NATURE STUDY WITH TISSUE-PAPER
A NATURAL flower, some tissue-paper, a pair of scissors, a spool of
thread, and nimble fingers are all you need.
There are no patterns, only circles and squares and strips of paper
which you gather here, spread out there, wrap and tie somewhere else,
and, with deft fingers, model into almost exact reproductions of the
natural flower before you.
With its unfamiliar terms to be committed to memory and the many parts
of the flower to be distinguished, botany is apt to prove dry and
tiresome to the little child, but to study nature by copying the flowers
in this marvellously adaptable material is only a beautiful game which
every child, and indeed many grown people, will delight in. The form of
the flower, its name and color, may, by this means, be indelibly stamped
upon the memory, and a good foundation laid for further study.
=The Best Models=
Ordinary garden flowers and those most easily procured make the best
models. The carnation, the morning-glory, and the rarer blossoms of the
hibiscus are well adapted to the work, also the daffodil and some of the
wonderful orchids.
Even holly, with its sharp-spiked leaves and scarlet berries, and the
white-berried, pale green mistletoe may be closely copied. All these and
many more are made on the same principle, and in so simple a manner
that even quite a little child may succeed in producing very good copies
from nature.
=Material=
Buy a sheet of light pink tissue-paper, another of darker pink, and one
of the darkest red you can find; then a sheet of light yellow-green and
one of dark green. Have a table "cleared for the action" and place your
paper on the right-hand side, adding a pair of scissors and a spool of
coarse thread, or, better still, of soft darning cotton.
With all this you are to copy the
=Carnation=
which some one has given you or you have growing in your own garden.
Make one of your light pink paper, one of the darker pink, and another
of the rich, deep red to have a variety (Fig. 225).
[Illustration: FIG. 225--Carnations modelled from tissue-paper.]
Lay your natural flower down on the left-hand side of the table, away
from your material, but within quite easy reach, for it must be
consulted frequently. Seat yourself comfortably and don't work
hurriedly.
The first thing necessary in this system of squares and circles is to
know
=How to Cut a Circle Quickly=
easily, and accurately, and always without a pattern. Here is a method
which never fails:
[Illustration: FIG. 226--Fold the square diagonally through the centre.]
[Illustration: FIG. 227--The folded square makes the triangle.]
Cut a square the size you wish to make your circle. That is, if you want
a circle with a diameter of four inches, cut a four-inch square (Fig.
226). Fold the square diagonally through the centre according to the
dotted line on Fig. 226, and you have a triangle (Fig. 227). Fold this
at the dotted line and it will make another triangle (Fig. 228). Again
fold through the middle and you have the third triangle (Fig. 229). Fold
once more and Fig. 230 is the result. Measure the distance from the
edge, B, to the centre, A, in Fig. 230, and mark the same distance on
the other side of the triangle shown by the dot, C (Fig. 231). With your
scissors cut across from C to B, curving the edge slightly, as shown by
the dotted line from C to B (Fig. 231). Fig. 232 is the circle still in
its folds. Fig. 233 is the circle opened, the dotted line indicating
where it has been folded.
[Illustration: FIG. 228--The second triangle.]
[Illustration: FIG. 229--The third triangle.]
[Illustration: FIG. 230--The fourth triangle.]
[Illustration: FIG. 231--Cut along dotted line.]
[Illustration: FIG. 232--The folded circle.]
[Illustration: FIG. 233--The circle opened.]
Your eye will soon become sufficiently accurate to enable you to gauge
the distance from A to B, and you can then cut from C to B without
measuring.
=Before Beginning Your Flower=
take up the natural one and examine it carefully. You will notice that
it has a great many petals crowded closely together, and that their
edges are pointed like a saw. You will also see that the calyx is
wrapped snugly around the lower part of the flower, and that it, too,
has a pointed edge.
Now hold the pink off at arm's length. The separateness of the petals
disappears and you see them only as a mass; the points on the edges are
not noticeable except as they give the flower a crimped appearance, and
the edge of the calyx looks almost straight. It is this appearance or
the impression of the flower that you are to produce rather than its
many and little separate parts. So now set to work.
=Cut Two Squares for Each Pink=
one measuring five and a quarter inches, the other four and
three-quarters inches, and turn them into circles (Fig. 233), by the
method just explained. Take one of the circles at the centre, where the
folding lines cross, with the tips of the fingers of your left hand, and
pinch it together; then, while still holding it, crimp the edge with the
fingers of your right hand (Fig. 234). Do this always with every kind of
flower, whether it be made of circles or squares. Without loosening your
hold of the centre, draw the paper lightly through your right hand
several times, then crimp the edge again, this time with the blade of
the scissors. Treat all the circles alike, then place a small circle
inside a larger one and draw them through your hand to bring them close
together, pinching them closely until within a little over an inch of
the edge (Fig. 235). Make a slender lighter of ordinary writing-paper
(Fig. 236), snip off the point of the flower, D, in Fig. 235, open the
other end a little, and push the lighter through until its head is
hidden. This forms the stem. Wrap and tie with thread at the bottom of
the flower (Fig. 237), and again where the petals spread. This last is
to be but temporary, as you will remove the thread when the flower is
sufficiently pressed together to hold its shape.
[Illustration: FIG. 234--Crimp the edge with your fingers.]
[Illustration: FIG. 235--Draw these through your hand to bring them
closely together.]
[Illustration: FIG. 236--Make the stem of a paper lighter.]
From your light green paper cut a circle measuring three and a quarter
inches through its diameter and cut it in two to make the half circle
for the calyx (Fig. 238). Remove the thread that holds the flower just
below its petals and wrap the calyx closely around the lower part, tying
it at the bottom; then cut a narrow strip of dark green paper and wrap
it spirally around the stem, beginning at the top (Fig. 239). Let the
wrapper extend a little below the lighter and twist the end to hold it
in place. Spread the petals of your flower as much like the natural
blossom as possible.
[Illustration: FIG. 237--Tie the flower to the stem.]
[Illustration: FIG. 238--The calyx.]
[Illustration: FIG. 239--Wrap the paper spirally around the stem.]
[Illustration: FIG. 240--The leaves.]
[Illustration: FIG. 241--Twist each end into a point.]
=Leaves=
For the leaves cut a strip of dark green paper six inches long and
three-quarters of an inch wide (Fig. 240). Find the centre by folding
the paper end to end and making the crease shown by the dotted line in
Fig. 240. Gather it along this line, not with needle and thread--we use
no needle in this work--but with your fingers, and pinch it together;
then twist each end into a point (Fig. 241). With the sharp end of your
scissors punch a hole directly through the centre, E (Fig. 241), and
push the point of the stem through the hole, bringing the leaves as far
up on the stem as you find them on the natural flower; then wrap and tie
them in place.
[Illustration: FIG. 242--Make the bud of a circle.]
[Illustration: FIG. 243--Slip the bag over the head of the lighter.]
=The Bud=
is made of a circle of dark green paper the diameter of which is three
and a quarter inches (Fig. 242). Gather this circle between your fingers
as you did the others and crimp the edge with the scissors. It will then
form a little bag or cup like Fig. 242. Slip the bag over the head of
the lighter and tie at the bottom, as in Fig. 243. If the bud does not
take the proper shape at first, model it with your fingers until it is
correct. Start the wrapping of the stem just above where the bud is tied
and finish as you did the stem of the pink. Use small leaves on the bud
stem, having the strip of paper just as wide, but considerably shorter
than for the leaves on the stem of the open flower.
It is wonderful how very natural these blossoms appear. At a short
distance no one would think they are not the real, old and familiar
pinks. Only the fragrance is missing, and that may also be supplied and
a spicy odor given by inclosing a whole clove in the heart of each
flower.
[Illustration: FIG. 244--Morning-glory modelled from tissue-paper.]
=The Morning-Glory=
From the pale pink paper you can make a delicately beautiful
morning-glory (Fig. 244). Have the natural flower with its stem and
leaves to copy from, even if the blossom is not the color you want. As
with the pink, it is the general form and appearance we strive for in
the morning-glory, not the detail.
Make your pink circles with a diameter of about seven inches. It is
always better to have your flowers a trifle larger than the natural
ones, rather than smaller.
[Illustration: FIG. 245--Flatten out the top.]
But one circle is required for each morning-glory. Crimp this in your
fingers and draw through your hand as you did the circles for the pinks;
then, pinching it together to within one and a half inches of the edge,
hold it in your left hand and flatten out the top, as in Fig. 245. See
that the fulness is evenly distributed, and pull and straighten out the
edges until you are satisfied with its appearance.
A piece of bonnet-wire makes the best stem if you wish to give the true
viny effect of the growth. If it is only the blossom you are making, a
paper lighter will answer. When you use the wire, bend one end over to
form a small loop; this is to keep the stem from slipping through the
flower. Pass the straight end of the wire through the centre of the
flower and draw it down until the loop is hidden.
[Illustration: FIG. 246--Green square for calyx.]
[Illustration: FIG. 247--Hold the square at the centre.]
Make
=The Calyx=
of a square of light green paper measuring about four and a half inches.
Fold the square four times through the centre to form the creases shown
by the dotted lines in Fig. 246. Hold the square at the centre and draw
the edges down as in Fig. 247; then bring the two edges together in
gathers, just below one of the corners, to form a leaf-shaped point,
as in Fig. 248. Gather below each corner, tie as in Fig. 249, and twist
each corner into a sharp point like F (Fig. 249). Draw the calyx through
your hand, bringing the points together (Fig. 250). Push the calyx up on
the stem and tie just at the base of the flower, then tie again about
three-quarters of an inch below and wrap the remainder of the calyx
close to the stem. Wind the stem with light green tissue-paper and bend
it as the natural one is bent and curved.
[Illustration: FIG. 248--Form a leaf-shaped point.]
[Illustration: FIG. 249--Twist each corner into a point.]
[Illustration: FIG. 250--Bring the points together.]
[Illustration: FIG. 251--Gather along one of the creases.]
Make several buds of the pink paper, following the directions given for
the green bud of the pink; then twist each bud at the point and add a
calyx.
[Illustration: FIG. 252--The morning-glory leaves.]
The wilted flower shown in the illustration is made by taking one of the
morning-glories you have just finished and actually wilting it by
drawing the flower together and creasing and pressing it to resemble the
partially closed and drooping natural blossom.
Only a piece of dark green paper six inches square is required to model
two almost perfectly shaped morning-glory leaves.
Fold the square twice diagonally across from corner to corner to find
its centre; then begin at one corner and gather along one of the creases
until you reach the centre (Fig. 251). Start again at the opposite
corner, gather along the crease to the centre, then wrap and tie (Fig.
252). Pinch each leaf from underneath along the crease in the middle, to
give the depression at the midrib. Straighten the leaf out a little at
its widest part and you will find you have a pair of leaves which are
surprisingly natural. Wrap and tie these to the stem and make as many
more as you think are needed.
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes:
Obvious punctuation errors repaired.