MISS HOLLYHOCK'S GARDEN-PARTY
[Illustration: Fig.101 - Miss Hollyhock gives a garden party.]
WHEN Miss Hollyhock gives a garden-party the scene is a gay one.
All the ladies, and you can have as many as you want, are in their
freshest, crispest summer gowns. There are dainty pink ones, white,
rose-colored, and deep red; there are light yellow and orange; there
are gowns almost brown and others almost black, but whatever the color
of the skirt the waist is always green. Green waists are the style
where Miss Hollyhock lives, and she and all her friends follow the
style very closely.
[Illustration: Fig.102 - Cut the Pistil out of the flowers.]
The hats these little ladies wear to the party are of the same silky
material as their skirts and are usually of the same color, though
sometimes a lady in white will appear in a pink or yellow hat, or a
pink lady can be seen wearing a white hat, and the lady in rose knows
how well she looks in a hat that is almost black. When there are two
or more gowns of the same color the hollyhock ladies prefer to have
different colored hats so that they will not all look alike.
Fig. 101 shows how Miss Hollyhock and her friends are made from the
flowers of that name. When you have gathered the flowers you must cut
off the stem of each close to the green calyx which is Miss Hollyhock's
waist, and then cut out the pistil which grows inside the blossom. This
pistil is shaped something like a little club, and is covered with the
yellow grains of pollen (ask some one what pollen is). It looks like
Fig. 102. The pollen will make the flower wilt quickly. That is why it
is best to take the pistil out.
[Illustration: Fig.103 - This is the way to make Miss Hollyhock.]
Now select a nice, round, hard, green bud for a head and leave its stem
on for the neck. Turn the sharp point of your scissors around in the
top of the hollyhock calyx to make a little round hole, then push the
stem of the bud into the hole, screwing it round and round until the
bud almost, but not quite, touches the calyx. If you push it all the
way down your lady will have no neck; her head will grow directly out
of her shoulders.
[Illustration: Fig.104 - Miss Hollyhock's Tea Table.]
[Illustration: Fig.105 - Teapot and cups for the Hollyhock tea table.]
Wooden toothpicks are used for legs, arms, and support, but strong
broom-straws will answer as well, or straight, slender twigs. Push
three toothpicks, twigs, or broom-straws up into the centre of the
flower, two in front and one at the back as you see them in Fig. 103.
The dotted lines show where they go inside the blossom. Be sure to have
all three the same length so that the little lady will stand firmly.
The arrows on Fig. 103 show where to insert the arms. Cut sharp points
on the broom-straws to make them slide in easily. Blunt ends will tear
the flower.
With pen and ink make the eyes, nose, and mouth on the head, and use
a petal of another hollyhock for a hat. Pin the hat to the top of the
lady's head with a pin or short broom-straw.
A garden-party would not be complete without
A Tea-Table
Make the tea-table of the hollyhock's round cake of unripe seeds which
most children call a cheese. This is covered with a green case which
is easily taken off and then you have a round, white disk like a
little table-top turned up at the edge. Select the largest one you can
find and push the ends of three toothpicks or broom-straws into the
under-side for the table legs (Fig. 104). Now the tea-table must have a
Teapot and Cups
Find a green bud for a teapot shaped like Z (Fig. 105). Push two short
straws into the bud in the places shown by the arrows in Z (Fig. 105),
one for the spout and one for the handle. Cut the tops off smaller buds
to make them into teacups (A and B, Fig. 105). A drop of paste at the
bottom of the teapot and the cups will keep them in place on the table.