Adelia B. Beard

“ You can keep the preparation of the living tree absolutely secret and make it a complete surprise, for it does not have to be set up where all may see in order to be decorated, and no hint of its existence need be given until the time arrives, the door is thrown open and the beautiful, sparkling Christmas tree glides slowly into the room. ”

“ EVERYTHING awakens with new life and rejoices on Easter; and the dear old Earth smiles with sympathy and brings her offering of sweet flowers. It is the day when all people, little and big, young and old, should be filled with joy, because Easter means the Resurrection. ”

“ Request the guests to kneel, with their funny little gnomes, in a row on the enclosed space next to the wall, and face the tape. Announce that there will now take place the race of fate. Each player must hold his or her pussy with its fore paws directly on the tape, and at a given signal all the girls and boys must exclaim in unison, “Run!” at the same time releasing the kittens that they may scamper away in any direction they choose. The guests should remain stationed back of the tape line and watch them as they scatter wildly over the room trailing their bright streamers. ”

“ The instant the last ribbon has been given to a guest, turn on the lights and while the girls and boys are looking with surprise at the little creature they hold captive and laughingly exchanging comments, you must pin a piece of white tape on the floor across one end of the room about four feet from the wall. ”

“ The people think so much of the sun that they erect statues to it, which they call “sun gods”; they even have the head of a sun god on one side of their coins, and on the other side they print a rose, for the citizens of Rhodes are almost as fond of that flower as they are of the sun. ”

“ Quivering and shimmering, down the colored rain will fall, lightly covering your hair, clothing, and surrounding objects, while you stand, racket in hand, watching the result of your stroke. Your companions, seeing your success, will be eager to try their skill, also, with one of the pretty magic eggs. ”

“ The game becomes exciting when but one free butterfly is left, darting about, skilfully evading the outstretched hands of the collectors, each intent upon capturing this last and greatly valued prize. ”

“ One of the best of objects for the money obtained by your fair is the “Fresh Air Fund,” which helps the poor little suffering city children to a breath of pure fresh air and saves the lives of many frail girls and boys. ”

“ If a player strikes the ball more than once during one turn, she is guilty of a fault, and loses her next turn. If a player over-steps the boundary of her own court in any way, she is guilty of a fault and loses a turn. When the string winds around the handle of the racket, or winds about the tether pole below the red band, the player so winding the string commits a fault and loses a turn. ”

“ Fig. 539 is Napoleon’s face, which you must draw on one side of the egg with black ink. Ink the hair black. Blacken the shell on the other side, too, for the hair on the back of the head. In drawing the face on the shell remember that the largest end of the shell is the chin, the smallest end the top of the head. To be sure, the real Napoleon never had a hole in the top of his head that we ever heard of, but the hole in the top of our Napoleon’s head will not show when his hat is on, and as the hat is to be glued in place no one will ever be any the wiser. ”

“ If either a girl or boy finds the ring in the beans it is a sign of an early marriage. If a girl gets the thimble she will be an old maid, and when the thimble falls to the lot of a boy he will marry an old maid.
The brass button in a girl’s cup of beans denotes that she will marry a widower, but in a boy’s cup it is a bachelor’s button and shows that he will be a bachelor all his life and will sew on his buttons himself.
Each player can have but one trial, and if only beans fall to her share, it signifies that her fate is still undecided.
Here is another test called
The Witch Screen
Fig. ”

“ There is a peculiar joy in using the raw material fresh from Mother Nature’s hands and starting at the beginning of things—a joy unknown to those who work only with materials that are manufactured—and to get the most out of the work of making bayberry candles you must begin with the bayberries. ”

“ When stars are clustered together, we say the group is a constellation. All of the starry people and animals are only different constellations. In this group each boy has a star on his head, a star on one knee and a star on [424] one foot, which makes six stars. Trace the twins on cardboard, cut them out together in one piece and punch a hole through the centre of each star. Hold the constellation up to the light, and the group of wee, sparkling stars seen through the pinholes will resemble Fig. ”

“ A wire tool like Fig. 561 is useful in cutting away the clay when the walls of a piece are too thick, but a wire hairpin answers the purpose almost as well. A wooden skewer, used by butchers for pinning meat, is also good for some purposes. In my own work one summer, when far out of reach of modelling tools, I found use for a palette knife, the handle of an old spoon, a hairpin and a steel ink eraser with a curved blade. But best of all and most to be depended upon are the fingers, for these sensitive, flexible, natural tools can perform most of the work alone. ”

“ The spinning of the apple must always be started on the small central circle where the apple is stationed. When the apple rolls off the board the player may have another trial; if the apple rolls off on the second trial she simply loses her turn, there being no other penalty. When a pumpkin lands on one of the dividing lines it counts ten against the player. Often an apple will strike several pumpkins, sending them off on different divisions. ”

“ Dip Your Fingers in Water
and rub them gently over the coiled clay in the saucer to smooth it, but be careful not to get it too wet and not to lower the coil on the edge in the process. If depressions occur fill them with fresh clay joining the edges of the new clay to the coiled clay, making it one piece with no cracks or seams. In adding clay at any time the new piece must always become one with the old, else it will crack when dry or in the firing, and it is best to brush the place to be filled with slip before adding the clay. ”

“ Let the players in turn tip-toe on the stones just as though they were crossing a brook of running water, each girl and boy being obliged to pay a forfeit for every misstep into the make-believe water. ”

“ If there are not enough gifts to fill the box of the sleigh, open newspapers and crush them into the bottom of the box to fill up the extra space; spread white paper over the top of the newspapers, and fill in with the prettily wrapped gifts. Each parcel should be tied with a ribbon and decorated with holly, mistletoe or evergreen (Fig. 220) . Cover the top of the paper parcels with various toys (Fig. 200) , and Santa Claus with sleigh and reindeer will be ready to surprise the family early Christmas morning. ”

“ No person may pick more than one piece of fruit during one turn. Each player is privileged to place his fruit in any way he desires, remembering always that each piece goes to form the centre-piece, which should always be made as decorative as possible.
Fig. 146.—The decorated pole. Crossing the Brook
is a lively game and great fun. Get a number of flat stones that will lie steady, and are large enough to step upon; arrange them [134] about eighteen or twenty inches apart, in an irregular line, over a stretch of ground twenty or more feet across. ”

“ After the first player has had her turn, a player on the opposite side tries her skill, for the turns must alternate from side to side. The game ends with the playing of the last rose, and the side scoring the greatest number of points wins the game. All roses when played must remain where they fall until the close of the game, with the exception of those falling on the boundary line of their own beds. ”

“ To prevent the material from catching, your board must be smooth on both sides and on the edge and it should be as wide as possible. A good-sized pastry board is excellent for weaving a piece less than twenty-two inches in width.
Rags are Used
for both warp and woof; if old and soft they should be more tightly packed than when new and firm. The warp is composed of the strips which run up and down in the work, the woof of those that are woven in and out across the warp, and the process is like that of weaving a splint basket. ”

“ Cut a short section from an ordinary wax candle (Fig. 94) , shave down the sides, making [95] the bottom heavier and larger than the top (Fig. 95) . Run a pin through the centre of the candle from bottom to top; then pull it out. Fit the candle inside on the centre of the bottom of the apple, hold it in place while you run the pin up from the outside of the apple, through the skin and into the pinhole in the centre of the little candle. The pin should hold the candle firmly in place; if it does not do so, pull the pin out and see what is the matter ”

“ When the boat reaches America, have ready on the chair at that end of the bathtub, some wild Indians with their wigwams, and let Columbus and his men land, while the Indians stand gazing at them in astonishment. ”

“ If a player fails to send the ball into her opponent’s court on its way around the pole, the failure is called a fault, and the player making the fault loses her turn. The lost turn goes to the opponent, who then stands on the cross in her own court and has a free strike at the ball. ”

“ The Baby
must be quite light in weight. Make it of a piece of pink tissue paper about eight inches square. Draw the paper through your hands several times to crush it into small folds, then, while it is crushed together, double at the middle and wind a thread around near the folded end to form a neck, leaving half an inch above for the head. Gather a piece of white tissue paper around the baby’s neck to make its dress, and cut a straight strip of white tissue paper for the baby’s cap. ”

“ Fairy Lamp
(Fig. 585) requires a little more time and patience in its preparation than the boats, but it is not difficult to make. Find a rather small, perfectly round, red apple without bruise or blemish. Hold it in both hands and gently press it with your two thumbs, beginning close to the stem and gradually working down to the blossom end. Be careful not to break the skin, but press and press until every part is loosened and the apple feels pulpy like a grape—every part except the blossom; that holds fast because it is attached to the core. ”