been made by fastening four barrel-hoops together so as to form a round
frame, over which was sewed white cambric. Then the ball was covered
with batting and sprinkled with diamond dust. A slit was made in one
side, and each child put in his hand and drew out some article wrapped
in tissue paper. These proved to be dolls, balls, and toys of all sorts.
Some drew out tiny boxes inside of which were slips of paper with
directions like these: "Look under the divan and you will find a
steam-engine," "Look beside the radiator and you will find a doll's
kitchen," etc.
In the dressing-room they were softly pelted with a mysterious shower of
snowballs, which they endeavored to catch. The balls were packages of
marshmallows wound loosely with white crepe paper.
CHILDREN'S CHRISTMAS TABLEAUX
Build a cave-shaped box on a raised platform, drape inside and out with
white muslin, fasten evergreen boughs about the entrance and at the
back, draping all of these with loose tufts of cotton like new-fallen
snow, and sprinkling them with mica. Sprays of red berries can be
introduced with splendid effect. White covered steps must lead up to the
cave, about the mouth of which may be spread white fur rugs. Let the
candles be fastened plentifully around the cave, but have the rest of
the room very dimly lighted. In the cave arrange the gifts, wrapped and
properly marked, being careful to have one for each person present.
Dress a pretty, golden-haired little girl as a fairy, with wings and
spangles to enter the cave and bring out the gifts, and a couple of
little boys as imps or brownies to deliver them. Low music should be
played in some concealed corner, with now and again a song or chorus by
a band of children dressed as fairies. The presentation of the tableaux
may either precede or follow the distribution of the gifts.
BOY BLUE.--A little boy in a blue suit stands on a pile of hay, side to
the audience, with a tin trumpet to his lips. Piano music, "Little Boy
Blue." If the song is sung softly, it is an addition.
BO PEEP.--A little girl in a white gown, with a shepherd's crook, in
pursuit of a woolly lamb on rollers, being drawn across the stage by an
invisible string. She stands as if she were running, with one foot out
behind her, while the lamb disappears and some one reads the rhyme:
"Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep
And can't tell where to find them;
Let them alone and they'll come home
And bring their tails behind them."
MISS MUFFET.--A little girl sits on Boy Blue's pile of hay, eating
something from a saucer. A small boy steals up behind her, with an
artificial spider on a string attached to a pole, which he slowly lowers
into her plate. Appropriate music is played, and Miss Muffet screams as
the curtain is drawn.
CINDERELLA.--A little girl, with torn calico dress and unkempt hair,
stands at the right of the stage, her hands clasped and uplifted,
smiling in wonder. Before her stands a very small boy in a smart
military suit, with a white cotton wig on his head, indicating the coach
in which she is to go to the ball. The coach may be a pumpkin hollowed
into the proper shape, and drawn by a small dog harnessed to it with
ribbons, or a go-cart, or baby carriage, drawn by a larger dog. Some one
behind the scenes plays a waltz very softly. Plenty of red fire.
LITTLE JACK HORNER.--For this a boy with a mischievous face should be
chosen. He sits on the floor in the centre of the stage, with a huge pan
covered with white paper between his feet. Some one behind the scenes
reads the nursery rhyme:
Little Jack Horner
Sat in a corner,
Eating a Christmas pie;
He put in his thumb
And pulled out a plum,
And said: "What a great boy am I!"
Little Jack Horner, of course, suits the action to the words, pulling a
prune, date or raisin out of a hole in the paper pasted over the pan. He
puts it in his mouth as the curtain is drawn.
FOLLOWING THE FLAG.--In one corner of the stage a tent is erected--a
white sheet over a centre pole. All the small boys who have military
suits, drums, trumpets and muskets, stand about, and one in the very
front holds the flag. In front of the tent, on a pile of hay, lies
another small boy, in a military suit, with his eyes closed, and behind
him stands a little girl in a big white apron, with the symbol of the
red cross on her left arm. Music behind the scenes is either "Tenting on
the Old Camp Ground," or "The Star Spangled Banner," and all the rest of
the red fire is ignited. When it dies down, the curtain is drawn, the
lights are turned up, and the pianist plays "Home, Sweet Home."
CHILDREN'S EASTER PARTY
The little guests when they arrive will be made happy by giving them
small baskets to hunt for the eggs which the mother has a few days
before blown and colored and hidden all over the house.
In a room where there is a hardwood floor have little yellow chicks
arranged as tenpins at one end and give the children each an egg and let
them roll the eggs and see how many chicks they can knock down. While
they are doing this take some of the eggs they have found, run ribbon
through them and suspend in different lengths from a chandelier.
Among these suspended "eggshells" have Easter eggs filled with good
things. You can buy the eggs, and fill some of them with candy and some
with peanuts; put tiny dolls in some and small toys in others, so that
no two eggs will be filled alike. Then blindfold one child at a time;
give him a small cane and let him make one strike and see what he can
bring down. It is a good idea to spread a sheet under the chandelier on
the floor, so that the shells can be gathered up quickly. Then announce
refreshments.
In the centre of the supper-table upon a mound of smilax place a large
rabbit on his haunches, and in his front paws an Easter egg. From this
mound to each plate run a different-colored piece of ribbon, with a card
attached. Upon the card have the child's name who sits at that place.
At one end of the table have an Easter cake with lily decorations, and
at the other end place something that looks like a large white frosted
cake, with one little downy chick in the centre, and five or six in a
row around the edge. This is not a cake but a baking-pan turned upside
down, covered with white paper and frosted white.
Have all the refreshments upon the table--thin slices of bread and
butter, sandwiches, nuts, tiny cups of chocolate, cake and ice cream.
After all have finished eating and are ready to leave the table the
little ones may be told that at the count of three they are to pull
their ribbons, first removing Bunny from his nest to avoid breaking any
dishes. Then every child will find attached to the ribbon an egg, the
color of his or her ribbon, filled with candy or a small gift of some
sort.
These eggs, a little yellow chick, and the baskets may be given to the
children to carry home.
EASTER SALAD
A delicious and most attractive salad for Easter may be made by building
a nest of narrow strips of cold boiled potatoes upon a few very crisp
lettuce leaves. Fill the nest with eggs made of cream cheese rolled in
grated yellow cheese. Serve on individual plates with a well-made
mayonnaise dressing, and plain crackers, or thin slices of brown bread
and butter.
EASTER GELATINE
Pour gelatine flavored with unfermented grape juice into egg shells and
set them upon the ice. When the jelly seems to be firm remove the
shells, and you will have as many pretty clear violet eggs as you have
had shells. Arrange them around a mould of Bavarian cream, and serve.
Gelatine flavored with chocolate, orange or cranberry juice would make
equally pretty eggs, and probably please the children better than the
violet ones.
EASTER BASKETS OF DESSERT
Little baskets of puff paste were filled with yellow "_eggs_" made from
a rich custard which had been thickened with cornstarch, cooked until
stiff and poured into egg-shaped moulds. When cold the custard "eggs"
were removed from the moulds, placed in the pastry baskets and
surrounded with whipped cream, which was dotted with white grapes cut in
half and the seeds removed. The effect was very pretty and the dessert
delighted the eyes of the guests as well as their palates.
This dessert might be utilized for any other occasion by pouring the
custard into different-shaped moulds and dotting the whipped cream with
candied cherries or fresh berries.
CHILDREN'S SOUVENIRS
Souvenirs at a children's party should be very inexpensive. Candy put up
in some pretty form is the most suitable thing that can be given. The
dainty Japanese confections that may be purchased at any large store
where Oriental goods are sold are novelties, and always please the
little people.
It is always a great pleasure to children to have something to take home
with them from a party, and very inexpensive souvenirs will give
happiness quite out of proportion to their value. Japanese trifles make
pretty gifts, little boxes, bags or baskets filled with candy. Tiny
kites are appropriate for boys, and fans for girls. Japanese dolls may
be dressed with the lower part of the skirt prolonged into a bag and
filled with candy. Only candy of the simplest kind should be used.
Candy boxes in various fanciful forms, as banjos, drums, tambourines,
watering-pots, pails, caps, helmets, fish, etc., may be purchased from
any dealer in such wares. They are also made in the shape of birds and
animals, as peacocks, canaries, turtles, alligators and elephants.
Hollow oranges and apples, fruit baskets, with realistic cherries,
grapes, etc., on top, and room for candy underneath, are very pretty. If
these are thought too expensive ornamented cornucopias to hold bonbons
may be procured at various prices, beginning at fifteen cents a dozen.
Mottoes containing paper hats and caps may be procured as cheaply as ten
cents a dozen, and a package of these, holding as many as the child is
years old, tied with the birthday color, makes a dainty souvenir. Little
cradles filled with candy and ornamented with bows are also appropriate
gifts.
A SOUVENIR PUDDING.--A common wash-tub, filled with bran or sawdust,
will make a nice pudding for a child's party by putting the souvenirs in
a layer in the bottom of the tub, then a layer of sawdust, then more
presents, and so on until the tub is filled. Have a large wooden spoon
and let each child make a dive with the spoon until he gets one
souvenir. This will please the little ones.
CHILDREN'S SWEET PEA TEA
The invitations to this tea read like this:
_Prepare yourself for a Sweet Pea Tea,
The 'bus will call for you at three._
_July 19th._
In one corner of the card a sweet pea was painted in water colors. These
cards were sent by mail. Of course, the recipients of these invitations
had no idea where the party was to be, and waited in great expectation
for the appointed day. Two 'bus men were engaged and furnished with a
list of the invited, and at three o'clock, or as nearly that hour as
possible, called for the guests, and after a short and misleading drive
arrived at last at their destination.
After being received by the hostess, the guests were given cards and
pencils and ranged around a long table in the centre of the room, on
which were strewn leaves of many kinds of plants. Five minutes were
given for guessing the plants to which the leaves belonged. At the
expiration of that time, the cards were taken (after names had been
signed), and a prize given to the best guesser.
The guests were then seated, and cards on which was the following list
of questions passed around: 1. What field flower is something to eat and
a dish we drink from? 2. What did the soldier say when he bade his
sweetheart good-bye? 3. The name of what flower is used every day in a
slang expression? 4. The name of what flower did Johnny's mother use
when she told him to rise? 5. What hotel in New York city bears the name
of a flower? 6. What flower is most popular in April? 7. The name of
what flower means comfort? 8. What is the saddest flower?
The answers are: 1. Buttercup. 2. Forget-me-not. 3. Daisy. 4.
Johnny-jump-up. 5. Aster. 6. Easter lily. 7. Heartsease. 8.
Bleeding-heart.
The prize for this was a book of flowers and verses.
A basket of sweet peas was then passed to the girls, a different color
of flower for each one. A similar basket was passed to the boys, and the
search for partners began. The boy with the yellow sweet pea became the
partner of the girl with the yellow flower. The boy with the white found
the girl with the white, etc. The table was strewn with sweet peas, a
cut-glass bowl of sweet peas graced the centre, and on each napkin was
pinned a small bunch of the flowers.
CHILDREN'S TOM THUMB ENTERTAINMENT
For a children's party try the following device: Place four chairs in
one end of the room and throw over them a large blanket or shawl to
cover them completely down to the floor. Have some one double up his
hands into fists, and on the back of the hands, with a piece of
charcoal, paint eyes, nose and mouth, and on one of them paint a
moustache. Put dolls' dresses on the arms, reaching down to the elbows.
Put hoods or caps on the hands. Let the person thus prepared crawl in
between the chairs, and resting the elbows on the floor, hold his
forearms perpendicular, so that the backs of the hands will be facing
the audience. All the rest of the person's body should be concealed, of
course, under the shawl. Call these two little people Tom Thumb and his
wife. Have some one for their manager, who should stand in front of the
chairs and tell them what to do. The manager should explain why Tom has
a dress on. He can have them perform a number of clever tricks, such as
bowing to the audience, kissing each other, pushing each other, etc.
They can answer questions in a little, fine voice, or say, "How do you
do?"
It will be found that this entertainment will please the little folks
immensely.
CHILDREN'S VALENTINE PARTY
From sheets of pink and creamy tinted paper, cut the requisite number of
hearts--two for each invitation--and form into envelopes by pasting a
pink heart and a creamy tinted one together along the edges, except at
the large end, which must be left open to hold the written invitation.
On a slightly smaller heart of thinner paper, write the following
doggerel:
"From half-past six to half-past nine,
I pray you to be guest of mine.
With Valentine, their patron Saint,
Sure all good lovers are acquaint;
So in his honor kindly spend
A pleasant evening with a friend."
Slip this in the envelope formed by the two hearts, having first glued
to the indentation at the larger end of the small heart a loop of baby
ribbon by which to pull it out. On the white side of the envelope write
the name and address; on the pink side, an older sister may draw cunning
little Cupids, or hearts transfixed with little arrows.
Cut from pink paper as many hearts as there are to be boys, but no two
of these hearts must be of the same size; cut from gilt paper the same
number of hearts, one for each girl, matching in size those cut from the
pink paper.
When the guests arrive, give each boy a pink and each girl a gilt heart.
When a boy finds the girl who holds a gilt heart matching in size his
pink one, they are partners for the evening. In this search all
formality will have worn off.
Cupid's Darts will pass a jolly half hour. Make a large heart of
several layers of pink tissue paper, and fill it loosely with bonbons;
encase this in a slightly larger heart of open-meshed bobinet; hang on
the wall on one side of the room by two loops sewed to the large, upper
part of the heart. Provide a toy bow and arrow, and let each child in
turn shoot at the heart. The arrows will remain sticking in the lace and
paper, and the one whose arrow comes nearest the centre receives the
first prize--a heart-shaped box of candy.
Also provide small heart-shaped boxes filled with candies for each child
to take home.
For refreshments, make sandwiches from heart-shaped pieces of bread cut
with a cake cutter; bake the cakes in heart-shaped tins, and have the
ices frozen in the same design.
As red and pink are the proper colors for decoration on this day, it
will be a pretty idea to have the lemonade colored pink with fruit
juice.
Pretty favors can be made from crepe tissue-paper. Flowers, bonbon
boxes, handkerchief-cases, and many another trifle, will please the
young folks, more especially if they are the work of their little
hostess's own hands.
CHINESE PARTY
Invitations should read as follows:
_Come to the Chinese Tea Party
and help eat
Rice and Rats
Prepared and Served by Chinese Girls
at ---- Church
Monday Evening, Jan. 4th._
You can stimulate interest in the heathen wonderfully by inviting them
to come, with all their bag and baggage, and pay your society a visit.
Have booths in the room representing the countries in which the church
is doing missionary work. Let the attendants be costumed like the
natives, and all the appointments of the booths suggest the life of the
countries represented. When curiosity is thus piqued, information about
these mission lands may be circulated by the help of questions on cards
to be passed around. Write the questions in black ink, and underneath,
in red ink, the answer to one of the other questions. It will require a
pretty lively interchange of cards for each one to find the answer to
his question.
The committee should try to make this evening as attractive as possible,
and if it can be arranged all the members should appear in Chinese
costume. In the centre of the church room, fit up a booth, covered with
a large Chinese umbrella, and around it place small tables on which to
serve refreshments. This can be made to look like a Chinese garden. Rice
and rats can be served as follows: Boil rice until rather stiff and turn
it into cups to cool. After ready to serve turn upside down in dishes
and serve each dish with a _candy rat_ on top. The rice should be served
with cream and sugar. Also have tea and wafers. A small fee can be
charged for refreshments to go to missionary purposes. Of course no one
but the committee should know what the "rice and rats" is to be, as it
would spoil the fun. A nice idea would be to give chopsticks as
souvenirs.
CHRISTMAS COSTUME PARTY
The invitations for a Christmas party of this sort should be enclosed in
white envelopes decorated with holly and should read as follows:
_Master ----, as "Winter,"
and Miss ----, as "Christmas,"
will be glad to receive the "Months"
on Thursday evening,
December the twenty-fourth._
In the lower left-hand corner of each, above the address, should be
indicated the character which the little guest is to represent, as, for
instance: "Please represent July." Have the little host and hostess
represent "Winter" and "Christmas."
When the children arrive let them find a throne built of dry-goods
boxes, covered with Canton flannel with the fuzzy side out, well
sprinkled with diamond dust and tufts of cotton, and above the throne a
canopy made of evergreen boughs. Dip some of the boughs first in a weak
solution of gum-arabic and then in flour, and sprinkle them with diamond
dust; hang others in alum water until crystals form over the foliage.
Dress the little host in a suit of white cambric well bespangled with
crystal beads and glass pendants. Let him wear white slippers and
stockings, and over one shoulder a white shawl covered with artificial
frost. On his head place a jaunty white beaver hat decorated with a long
white plume.
The little hostess should wear a white dress of soft, fluffy material,
trimmed with holly and mistletoe, and red stockings and slippers.
Seated upon the throne, beside one another, they should receive their
guests, who should appear in the characters indicated upon their
invitations. After all the children have been welcomed let them form in
line, with "Winter" and "Christmas" leading, and march up-stairs and
down to the music of piano and violin.
The children might then be shown some views of Bethlehem and the
Christ-Child and told or read a Christmas story. Just before going-home
time some "grown-up" person, dressed to represent Santa Claus, might
come in and deposit his pack in the dining-room and distribute some
little gifts. Then some simple refreshments should be served before the
children go home.
CHRISTMAS MENU AND TABLE DECORATIONS
Ottoman Country Roasted and Gorged. (Roast Turkey)
Red Swamp Fruit Sauce. (Cranberry Sauce)
Hibernia's Pride Crushed. (Mashed Potatoes)
Cucurbita Maxima Crushed. (Mashed Squash)
Stalks of Kalamazoo. (Celery)
Bivalves Nestled. (Escalloped Oysters)
Dough Baked. (Bread)
Cream Churned. (Butter)
Lover's Test. (Pickles)
Curd Pressed. (Cheese)
Arabian Nectar and Bossy's Best. (Coffee and Cream)
Rosy Cheeks and Bossy's Best. (Peach Sherbet)
Cherub's Diet. (Angel's Food)
Nature's Food. (Fruit)
Squirrel's Dependence. (Mixed Nuts)
Sweet Compound. (Candy)
Select for your color scheme red and green. Set the dining-table in the
centre of the room directly under the chandelier. To the latter fasten a
large bunch of holly with plenty of red berries, and make garlands of
evergreen to reach from the chandelier to the four corners of the table,
fastening each one to the tablecloth with a bow of red ribbon. Have
plenty of holly berries in the garlands of evergreen. If holly is dipped
in a strong solution of alum water and dried in the sun, it will have
the effect of being frosted. Have a red carnation with a sprig of green
laid at each plate. Red and green paper napkins should be used. Have
pretty side dishes of red and green things, such as red apples, red and
green grapes, and all kinds of red and green bonbons. The first column
of the menu as given should be printed or written and laid at each
plate, for the guests to study while the courses are being served.
CHRISTMAS UMBRELLA GAME
Take a large umbrella--an old one will do--wind the handle with bright
yellow ribbon and line the body with red percaline as near the color of
holly berries as possible. Be sure to shape the lining so that it will
not sag. Cover the outside with green percaline and finish the top with
sprigs of holly and a bow of red and green ribbon. Trim the edge of the
umbrella with a row of tiny bells and wind the ribs with crepe or tissue
paper the same color as the lining; do this the last thing so that it
will not come undone.
Select small appropriate gifts for the young guests; conceal them within
dainty wrappings and tie them with ribbon to the ribs of the umbrella.
When ready for the game let the children form a circle and choose one of
their number to stand in the centre and hold the umbrella. The children
may then dance around singing:
"Merrily 'round this Christmas ring,
Dancing gayly as we sing.
What would this umbrella bring
If we changed to hippetty-hop
And our hostess called out 'stop'?"
When singing "hippetty-hop" let the children hop around instead of
dancing, and when the hostess calls out "stop" the child with the
umbrella raises it over his head and the present which sways longest
belongs to him. He unties it, and as he does so he hands the umbrella to
another child, whose place he takes in the circle, and so on until all
the children have had a chance to hold the umbrella and receive one of
the gifts which hang from it.
After the game the umbrella may be given to the child who receives the
largest number of votes as a souvenir of the evening.
If one does not wish the trouble of trimming an umbrella as described
above, a Japanese umbrella may be purchased for a small sum, and will be
equally appropriate.
CHURCH BAZAAR SUGGESTIONS
FOR AN ORANGE GROVE.--Evergreen trees should be procured and placed
about the hall to make it resemble a grove. The oranges may be made of a
wad of cotton, inclosing a trinket, covered with orange-colored tissue
paper. Hang them on the trees and let each purchaser select the one he
wants, paying a nominal sum for it.
Other attractions may be a booth where real oranges may be bought; a
well from which orangeade is dispensed; a booth for articles of
fancy-work made in shades of orange, and one for orange-flavored cakes
and candies.
The booths should, of course, be draped in orange color, relieved by
touches of white, the attendants' costumes being of the same shade.
Orange blossoms, made of tissue paper, will add daintiness to the
decorations.
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