[Illustration: A TISSUE-PAPER MAT.]
We like to be able to tell you about these mats, for they cost almost
nothing at all, and are so simple that any little boy or girl can
make them. All the material needed for them is three sheets of
tissue-paper,--a light shade, a medium shade, and a dark shade, or, if
you like, they can also be made of one solid color, but are not quite
so pretty then. Cut a piece of each color nine inches square, fold it
across, and then across again, so as to form a small square, and then
fold from point to point. Lay on it a pattern, like the first diagram
on next page, and cut the tissue paper according to the lines of the
pattern. Opening the paper, you will find it a circle, with the edge
pointed in scallops. Now take a common hair-pin, bend its points over
that they may not tear the paper, slip it in turn over each point, as
shown in the diagram, and draw it down, _crinkling_ the paper into a
sort of double scallop. (The second diagram on next page will explain
this process.) Treat your three rounds in this way, lay them over each
other like a pile of plates, stick a small pin in the middle to hold
them, set a goblet upon them, and gently arrange the crinkled edges
about its base, so as to give a full ruffled effect, like the
petals of a dahlia, although less stiff and regular. These mats are
exceedingly pretty.
[Illustration: DIAGRAM FOR PAPER MAT, SHOWING MODE OF FOLDING AND
SHAPING.]
[Illustration: DIAGRAM SHOWING THE MANNER OF CRIMPING EACH SCALLOP OF
THE PAPER MAT OVER A HAIR-PIN.]