Mother Nature's Toy-Shop

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Necklace of Barberries and Plantain-Stalk

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).