Scrap-books

Mother Goose Scrap-Book

The nursery scrap-books made of linen or colored cambric are, perhaps, familiar to most of our readers; but for the benefit of those who may not yet have seen these durable little books, we will give the following directions for making one:

Cut from a piece of strong linen, colored cambric, or white muslin, four oblongs twenty-four inches long by twelve inches wide. Buttonhole-stitch the edges all around with some bright-colored worsted, then place the oblongs neatly together and stitch them directly through the centre with strong thread . Fold them over, stitch again, as in , and your book is finished and ready for the pictures.

It is in the preparation of these pictures that you will find the novelty of the plan I propose. Instead of pasting in cards and pictures which have become too familiar to awaken interest, let the young book-makers design and form their own pictures by cutting special figures, or parts of figures, from different cards, and then pasting them together so as to form new combinations.

Any subject which pleases the fancy can be illustrated in this way, and the children will soon be deeply interested in the work and delighted at the strange and striking pictorial characters that can be produced by ingenious combinations.

Stories and little poems may be very nicely and aptly illustrated; but the "Mother Goose Melodies" are, perhaps, the most suitable subjects with which to interest younger children, as they will be easily recognized by the little folk.

Take, for instance, the "Three Wise Men of Gotham," who went to sea in a bowl. Will not serve very well as an illustration of the subject? Yet these figures are cut from advertising cards, and no two from the same card. shows the materials; shows the result of combining them.

Again, the little man dancing so gaily is turned into "Little Jack Horner" eating his Christmas pie , by merely cutting off his legs and substituting a dress skirt and pair of feet clipped from another card. The Christmas pie in his lap is from still another card.

In making pictures of this kind, figures that were originally standing may be forced to sit; babies may be placed in arms which, on the cards they were stolen from, held only cakes of soap, perhaps, or boxes of blacking; heads may be ruthlessly torn from bodies to which they belong, and as ruthlessly clapped upon strange shoulders; and you will be surprised to see what amusing, and often excellent, illustrations present themselves as the result of a little ingenuity in clipping and pasting.

Another kind, which we shall call the

Transformation Scrap-Book

Unlike any other, where the picture once pasted in must remain ever the same, the transformation scrap-book alters one picture many times. To work these transformations, a blank book is the first article required; one eight inches long by six and a half or seven wide is a good size.

Cut the pages of this book across, one-third the way down. shows how this should be done. The three-cornered piece cut out near the binding allows the pages to be turned without catching or tearing. Leave the first page uncut; also the one in the middle of the book.

Cut from picture-cards, or old toy-books which have colored illustrations, the odd and funny figures of men and women, boys and girls, selecting those which will give variety of costumes and attitudes.

Paste the figure of a woman or a girl on the first page, placing it so that when the lower part of the next page is turned the upper edge of it will come across the neck of the figure where it is joined on to the shoulders.

Cut the heads from the rest of the pictured women, turn the lower part of the next page and, choosing a body as different as possible from the one just used, paste it upon the lower part of the second page, directly under the head belonging to the first body. Upon the upper part of the second page paste any one of the other heads, being careful to place it so that it will fit the body. Continue in this way, pasting the heads upon the upper, and the bodies on the lower, part of the page, until the space allowed for the women is filled up; then, commencing at the page left in the middle of the book, paste upon it the figure of a man, and continue in the same manner as with the women, until the spaces are all used and the book is complete.

The combinations formed in this way are very funny. Old heads with young bodies; young heads with old bodies; then one head with a great variety of bodies, and so on.

The first picture may represent a man, tall, thin, dressed in a rowing costume, as shown in the illustration. Turn the lower part of the next page, and no longer is he thin and tall, but short and stout, the position of this body giving the expression of amazement, even to the face. The next page turned shows him to be neither tall nor short, thick nor thin, but a soldier, well-proportioned, who is looking over his shoulder in the most natural manner possible .

The figures in were cut from advertising cards, and the head belongs to none of the bodies.

A curious fact in arranging the pictures in this way is that the heads all look as though they might really belong to any of the various bodies given them.

Instead of having but one figure on a page, groups may be formed of both men and women, and in the different arrangement of the figures they can be made very ludicrous indeed.

Flour Paste

Mix one-half cup of flour with enough cold water to make a very thin batter, which must be smooth and free from lumps; put the batter on top of the stove—not next to the fire—in a tin saucepan, and stir continually until it boils; then remove from the stove, add three drops of oil of cloves, and pour the paste into a cup or tumbler. This will keep for a long time and will not become sour.

---