SEED-VESSEL PLAYTHINGS
WHEN the flowers have gone then come the seed-vessels, equally as good
for playthings but very different.
Of course, you know the rose-haws, the little red and yellow and green
apples that you find on the rose-bushes in the fall. They are the
seed-vessels of the rose, and every rose which is allowed to remain on
the bush until it fades and falls apart leaves a seed-vessel to take
its place.
[Illustration: Fig.110 - Rose-haw apples for your doll's table.]
[Illustration: Fig.112 - The bronze-green Rose-haw.]
[Illustration: Fig.111: - This necklace is made of Rose-haws and
Plantain Lily seed pods.]
The Doll's Fruit Piece
The rose-haws look very much like little apples. Rosy-cheeked Baldwins,
yellow harvest-apples, and greenings, and they will make a fine
fruit-piece for the centre of your doll's table. Pile them up on one
of the toy dishes and put the smallest of green rose-leaves around the
edge (Fig. 110).
Rose-Haw Necklace
But the rose-haws can be used for something besides toy apples; you can
pretend they are jewels and string them for a real necklace.
One necklace can be entirely of the haws and another like Fig. 111,
which is made of bronze-green haws (Fig. 112), and the long, green
seed-pods of the plantain (Fig. 113). The blossoms of the plantain
are pale purple or lavender, and hang from the stalk as the seed-pods
do. They are bell-shaped and about an inch long. The leaf is like a
lily-leaf.
[Illustration: Fig.113 - The long, green seed pods of the Plantain
Lily.]
[Illustration: Fig.114 - The seed pod earring.]
As you see, the haws and seed-pods are strung alternately; first a
haw, then a seed-pod, again a haw and so on. Thread your needle with
strong thread and be sure the thread is long enough for the necklace.
Measure it around your neck, letting it droop as much as you wish; then
allow several inches at each end for tying. If you cannot find the
large, brownish-green haws use yellow or red ones, but the green haws,
when strung with the green seed-pods, are more beautiful.
[Illustration: Fig.115 - This necklace is made of Barberries and
Plantain Lily Stalk.]
[Illustration: Fig.116 - A branch of the Barberry Bush.]
Seed-Pod Earrings
To match the necklace, make long, green earrings of the plantain
seed-pods. Fig. 114 shows a seed-pod earring. You see it is strung on
a thread and the ends of the thread are then tied to form a loop. The
loop must be just large enough to fit comfortably over your ear, and
when you wear the earring, the green jewel will hang down and dangle
delightfully. The upper end of the seed-pod should almost touch your
ear.
[Illustration: Fig.117 - Make the earring in this way.]
Necklace of Barberries and Plantain-Stalk
Plantain is very useful in making jewelry because you can use the stalk
as well as the seed-pods.
Fig. 115 is a necklace made of the plantain-stalk cut in short pieces,
all the same length, and the coral-red berries of the barberry-bush.
The crooked branches of the barberry-bush grow very close together and
are covered with thorns which stand out straight and sharp like pins.
That is why it is so often used for hedges; nothing can get through it
without being terribly scratched. From the branches the red berries
hang down like coral drops. Fig. 116 shows the way they grow. To make
this necklace, string first a piece of the plantain-stalk, pushing the
needle through lengthwise, then string a barberry and again a piece of
the green stalk; after that a barberry. Keep on in this way until the
necklace is as long as you want it.
[Illustration: Fig.118 - Maple seed vessel used as bird wings.]
The berries are exceedingly pretty strung as you see them, hanging down
in their natural way, and really, you cannot string them any other way.
The upper part of the berry is the only part through which you can
pass your needle because of the large, hard seed which fills the space
below.
Plantain-Stalk and Barberry Earrings
How to make the earrings to complete this set of jewelry is shown
in Fig. 117. First you string a piece of the plantain-stalk, then a
barberry; then you put your needle back through the stalk and tie the
thread at the top. After that you make the loop to put over your ear as
you did in making the seed-pod earring.
Birds of Maple-Tree Seed-Vessels
You see it is not only the seed-vessels of flowers that can be turned
into playthings. The trees also furnish abundant material for toys.
[Illustration: Fig.119 - Maple seed vessel bird.]
Gather the winged seed-vessels that fall from the maple-trees, Fig.
118 is a maple seed-vessel, and let us sit on the dry, sun-warmed
grass and turn them into odd little birds like Fig. 119. These birds
are very near the size of our ruby-throated humming-birds, a trifle
larger perhaps, but they do not in the least resemble the beautiful,
jewel-colored, long-beaked wild bird, either in looks or habits.
However, they are nice, tame, quiet little birds and never object
to being handled, played with, and placed on any bush or low tree
where you may happen to want to put them. You cannot say that of the
humming-bird, can you?
You will need two seed-vessels for each bird. Divide one through the
centre, separating the two wings, and use one of these wings for the
body of the bird, as you see in the diagram Fig. 120. Clip off the two
corners of the square end where the arrows point to shape it like a
bird's head, then carefully bend up the seed-vessel pair of wings, and
fit the body down in between them, resting it on the centre part that
holds the wings together. One or two stitches with needle and thread,
passed through wings and body, will keep them close and secure.
[Illustration: Fig.120 - Bird's body.]
When your bird is finished (Fig. 119), thread a needle with black
thread, tie a good-sized knot in the end of the thread, and push the
needle from underneath up through the back of the bird where it will
come out between the wings. Draw the knot up close to the body and tie
the other end of the thread to a low branch of a tree. When you stand
off a little distance you cannot see the thread and your bird will seem
to be hovering in mid-air. A gentle breeze will stir the bird and make
it look as if flying. If there is no breeze, you can blow on it, or fan
it until the little thing flutters about almost as if alive.
Be careful to string the thread through the bird at a place that will
make it evenly balanced.