Candle-Moulds
for making bayberry candles, and not many of us possess these old-fashioned treasures. Even if you happen to be one of the fortunate few, you will find it takes a great deal of the precious wax to fill these old moulds, and the candles made in them are really larger than you need; so the home-made candle-moulds will be best in any case.
From a sheet of legal-cap writing-paper cut a strip eleven and a half inches long and four inches wide (Fig. 450). Take an ordinary adamantine half candle, which is neither tallow nor wax, and, placing the paper on the table, short edge toward you, lay the candle down on it and bring the edge of the paper over the candle, as in Fig. 451. Press the paper down firmly and roll the candle away from you, in this way wrapping the paper closely around it. If the edges are not even, unwrap and try again. To have a perfect mould you must keep one edge of the paper exactly on a line with the bottom edge of the candle. When the paper is wrapped around the candle to within one inch of the end of the paper, brush glue across the end of the paper as in Fig. 452. Bring the edge over the roll and press down (Fig. 453).
Take another candle of the same size, stand it on a piece of paper and, with a lead-pencil, draw around the bottom edge, pressing the pencil point close to the candle. Cut around the circle you have made, leaving a border on its edge half an inch wide, as in Fig. 454, and slash the border up to the inner circle, as in Fig. 455.
Draw another circle, this time using the roll with the candle in it to mark the size, and cut around it, leaving a border three-quarters of an inch wide, then slash the border as you did the first. Cover the laps of Fig. 455 with glue, set the roll containing the candle exactly within the penciled circle, and turn up the laps, one at a time, lapping them over one another in regular order, as in Fig. 456. Hold the laps in place until they are firmly glued to the roll, then make a dot with your pencil on the bottom exactly in the centre of the circle, and lay the roll aside for the glue to harden while you prepare
The Candlewicks.
Candlewick comes in balls. It is composed of cotton strands which must be braided to make a finished wick. Cut from the wick several pieces nine inches long, select three strands for each candle, tie them together in bunches of threes, and braid, as shown in Fig. 457.
Take the candle from the roll, and in the top edge of the roll cut two notches directly opposite each other (Fig. 458), then melt the candle and pour it while hot into the mould, emptying it again directly. This will give the inside a coating of wax which will keep the paper from absorbing the bayberry wax.
Puncture a small hole through the dot in the bottom of the mould and, after waxing the end to stiffen it, thread one of the wicks through the hole from the outside. Cut off the knot and draw the wick up to within half an inch of the end, then separate the strands, spread them out flat and glue them to the bottom (Fig. 459). Glue the last disk you made, over the wick on the bottom of the mould, arranging the laps in order as you did those of the first. Be very careful that none of the slashes run even the shortest distance across the bottom, and do not use the moulds until the glue is perfectly hard.
You will need a separate mould for each candle, and when all are ready
Make a Stand of a Box.
In the bottom of the box, cut three round holes just large enough to admit the candle-moulds (Fig. 460). Set the box in a small meat-platter to catch any spilled wax, and slip three moulds into the holes, allowing them to stand on the plate. Draw the wick of each up tightly and run a long hat pin through all three, resting the pin in the notches at the top and bringing each wick in the middle of its mould (Fig. 461). If this is done properly the wicks will not sag, but will be held taut by the pin.
Break up and
Melt the Bayberry Wax
slowly, never allowing it to get hot enough to smoke, and fill each mould up to the hat pin. In a short time the wax will settle and leave a hollow at the top of the candle. Fill up the hollow each time this occurs until the wax remains even across the top.
Leave the candles in their moulds until they are hard and almost, but not quite cold, then draw the hat pin from the wicks and, taking one mould, begin at the top and peel off the paper, carrying it around and around spirally, as in Fig. 462. Insert the blade of a penknife between the bottom of the candle and the bottom of the mould, and cut around the edge. Remove first one layer of the bottom, then the other layer, after which you can draw the candle from the remainder of the mould.
Cut the bottom end of the wick close to the candle, and also trim off the top of the wick, making it about one inch long above the candle (Fig. 463).
CHAPTER XXVIII
WATER TOYS—LITTLE WAX PEOPLE THAT SWIM AND
RIDE ON RAFTS
The Patterns for the Little People
are given in Figs. 464, 466, 477 and 480. Cut ten girls from ten pieces of folded white writing-paper after first tracing the lengthwise half of Fig. 464 on half of the paper (Fig. 465). Cut ten boys (Fig. 466) from white writing-paper (Fig. 467). Paint each girl’s hair a different color, varying from light brown to raven black, from golden blond to dark auburn. Paint their bathing dresses red, blue, pink, orange, brown, green, yellow, purple, striped red and white, and spotted blue and white. Paint the boys’ bathing suits in a similar manner; mark the features of both girls and boys in ink, then color face, hands, arms, legs and feet pink. Use water-colors, and paint the back as well as the front of the dolls. When the paint is dry, take two girls and two boys and bend their arms forward at the shoulders; bend several dolls in a sitting position; take others and bend one leg forward and one backward, as if they were walking, and bend the hands together in front on those you wish to dive into the water from a height.
When all are ready,
Dip Each Doll in Melted Wax.
One-half a wax-candle will be sufficient for the work. Be sure that each doll is completely covered on both sides with wax, and instead of paper dolls you will have twenty funny little wax dolls, the coloring showing distinctly through the wax. With a coarse needle and thread make
A Toy Life Rope
and string on the thread four dolls with arms bent forward—a boy, a girl, a boy and a girl—by piercing the hands of each with the needle and drawing the thread through. In this way they are made to hold on to the thread rope.
Choose a clear, shallow pool or the edge of a pond for
The Bathing Place
Tie the thread to a stick, the lower end of which must be fastened securely in the ground under water while its top end stands out above the water. Hold the loose end of the thread taut in one hand as you carefully slide the bathers along the life rope until all stand in shallow water. The life rope reaches from the land out into the water. Stir the water and cause the waves to rise while you keep the thread moving up and down to make the dolls jump and frolic like real bathers (Fig. 468).
For the Raft
make fifteen paper lighters of strips of writing paper nine inches long and three-quarters of an inch wide (Fig. 469). Begin at one corner and roll the paper into a long round stick; fold over the top to keep the lighter from unrolling (Fig. 470). Dip each lighter in melted wax until it is completely coated all over; then wax two pieces of common string, each one a generous half yard in length. Tie or cross the centre of each string on a waxed lighter one inch from each end. Lay this lighter on a table in front of and parallel to you; place another lighter up against the ties, allowing one string from each tie to come over and one under the second lighter (Fig. 471). Cross the two lengths of each string over the last lighter, bringing the lower string up and the upper string down (Fig. 472); then lay another lighter up against the crossed strings, carrying the strings in turn over this lighter (Fig. 473). Again bring the lower string up and the upper string down before placing in another lighter, and always alternate the large and small ends of the lighters as in Fig. 474 in order to have them equally balanced and to avoid bringing all the small ends on one side and the large ends on the other side of the raft. Continue crossing the strings and adding lighters until fourteen are bound into a float; then tie the ends of the strings on each line securely together (Fig. 475), and your work will be ready for the fitting of the little mast, which must stand erect at one end of the raft.
Use the remaining lighter, which is the fifteenth, for the mast; flatten out the large end and slide it through the central opening or crack of the raft between the seven lighters on each side; then bend the flat end of the mast along the under side of the next lighter, up through the next space, over the next lighter and down through the forward space. Weaving it over and under the lighters of the raft keeps the mast firm and steady (Fig. 476).
Make a Little Lumberman
like Fig. 477. Fold a piece of white writing paper; trace one-half of the lumberman on it (Fig. 478), and cut out the figure. When he has been painted and waxed, stand him by the mast with one arm around it. Weave his feet in the raft as you wove the mast, and he will stand up as straight as a good soldier (Fig. 476).
Launch the Raft
on the water; it will dance merrily over the waves, and you can have some of the other wax children climb up and sit on the raft as it goes floating about. Should the children tumble off into the water, let them swim for a while, for that is what they want to do. Then you can help them on the raft again or bring them to land.
When the raft is riding the waves, the four bathers holding on the life-line and the other wax girls and boys playing in the sand, wading and diving in the water, let a mermaid come slowly swimming through the water toward them.
Make the Mermaid
of paper and her flowing tresses, also of paper. Mermaids are famous for their beautiful hair, which they seem to be always combing with a golden comb. Your mermaid, though, must be content to swim and enjoy herself without the golden comb.
Fold a piece of white writing paper; trace the lengthwise half of the figure on it (Fig. 479) and cut out the mermaid (Fig. 480); then cut two pieces of rather long, finely fringed paper (Fig. 481) for the hair, and paint them golden brown on both sides. Paint the back of the mermaid’s head and the hair around her face the same color. Mark the features with ink; when dry, color the face, arms and body pink; paint the remaining part of the figure gray. After the paint has dried mark fish scales from the waist down; then glue the straight top fringe of hair across the centre of the back of the mermaid’s head from side to side. Glue the other piece at the extreme top of the back of the head. After the mermaid is thoroughly dry, bend all of the hair out from her head. Do not allow any of it to lie down flat. Bend the body a little backward in a curve from the waist-line, the arms forward; then wax the mermaid, hair and all (Fig. 482). When the mermaid is in the water, the little wax children will make friends with her, and she will perhaps tell them fairy stories of the beautiful life under the waves.
These water toys will last a long time if well cared for and kept in a cool place where the wax will not melt.
CHAPTER XXIX
HOW TO WEAVE WITHOUT A LOOM
Method Invented by the Author
A Board
forty inches long will answer for weaving anything one yard or less in width and is of a convenient size to handle. The one-yard width is what an ordinary loom produces, but if you would have your rug or portière wider there is no reason why the board should not be longer. 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. The following directions are for making
A Blue and White Cotton Rug
for bedroom or bathroom. Heavy, new canton flannel is a good material for the rug and it is better to have new goods where the weave, as in this case, is to be smooth and flat.
Cut the canton flannel, do not tear it, into strips half an inch wide, but do not sew the strips together, and make into balls as for loom weaving; piece them as needed while the work progresses. Draw a straight line the whole length of the board one inch below the top edge, then along this line
Tack the Warp
As there is to be a blue border four inches wide, entirely around the rug, the warp at first must be all blue.
Take one strip of the blue and tack it on the line at the upper left-hand corner of the board about two inches from the side edge. Leave one end of the warp longer than the other and drive the tack only part of the way in (Fig. 483). Give the strip two twists toward you, close to the tack, and fasten it down with another tack on the line just half an inch from the first tack. See Fig. 484.
Fasten your strips on in this way with the tacks half an inch apart and you will have eight ends or eight strips of warp which will form the side border. For the top border cut the blue strips into ten-inch pieces, twist them at the middle so that the ends will be of an even length, and tack them along the line as far as you wish the centre to extend; then add the longer strips of warp for the other side border, as in Fig. 485. To the ends of the short blue warp sew strips of white, lapping the ends with the blue on top. Sew them securely like Fig. 486 and whip the end edges to make them lie perfectly flat.
This will give a white centre of warp with a blue border at the top and sides. Draw each strip of warp down until it is smooth and taut and tack it near the bottom edge of the board. Be very careful to have the warp of the border and the centre measure the same distance across the bottom as across the top and keep each strip in a straight line from the top (Fig. 487). Frequent measurements while weaving will keep your rug true and prevent narrowing between the two rows of tacks.
When the warp is ready take a strip of blue and begin
To Weave.
Tack the end of the strip, which is now the warp, a little to the left and a trifle below the upper left-hand tack (Fig. 487) and, starting under the first strip of warp, weave it in and out several times; then draw the warp out its full length as you do a needle and thread after taking several stitches. Keep the warp flat and even when it is woven and push it up close to the tacks. Weave across in this way, always under one and over the next, and drawing out the end of the woof every little while. When you have reached the last strip of warp on the right, turn the woof over it and weave back again in the same manner (Fig. 487).
The woof for this rug is entirely of blue, and as you weave across the white warp you will find that it makes a blue and white checker-board centre.
When you have woven as much as you can between the two rows of tacks, take the tacks out,
Move the Woven Part Up
and tack across again along the second or third row of woof from the bottom, putting a tack through the woof into each strip of warp; then draw the warp down as at first and tack in place. Fig. 488 shows the two rows of tacks after the rug has been moved up and also the effect of the checker-board weaving and blue border. This manner of moving up the woven part makes it possible to weave any length you may desire.
Lengthen the Warp
as you weave by sewing on new pieces, and when the centre is almost as long as you want it, cut off the white warp evenly and sew on blue, then weave until the border at the bottom is the width of that at the top and sides. Cut off the woof that is left after weaving the last row, and, turning in the end, sew it securely to the last row of warp.
Cut Off the Warp,
leaving ends about one and one-half inches long; turn each end of the warp over the last row of woof and sew it down. One end will turn on one side of the rug, the next on the other side, as splints turn over the edge in binding off a splint basket.
It is best to cut off one end of the warp and sew it down before cutting the next, as this will prevent the woof from slipping out of place during the binding off. Tuck each end of the warp under the row of woof just above it and sew again. Fig. 489 shows how this is done. G, H and I are the ends of the warp cut off evenly, F is an end turned up and sewed to the bottom row of woof. E is an end which is to turn under and be brought up on the other side of the rug. D has been turned up, sewed to the last row of woof and is just being slipped under the third row of woof, J. C is turned under and fastened in place on the other side of the rug, and B has been turned up, sewed, tucked under the third row of woof and sewed again. The end is shown above the woof to make the idea plainer, but in reality it should be hidden under the woof.
When the last end of the warp has been secured and the first end of the woof (Letter A, Fig. 487) has been turned over and sewed to the warp, your rug is finished and will look like Fig. 490. This rug is photographed from one made by the writer on a pastry board. Its size is twenty-two by thirty-four inches. Three-quarters of a yard of white canton flannel and one yard and a half of blue were used for weaving.
To Make a Heavier Rug
with the flat weave, double the warp. That is, lay one piece of warp directly on top of another, giving two thicknesses to each strip. A close weave is made by using soft material, tacking the strips close together for the warp and pushing the woof up tightly, crushing it together as in loom weaving.
Diamonds, squares and Indian zigzag patterns are easy and you can work out others quite original with yourself.
CHAPTER XXX
HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN EASTER
CARDS AND GIFTS
A simple, inexpensive Easter card may carry with it happiness, for “it is sweet to be remembered,” and you can think of many designs from which to choose a cheery greeting to send to every one.
Cards Made to Represent Easter Flowers
are always welcome. Trace Fig. 491 on heavy paper; paint the flowers to resemble as nearly as possible the natural blossoms, shading the lily lightly and coloring the passion flower in natural hues. Paint the violet a light blue purple and its foliage green. When dry cut out the design; then bend the card at the dotted lines that each flower may stand erect, supported by the blank back piece in tent-like fashion. When bent the card will form three tents in a row, with the smallest in front, as in Fig. 492.
If you are not able to paint the flowers satisfactorily, use any colored, printed flowers you happen to have, either the embossed ones that come for scrap books, or those cut from colored advertisements or newspapers. Select three different blossoms or groups of flowers and, taking the largest first, lay it down flat on a strip of stiff paper with the stems or lower part toward the edge of the paper; then run a pencil line entirely around the edge of the flower; this will give a blank enclosed by the outline of the flower. Place the same blossom on the paper again, being sure to bring the top of the flower to meet the top of the outline flower, in order that the two parts may fit; then make a second tracing. Examine the lily in Fig. 491 and you will understand more clearly. Unless the two flower tops meet, one side of the flower tent will be upside down.
Place the middle-sized blossom on the paper with the lower part next to the lower portion of the first and largest flower, in the same way that the back support of the passion flower meets the lily stems in Fig. 491. Trace this twice as you did the first design. The last and smallest flower must be traced in like manner. Notice in Fig. 491 that the leaves of the violet meet the lower part of the passion flower, while the blossom of the violet meets the outline of the blossom.
When you comprehend the principle the work will be very easy. Paste each bright blossom immediately in front of its back support; then cut out the entire long card and bend it into three tents which will enable the flowers to stand up and look very attractive. These floral cards may be folded and brought together in flat layers, to be sent by mail without danger of injury.
The Cross
is a most appropriate design for Easter. You can make one of cardboard which will stand alone. Cut Figs. 493 and 494 from stiff paper, and make the slit down through the top of one and up through the bottom of the other; then slide the two crosses together by placing Fig. 493 at right angles down through the top of Fig. 494, adjust the two pieces and your cross will resemble Fig. 495. The card may be closed flat by turning the two crosses until they lie closely against each other. You can decorate this double cross by painting or pasting flowers on it, or lettering it with the words, “Easter Greeting.”
Another new design is
The Tulip Bud
(Fig. 496). This you can open at will and make it blossom. Open it still further and the petals appear as if ready to fall, as in Fig. 497. Cut Fig. 498 of white paper and paint it to resemble a tulip petal; make five more petals, then trace Fig. 499 on a piece of cardboard, fit the six petals together and place them on top of the tulip stem (Fig. 499). Hold the petals firmly in position while you run a coarse needle and thread through the petals and cardboard back in order to fasten the flowers on the stem. Knot the thread on the outside of the petals and also on the wrong side of the pasteboard card. Fig. 500 shows the knot on the lower portion of the petals. Draw the thread tight to keep the petals firmly in place. Paint the stem and leaves green and paste a small round piece of paper over each of the knots which fasten the flower on its stem as shown in Fig. 501. When the bit of paper is painted it will never be noticed.