Mother Nature's toy-shop

Front matter

Mother Nature's

Toy- Shop

Mother Nature's

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 Httle 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 Httle 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

Flg.l - Begin the wreath In this way.

lPlg.2 - Turn the stem of B under the stem of A.

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.

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 Httle before using them;

Daisies

Fig. 3 - Bi'lng B around and In front of it 8 own upright.

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.

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. i, 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. i.

This second daisy

we will call B. Now

turn the stem of B

under the stem of A

and up at the back as

., . . T7.« -n • Pig. 4 • Let the stem of B rest on It IS m Fig. 2. Brmg *" the stem of A.

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.

Pig. 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

S!ig.6 « A. neir vay to make a Daisy Wreath.

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.

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." 5

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.

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 ex-

Pig,7 - Cut a liol.e at the back of the Pulpit.

Jack-in-the-Pulpit

Pig. 8 - The Spike.

tended 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, th-en, slipping your knife inside, cut Jack loose from the flower and drop him out from the top by turning the pulpit upside down.

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.

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? Pig.s , this is jaok.

ffl

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 Httle 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

Red and White Clovers stems to the stems of the first bunches. Fig. lo shows the clover wreath complete.

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

Flg.lO - Wreath of freshly picked Clover.

the bunches together until the strip for the bracelet fits your arm (Fig. ii), 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.

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

Pig. IS - Clover iBlossom ring

Pig. 11 - Clover Tjracelet.

r

Pig. 12 - Clover ear-ring.

Pig. 14 - Clover Blossom pendant on Clover necklace.

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

Red and White Clovers 11

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 be-, cause 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.

Pig. 16 - Upright design of Alslke Clover.

Fig. 15 - The Ala Ike Clover. Deep rosQ col or. The way it grows.,

The graceful, upright design (Fig. i6) 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.

Pig. 17 - Parts of upright Clover design.

Look at Fig. i6 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 Httle 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 Httle budded spray added at the place on the stem shown by

Clover Designs the arrows to make it resemble and balance the other. This bud with its leaves was clipped from another clovervine.

The spray in the centre of the design was like E, Fig.

Fig. 18 - Running design of Clover.

17, and it was necessary to give it the extra leaves shown at its right because, without them, it was not symmetrical,

Pig. 19 - Parts of riinnlng design.

which means evenly balanced, and it would not have looked well in the 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. i6. After that

Pig. 20 - Large Red Clover design.

the extra leaves for the middle spray, and the bud and its leaves for the right-hand spray, were put in place.

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 cloverblossom, 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

Pig. 21 - Design of leaves and buds of Red Clover.

Pig* 2^ - Parts of leaf and "bud design.

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.

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.

^c Fig. 1 8 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?

Pig. 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.

Fig. 25 - Wild Mustard design, i6), 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.

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

Fig. 26 - Wild Mustard.

Fig. 24 - The Daisy FleaUane grows like this.

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.

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.

Buttercups — a Design

Buttercups are so beautifully golden, so glossy and bright, you would think they could be made into many

Pig. 27 - Pa[rts of Wild Mustard design.

Pig. 28 - Buttercup design.

Other Wild-Flower Designs 23

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.

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.

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 Pig. 29 - puasy-jjiiaows . the pattern Fig. 30. Put paste on d,t 5 H

Fig. 30 - The Rabbit and th6 Rabbit's ears, enlarged

Pig. 33 - Paper tall, enlarged, for squirrel •

Fig, 32 - Pussy-willow Squirrel, enlarged.

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

Fig. 34 - The Pussy-Willow Bxrrible-Bee.

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.

A Pussy- Willow Squirrel

/This Httle gray squirrel (Fig. 32), sitting up in such a lifelike pose, must be made of a slightly bent, rather long.

Pussy-Willows 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.

HeA"D

Thkoat l^o-o^

Pig. 35 - Parts of bumble-bee.

Pig. 36 - IJraxT the legs of the bee like this.

Cut the paper tail like the pattern Fig. 2>?>i 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.

A bumblebee has slightly

Pig. 37 - Paste the three parts of the bee on top of the.le^s.

curved spikes extending

from his head which are

called antennae. 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 Hfelike.

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 pig. 38 - Mr. Bumble-Bee,enlarged,ready for his wings.

Pussy-Willows

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.