SWEET-POTATO ALLIGATOR AND WHAT TO MAKE OF A RADISH
IF you have ever seen an alligator, a long-tailed sweet potato will
make you think of one immediately.
Fig. 155 is a baby alligator with a sweet-potato body and paper head
and legs. It is just the size of the little alligators they sell for
pets down in Florida. That is, the alligator from which the drawing was
made is the size of the live ones; the drawing is, of course, smaller.
[Illustration: Fig.155 - The Baby Alligator made of a Sweet Potato.]
[Illustration: Fig.156 - Find a potato shaped like this for the
alligator.]
Find a potato shaped like Fig. 156. Cut a slit in the large end and
two slits on each side where you see them in Fig. 156. When you make
the side slits push your knife in with the blade slanting upward and
backward for the front legs, and slanting downward and backward for
the back legs. This will allow the paper legs to slide in without
bending.
[Illustration: Fig.157 - Make the alligator's head like this.]
[Illustration: Fig.158 - Cut two front legs by this pattern.]
[Illustration: Fig.159 - Make the two hind legs by this pattern.]
Use brown paper, as near the color of the potato as you can get, for
the alligator's head and legs. Make the head like Fig. 157, cutting
along the heavy lines and bending along the dotted ones. Bend down the
sides of the head and of the neck, then bend the head first up, then
down, to lift it above the neck (Fig. 155.)
The eyes of a baby alligator are large and prominent. Draw them on the
head as you see them in Fig. 157. That is as near as we can come to the
real eyes.
[Illustration: Fig.160 - The Radish Imp is a decorative little fellow.]
Cut out of the same paper used for the head two fore legs like Fig.
158, and two hind legs like Fig. 159. Slide the fore legs into the
slits nearest the large end of the potato and the hind legs into the
slits near the tail. Push the point of the paper neck into the slit at
the large end of the potato. That finishes the baby alligator, which is
wonderfully true to life.
What to Make of a Radish
A crisp, fresh, clean radish is very tempting, but don't eat it this
time; turn it into something else by the magic your ten fingers can
work.
The Radish Imp
Fig. 160 shows a round white radish which, with its long, slender root
and leaves still on it, has been changed into a queer little radish imp
by using strong broom-straws to stiffen his leaf arms, his leaf legs,
and his leaf body. His eyes are bits of broom-straw, his mouth is a
slit with a broom-straw tongue, and his absurd, stand-out ears are also
pieces of stout broom-straw.
The root growing out of the top of his head is like a Chinaman's queue
standing on end with little, crinkly separate hairs at its base.
[Illustration: Fig.161 - Cut two broom-straws for the arms and two for
the legs.]
When you make your radish imp cut two broom-straws about four inches
long for his arms; point these at the ends. Cut two more strong
broom-straws a little longer than the distance between the radish and
the tips of the two longest leaves. Point these at both ends (Fig.
161). Now choose two leaves of even length, nearest the radish, for the
arms. Don't take them off but push a broom-straw through each leaf,
first in, then out, then push the other end of the straw into the thick
part of the stems just under the radish. Look at Fig. 160 and see how
this is done.
[Illustration: Fig.162 - White Mouse.]
[Illustration: Fig.163 - These belong to the mouse.]
The leaves with the longest stems must be used for the legs. If there
are more than two long-stemmed leaves, cut off all except those wanted
for the legs. Bend the long, stout broom-straws at one end, as in Fig.
161, and push the other end up through the thick part of the stems and
into the radish; then with a piece of string or strong blade of grass
tie the stems of the leaves to the straws, as shown in Fig. 160. This
forms a little belt at the waist-line. Leave a large leaf with short
stem loose at the back for a cape and run the bent ends of the long
straws in and out of the leaves intended for the feet.
Cut a curved slit in the radish for a mouth and push in a small piece
of broom-straw for a tongue, then put in bits of straw for eyes, nose,
and uplifted ears.
A White Mouse
You can make a most amusing little white mouse of a white radish; not
a round one like that used for the imp, but egg-shaped, like Fig. 162.
The long root is the tail of the mouse and the other end of the radish
is his head. Cut two paper ears like H, Fig. 163. Make two slits in the
head and slip the pointed ends of the ears into the slits.
For whiskers (all mice have whiskers) find two sprays of fine branching
broom-straws (I, Fig. 163), cut them the proper length, and push a
spray into the head on each side of the nose. Put bits of broom-straw
in for eyes and then cut four thick straws like J, Fig. 163, and push
the pointed ends slantingly in the lower part of the radish for the
feet of the mouse. His legs are not seen because he is crouching. The
drawing of the mouse shows where to put the feet.