Emily Rose Burt

“ There were little individual molds of pink apple tapioca, topped with whipped cream and accompanied by small home-made cakes, frosted uniquely. Each one had in the center of its white icing a miniature apple bough as a decoration, made from two red maraschino cherries, two leaf-shaped pieces of green angelica and a bit of citron.
As a surprise for each girl, the hostess had provided a tiny bunch of apple sachets, easily made from scraps of apple-colored silks.
"I like apples more than ever now that I've begun to see their possibilities," the guest of honor declared. ”

“ THE TIN WEDDING The tenth wedding anniversary has many possibilities for fun. An informal social evening or a dinner followed by some jolly stunts are in order.
In any case, arrange for the dining table a centerpiece of a shiny tin funnel filled with bright garden or wild flowers surrounded by a frill of lace paper to represent an old-fashioned, formal bouquet. Use tin candlesticks with bayberry candles for illumination and scatter tiny new patty pans with crinkly edges over the table to hold candies and nuts. ”

“ A favorite kind is a luncheon for a group of girl friends. Even less work is an afternoon tea and to that a girl's men friends may be asked also, though it's really easier to have girls only. Another kind of announcement party is the evening affair to which both men and girl friends are invited and at which the announcement should be "sprung" as a total surprise as in all other announcement affairs.
After the engagement is known, immediately the friends of the bride-to-be begin to think of showers for her. One friend or a group of friends or her club may be hostesses and give such an affair. ”

“ Where trees are hard to procure, a cunning little one on a table is quite large enough. It can be decked with gold and silver hearts and candy kisses, and on its branches should hang the shower gifts, prettily wrapped and tied.
When the bride arrives, she must strip the tree. Among its treasures may be English walnut shells, gilded and tied together, with fortune verses inside.—The hostess provides one of these for each guest.
The refreshments may consist of sandwiches cut in the shape of Christmas trees and filled with green pepper and cream cheese ”

“ No matter what the funny, teasing, or pseudo-insulting remarks or performances of the onlookers, the contestants must retain calm and unmoved expressions as they stand in line.
"Balance" proves who best can poise an apple on the head and walk across the room. All the "balancers" start at the same moment, and the first successful ones are awarded the blue ribbon. Balancing peanuts on a knife blade and carrying them thus from one end of the room to the other is another way to execute the test. ”

“ The child whom the daisy-picker touches upon reaching, the last word must try to run entirely around the circle and back to his place before the daisy-picker catches him. If he succeeds, he need not be "it"; but if he is caught, he must be the daisy-picker.
"Are You a Daisy?" is another jolly game. The players stand in a line facing one child, who is chosen to be "it." This child asks each one in turn the question, "Are you a daisy?" Each child answers by naming the flower he chooses to be. Thus one may say, "I am a rose" ”

“ Then came hot chocolate with a marshmallow floating in each cup and milestone salad, which consisted of oblongs of cream cheese into which numerals cut out of green peppers were pressed. The milestones stood erect on fresh lettuce leaves and were served with French dressing.
After that a birthday cake was borne in ablaze with fourteen green tapers and set before the little hostess to cut. Great was the fun when the fortune favors, baked in the cake, were found by the guests. ”

“ After the wigwam has been sacked, it would be fun if you could sit around the open fire to pop corn or toast marshmallows and play the Indian Summer game of "Pipe Dreams." Each girl writes out an imaginary dream of the bride's future. The dreams are read by the hostess, and then each dream paper is consigned to the fire.
The refreshments ought to be very simple, and may consist of hot chocolate and little chocolate cakes, cone-shaped to simulate wigwams, or they may be merely apples, nuts, popcorn, and sweet cider. Serve the nuts and apples in Indian baskets. ”

“ When a caterer is not employed, and the serving of the refreshments is managed by the hostess herself, it is a pretty and practical plan to ask several young girls to help in the dining-room. They should see that the guests are promptly supplied, and can relieve them of their plates when they have finished.
Below are half a dozen good menus for buffet wedding breakfasts and receptions, varying in degree of formality to suit individual needs. ”

“ WEDDINGS Following naturally on the engagement announcement and bridal showers come the wedding plans.
If the bride's house is small, a church wedding may be the solution for her, or else she may plan a house wedding with just a few chosen friends and relatives present.
Very often, if a church wedding is planned, there is a reception afterward at the bride's home. If only a few guests are invited to it, a wedding breakfast or dinner may be served, but if a large number of people are asked, buffet refreshments are sufficient. ”

“ Another occupation that is appropriate and fun-making is a pea and tooth-pick contest. Wooden tooth-picks and dried peas soaked up are provided. Each person is then assigned to construct one member of a tooth-pick wedding party properly. The tooth-pick persons when finished should form in a parade down the center of the library table.
A light buffet supper or simply ice-cream and coffee may be served in the dining-room. Decorate the table with a central wooden bowl containing some simple flowers such as daisies, honeysuckles, snapdragons, nasturtiums, or whatever flowers are in season. ”

“ Supper should be eaten around a big camp-fire, and should consist of coffee cooked over the fire, nut-bread sandwiches, cold chicken and potato chips, and chocolate ice-cream under individual miniature tepees of brown paper.
Paint on each tepee in black some symbol apparently mysterious but in reality characteristic of the owner. Thus, a girl with a beautiful voice and a talent for singing may have a quaint bird on hers; an athlete, a pair of Indian clubs; a domestic science girl, a bowl and spoon or a kettle, and so on. ”

“ SUMMER WEDDING DECORATIONS Every girl can have a pretty wedding—especially if she lives within reach of the free woods and fields or in a place of gardens and shrubbery.
Wild roses and wild clematis vines with ferns from the woods are lovely in a country church where festoons and garlands are often needed to adorn the bare walls. ”

“ MOTHER'S BIRTHDAY TEA A pleasant way for a daughter to entertain for her mother is to give a little informal afternoon tea, asking the mother's friends and their daughters and thus making it a kind of mother and daughter affair.
Send out the invitations on your calling card, writing your mother's name at the top. If your mother likes surprises, arrange the party to be one if possible, but if she is like most mothers she will prefer to know what's going on and so be prepared. ”

“ Another amusing game for a large number which goes under various names was called on this occasion "The Smile Factory." The company is divided into two groups which line up opposite each other. Someone is appointed to stand between the two lines with a man's soft hat in hand. If upon being tossed in the air, the hat lands right side up, one group has to laugh while the opposite one remains absolutely sober. When the hat lands upside down, the first group remains solemn and the other group laughs. ”

“ As the guests leave the receiving line, they move informally toward the dining-room, where they stand to be served. If the wedding reception takes place directly after a ceremony in the morning, or at high noon, the refreshments are more elaborate than at an afternoon affair and the guests may be seated to be served in the different rooms. ”

“ The fun is now ready to begin, for with the implements and materials provided at each table the guests are required to produce a facsimile of the animal for which the table is named. Different materials are provided at each table, so there is no monotony, as the guests progress from table to table after half an hour's stay at each one in turn.
Modeling clay is the medium in which the March hares are to be done, and no implements except fingers are supposed to be used, though if a boy slyly makes use of his jack-knife, there are no embarrassing questions asked. ”

“ The refreshments carry out the daisy idea, and should be served outdoors, either on the piazza or on the lawn. The centerpiece at the supper-table is a big bunch of daisies, and each child has a place-card on which is painted or drawn a daisy face, the petals forming a cap frill. The sandwiches are bread and butter, and some "good-to-eat" daisies can be made from hard-boiled eggs, by cutting the whites petal-shaped, and by mixing the yellow with salad mayonnaise to form the centers. Marguerites and little cakes frosted in yellow and white may be served with vanilla ice cream. ”

“ A CHRISTMAS TREE SHOWER For the bride who announces her engagement in December, a Christmas tree shower might be given Christmas week. Send out cards of invitation in the shape of small Christmas trees, or else paste or paint little evergreen trees on white cards. Ask the guests to bring something small enough to be hung on a little Christmas tree. The bride should be asked to come a little later than the others, so that they may have time to hang their gifts on the tree. ”

“ A CAMP FIRE SHOWER A jolly crowd of young people who had been camping together a great deal gave a lively shower to two of their number who were announcing their engagement.
The affair took place in the city in the winter time and was very informal.
After the "bunch" had gathered, someone suggested that they play charades, one of their favorite diversions.
The engaged persons were chosen to sit with the hostess before the open fire and pretend they were in camp. The word selected was not made known to them, however. ”

“ Tea, sandwiches and little cakes may be served in the dining-room from a festive birthday table. The centerpiece may be a bowl of pink roses—to match in number the years of the guest of honor. Candles from under rose-colored paper or silk shades may light the room, and if desired each guest may be presented with a miniature band-box covered with rose-sprigged paper or chintz—filled with wee pink and white candies. ”

“ All are asked to form in line, one behind another, each one's hands on the shoulders of the person ahead. The leader then starts the line winding around and round the room into a spiral and then unwinding it—the well-known gymnasium class stunt which carried through in a sprightly way is bound to make everybody feel better acquainted. ”

“ There should be a flower girl, of course, who can wear an abbreviated costume. Her hair should be in ringlets with a big ribbon tied around her head, and she may carry a market basket filled with scraps of paper, or flowers if you prefer, to scatter in front of the bride. ”

“ More frivolous are very diminutive bridesmaid's hats, and at the wedding of a bride who is going to travel far away there may be small boats, either real or of cardboard, with a flying flag of matrimony at the masthead. ”

“ A CHILDREN'S DAISY PARTY Let the children make the invitations they send out for their own daisy party. On heavy water color paper they may draw and cut out simple outlines of daisies—about ten petals around a center which is then colored yellow with crayons. Each petal may hold one or two words of the invitation, thus: Will—you—come—to—our—daisy—party—on—Saturday—at—three?—Betty and John.
Of course there should be some outdoor games, and a good one to play is "Daisy in the Dell." For this the children form in a circle, joining hands, and one is chosen to be daisy-picker. ”

“ The first stunt tried was called "Throwing Smiles," not a new amusement but always a fun-maker.
One person starts the game by smiling broadly and then pretending to wipe off the smile and throw it to somebody else. As soon as it lands on the next person's face, that person must in turn wipe it off and fling it at a third player. As soon as a smile is supposedly wiped off, the owner of it must maintain a perfectly sober expression. ”

“ The first test, which is called "ground work," is a hopping stunt. The contestants hop on one foot to a given goal, and the one who does it most easily and gracefully and holds out best is declared victorious by the judges. Blue ribbon badges are pinned on the successful persons. ”

“ Each guest was asked to pull a petal from the daisy, and in so doing drew from the basket a tiny doll dressed like a "rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief, doctor, lawyer, merchant or chief." The girl whose fate was already assured had been guided to choose a particular petal and her favor doll proved to be dressed in the garb of her fiancé's profession.
FORTUNE RHYMES FOR A "ONE I LOVE" SHOWER 1. If you'll only wait a while
Some one nice will make you smile. ”

“ And why make hard work of it when there are ways to entertain easily?
Besides you know that the more easily you do it, the more successful you'll be, and there's hardly a woman in the world—is there?—who wouldn't like to be known as a good hostess. ”

“ As soon as the two classes have gathered at the picnic ground, the juniors, already decked in head bands of ribbon in their own class colors, may present the seniors with similar ribbons. The boys may have feathers stuck in theirs—if they don't object to head bands.
The chief of the Twenteequas may announce the first stunt as a Hunt for Game, and all must hunt in pairs, matching partners by means of selecting, blindfolded, colored beads from a basket. ”