything you want to put in it. It looks like Fig.
209. For this you will again need half of an orange-skin. Bend in two
opposite sides after first cutting a short slit in each side near the
edge. Make the handle of strong paper, cutting it like Fig. 210, with a
tongue at each end. Bend over the two side points of each tongue, and
slide one tongue through the slit in one side of the basket, the other
tongue through the slit in the other side, then open out the points
again and they will make secure fastenings for the handle. You will see
from the illustration that the tongues are put through the basket from
the inside and show on the outside.
Before setting away to dry, tie a string around the bent-in sides of
the basket, and stuff the open part with crushed paper to keep it in
shape.
[Illustration: Fig.209 - Half of Orange skin used for a basket.]
[Illustration: Fig.210 - Make the handle of paper.]
ORANGE-SKIN BOWLS
When you have another orange save the two halves of the skin, pack each
full of crumpled, clean, blank paper, flatten the bottom of the bowls
so that they will stand firmly, then set them away to dry.
If you do all this carefully the bowls will harden in good shape and
you can use them to eat and to drink from.
[Illustration: Fig.211 - A little summer house made of half of an
Orange skin.]
Other Things Made of Orange-Skins
Cunning little toy summer-houses may be made from an orange-skin in a
moment's time (Fig. 211). Take half of an orange-skin and stick the
sharp ends of four wooden toothpicks into the edge of its rim. Place
the toothpicks upright, at equal distances apart, and they will form
the pillars to support the golden, dome-shaped roof. Stand the little
summer-house on the table, and you will think it charming.
By slicing an orange you can have a number of little, yellow hoops for
your dolls, made of the rind around each slice. When the hoops are
carefully dried in perfect circles, you can roll them on top of a table
or on the floor, and play the dolls are having great fun racing with
their orange-skin hoops.
CHAPTER XXVII
APPLES AND APPLE FUN
WHEN the apple-trees are in bloom, stand under one and look up through
the wonderful tent of flowers at the little bits of blue sky peeping
down at you between the blossoms. Isn't it delightful to see so many,
many apple-blossoms all at once? How beautiful they are and how sweet
they smell!
Now, pick one little blossom and examine it carefully. Count the pretty
pink-and-white petals. Five petals? Yes. Look again, see how they grow
from the centre and notice their shape. Be very particular, so that you
will remember exactly how the blossom looks; make sure you know, for I
am going to tell you about the flower you can find inside the big, ripe
apple after all the other apple-blossoms are gone.
Apple-Blossom in Apple
Cut the apple into thin slices from side to side through the core. Take
one of the slices from near the middle of the apple and hold it up to
the light, so that the light will shine through it, then look carefully
and you will see in the centre a perfect pattern of the apple-blossom
you gathered from the tree (Fig. 212). Apple-seeds form the centre of
the flower. The petals, five in number, are of the flesh of the fruit.
They are of the same shape and size as the real blossom. Isn't it
wonderful?
[Illustration: Fig.212 - Apple blossom inside of the fruit.]
[Illustration: Fig.213 - Design begun on apple slice.]
[Illustration: Fig.214 - Design pierced through apple slice.]
Now, take the seeds from their hard, glossy cases, again hold the slice
up to the light and lo, in the centre of the slice, you will find a
five-pointed star which twinkles as the light shines through.
You can add to this and make a pretty, shining pattern in this way:
Take a wooden toothpick, and with its pointed end pierce little holes
all along the edge of the flower pattern; then make a loop of little
holes above one of the petals (Q, Fig. 213), and still another above
that one (R, Fig. 213). Pierce the edges of all the petals and make the
same kind of double loops above them also, then the design will be like
Fig. 214. Hold it up to the light, turn it this way and that and your
slice of apple will look as if spangled with glittering diamonds. Fig.
215 shows a wheel design which you can make of another slice.
[Illustration: Fig.215 - Another design on apple slice.]
Apple Candle in its Candlestick
When I was a little girl I used to make apple candles that stood up in
their own candlesticks. I always ate the fresh, juicy slices as I cut
them off. Fig. 216 shows how the candles look when finished. The stem
is the wick, and as it is usually dark at the end, it is a very good
imitation of a candlewick that is partially burnt. The dotted lines on
Fig. 217 show how to cut away the apple to leave the candle and its
holder.
[Illustration: Fig.216 - Apple candle ready for table.]
[Illustration: Fig.217 - Cut away apple leaving candle in candle-stick.]
First cut off a slice at the blossom end, so that the candle-stick
will stand without tipping. The dotted line at the bottom of Fig. 217
indicates where this cut is to be made. Then run your knife around the
apple without cutting all the way through to the core, where you see
the middle dotted line on Fig. 217. After that, begin at the sides and
gradually shave down the upper part little by little, being careful not
to cut below the slit you have made around the apple. When the middle
part standing up around the core is the size of a real candle it is
time to stop cutting. Because of the core inside you cannot make your
candle very slender, but you can cut off the sharp edges and make it
round.
A Roasted Apple
Another thing I used to love to do with my apple when I was a little
girl was to tie a long string to the stem and hang it before an open
fire to roast. I think you will enjoy it too.
Tie one end of the string securely to the stem of your apple, and don't
break the stem off in doing it (Fig. 218); then tie the other end to
something heavy on the mantel-shelf that will hold it securely. The
apple should hang in front of a grate of glowing coals, or near the
red-hot coals of a wood-fire.
[Illustration: Fig.218 - Roast your apple this way.]
As soon as cooking begins, twist the string and make the apple spin
round and round so that it may be roasted evenly on all sides; it is
fun to do that. When the juice begins to run and drop from the apple,
set a saucer under to catch the hot, sweet syrup. It is good poured
over the apple when that is thoroughly cooked. Add sugar to the juice
while it is hot if it is not sweet enough.
The Spice Apple
In New England, many years ago, there was always to be found in every
household at least one spice apple. It sounds good to eat, doesn't it?
But they were not made for eating, they were used for sweet-smelling
ornaments, and for keeping away moths and other troublesome insects.
Perhaps you will like to make a spice apple to give away; it will be a
pretty and very sweet gift and will last for years.
Choose a small, perfectly sound apple and have ready a lot of cloves.
Stick the cloves into the apple as you would stick pins into a cushion,
only the cloves must be put in very close together, touching each other
and making the apple look like a large, prickly, brown nut. That is
all, unless you want to hang the apple up. In that case run a wooden
toothpick through one raised side at the top, across the little hollow
where the stem grows, and out through the raised side opposite, after
first breaking off the stem. Cross this toothpick with another pushed
through the apple and also bridging the hollow. This will make a low
handle in the form of a cross. At the middle, where the toothpicks
touch, tie a bright ribbon, leaving a loop by which to hang it.
Other Things to Make of an Apple
When an apple is cut across into round slices, you can make a doll's
table of the largest slice by using four wooden toothpicks for legs,
pushing them into the apple at equal distances apart. Half of a slice,
with halves of toothpicks for legs, makes a very suitable seat for this
remarkable table.
If you cut a thick flat slice from a small apple you can make it into a
top that will spin by pushing a toothpick through the centre, leaving
a long end on one side and a shorter end on the other. The short end
is the peg upon which the top spins. Take the long, upper end of the
toothpick between your thumb and first finger, give it a hard, quick
twist and drop the top on a table having a hard, smooth finish, where
it will spin merrily. The little fruit-top will not spin on a carpet or
any rough, uneven surface.
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puzzles, aquariums, fishing tackle; how to tie knots, splice ropes,
make bird calls, sleds, blow guns, balloons; how to rear wild birds, to
train dogs, and do a thousand and one things that boys take delight in.
The book is illustrated in such a way that no mistake can be made; and
the boy who gets a copy of this book will consider himself set up in
business."--_The Indianapolis Journal._
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes: Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
Page 109, caption Fig.124, "Burdock-burs" changed to "Burdock-burrs"
(house of Burdock-burrs)
Page 111, caption Fig.132, "Burdock-burs" changed to "Burdock-burrs"
(by Burdock-burrs)
Page 114, caption Fig.137, same as above (Burdock-burr target.)
Page 114, caption Fig.138, "bur" changed to "burr" (Hold the burr)
Page 143, caption Fig.177, "ig" changed to "Fig" (Fig.177)
Page 164, caption Fig.203, "pealed" changed to "peeled" (peeled forward)
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Mother Nature's Toy-Shop" ***
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