Little Folks' Handy Book

CHAPTER I. Paper Building Cards

PAPER BUILDING CARDS

MAKE your building cards of ordinary writing-paper. You may have as many cards as you like, though twelve are all that are used to make the things shown in our photographs.

For each card cut an oblong of paper five inches long and two and a half inches wide. This is a very good size, but you can make them a little larger or smaller. Always remember, however, to have them just twice as long as they are wide, and all of one size. When you have cut out the oblong (Fig. 1) fold it through the middle, bringing the two short edges evenly together. The dotted line in Fig. 1 shows where it is to be folded. Now open the oblong half-way and you will have the building card (Fig. 2). They are very simple and easy to make, aren't they? But wonderful and delightful things can be built with these pieces of paper. You can have a whole camp of little tents by standing the cards with the folded edge up; and to make

=A Camp Chair=

all you need do is to push two of your tents close together, then on top of their folded edges lay another card with one flat side down to form the seat and the other side up for the back.

The second illustration (Fig. 3) shows just how to do this. Use the tents again for

=The Pyramid=

in Fig. 4. Stand three tents in a row close together. On top of these make a floor by laying two cards across with one side of each card extending down at the back of the tents. Then build a second story--two tents this time, with a floor on top.

The third and top story will be one tent, which forms the peak of the pyramid. Of course you can make your pyramid very much larger by adding more tents to the first row and then building it up higher.

=The Stable=

is very cunning with its four little stalls. To build it you must stand the cards on their side edges as in Fig. 2. One side forms the back wall of the stall, the other the side wall. When you have reached the end of the row you will find the last stall lacks a side wall, but all you have to do is to slide another back wall behind the last and there you have the needed side wall. Put a roof over the stalls just as you made the floors for your pyramid, and then stand a tent on top for the cupola. Place a card at each end of the stalls, as shown in the illustration, and your stable is ready for its tiny horses.

Build

=The Garden Wall=

(Fig. 6) by standing the cards on their side edges. You can make the garden any size or shape you like, but always have the gateway just wide enough to hold the tent roof on top. See how the cards stand with edges in on either side of the opening. This will support the tent-shaped roof. Perhaps the children will want a house in the garden. You can build one if you try. Then see how many more things can be made of the paper cards, for I have not told you half of them.

CHAPTER II. Toys Made of Common Wooden Berry-Baskets

TOYS MADE OF COMMON WOODEN BERRY-BASKETS

USE a one-quart wooden berry-box for the china closet (Fig. 7). Turn the empty box facing you, and slide the prongs of a clothespin up through the open crack at the lower right hand of the box. Allow one prong of the clothespin to come on the outside and the other prong on the inside of the thin wooden side of the box; adjust the clothespin well to the front edge of the box, and it will form the right-hand front leg of the china closet. Add another leg in like manner on the same side of the box for the back leg; then slide two more clothespins up on the opposite side of the box to form the remaining two legs (Fig. 8).

The prongs of the clothespins do not reach up to the top of the inside of the box, but leave sufficient space for a shelf. Make the shelf by laying a clothespin across from side to side, supported by the prongs of the back legs, and another across, supported by the prongs of the front legs (Fig. 8). The clothespin used for the front of the shelf will probably have to be a trifle longer than that for the back, as the box is wider in front than at the back. Set some toy dishes on the top, the shelf, and the inside bottom of the china closet, as in Fig. 7.

With another quart berry-box and four more clothespins make the

=Doll's Table=

Slide the prongs of a clothespin down on either side of the box at the four corners (Fig. 9), then turn the table right side up, placing it on its feet. Set the table with toy dishes, and dinner will be ready (Fig. 10).

The table can be turned into a dressing-case by standing two clothespins on their heads at each side of the back of the top of the table, and sliding a piece of stiff paper across from clothespin to clothespin between the prongs for a mirror (Fig. 11). Of course, the addition of a fringed white paper, or cloth scarf, over the top of the dressing-case would enhance its appearance, as would also a table-cloth over the top of the dinner table, but the covers were purposely omitted in the photographs that one may see exactly how the articles were made.

Make a

=Dolly's Bassinet=

(Fig. 12) of a small oblong berry-basket with four clothespin legs slanting outward at the bottom and the prongs of the legs on each side brought together at the top (Fig. 13). On the centre of one end of the basket slide down the prongs of a fifth clothespin to form the upright for holding drapery (Fig. 13). When adjusted, fold a lady's handkerchief diagonally through the centre and hang it over the support, as in Fig. 12. The bassinet will then be ready for a folded handkerchief as bedding and a little baby doll.

A comical little berry-basket

="Bow-wow"=

(Fig. 14) can be made by using a two-quart basket for the body, the bassinet basket for a head, and clothespins for ears, tail, and legs. Fasten the legs on the body so that the front legs will slant forward and the back legs backward, that the dog may appear to be running (Fig. 15); slide a clothespin on the end of the basket for a tail; then fasten two clothespins slanting backward on the small basket for ears; set the small basket on the front end of the large one, placing it so that almost half of it projects over the large basket, and the comical little dog will be finished.

Fig. 16 shows two clothespin horses attached to a

=Berry-basket Wagon=

with clothespin wheels. The driver is a clothespin held up by a clothespin seat, and the wagon is filled with clothespin people along each side edge.

CHAPTER III. Straw and Paper Furniture

STRAW AND PAPER FURNITURE

A HANDFUL of straws, such as are used for lemonade and soda-water, several large sheets of writing-paper, and some small-sized pins--these are your materials. A pair of sharp scissors, a ruler marked off into whole, half, and quarter inches, and a lead pencil--these are your tools.

We will begin with the old-fashioned four-post bedstead with its canopy and valances (Fig. 17). It is easily put together, but you must be careful to cut the straws for the posts all exactly the same length, making them about seven inches long, and to have your measurements for the other parts quite correct, in order that the bedstead may stand perfectly upright. Select four straight straws for the posts--sound and whole. Split straws will not do.

The mattress and canopy are exactly alike; each has its valance, and they are just the same size; so directions for one will answer for both. Cut an oblong of writing-paper eight and a half inches long and six and a half inches wide. Be sure that the ends and side edges form perfect right angles; if they do not, the bed will be crooked. The edges of your sheet of writing-paper are at right angles to one another, and if you use the top edge of your paper for the top edge of your oblong, and the side edge of the paper for one side edge of your oblong, the rest will come out all right.

Now draw perfectly straight lines across your oblong from top to bottom, just one and a half inches from each edge (Fig. 18). Then from side to side draw two more straight lines; the first one and a half inches below the top edge and the other one and a half inches above the bottom edge. This gives the mattress with a border all around. In each corner of the mattress, a little more than a quarter of an inch from the end and side lines, draw a small cross as shown in Fig. 18. Be sure these crosses are placed correctly, and are exactly alike in mattress and canopy. Now cut out the four squares at the corners of the oblong, as indicated by the heavy lines in Fig. 18, and insert the point of your scissors in the centre of each little cross and snip along each line of the cross. Do not make the slashes too deep.

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