SCRAP-BOOK AND HOME-MADE BOOK-COVERS.
THE fashion of collecting pictured advertising cards, so much in vogue
among the children a few years ago, seems to have run its course,
and dying out, it has left on the young collectors’ hands more cards
than they know well what to do with. Many of the collections have
been pasted in scrap-books, of which the children have long since
tired. While examining one of these volumes with its row after row of
cards, it occurred to me that these advertisements might be utilized
in a new way by dividing and combining them. The experiment proved a
success, and I will now try to show you how, with the aid of scissors
and mucilage, the pictures which have become so familiar may be made
to undergo changes that are indeed wonderful, and how from them may be
formed a
=Mother Goose Scrap-book.=
The nursery scrap-books made of linen or paper cambric are, perhaps,
familiar to most of our readers; but for the benefit of those who
may not yet have seen these durable little books, we will give the
following directions for making one: Cut from a piece of strong linen,
colored paper cambric, or white muslin, four squares twenty-four
inches long by twelve inches wide. Button-hole stitch the edges all
around with some bright-colored worsted, then place the squares neatly
together and stitch them directly through the centre with strong thread
(Fig. 313). Fold them over, stitch again, as in Fig. 314, and your book
is finished and ready for the pictures.
It is in the preparation of these pictures that you will find the
novelty of the plan we propose. Instead of pasting in those cards
which have become too familiar to awaken much interest, let the young
book-makers design and form their own pictures by cutting special
figures, or parts of figures, from different cards, and then pasting
them together so as to form new combinations.
[Illustration: Fig. 313.—Scrap-book Opened and Stitched through the
Centre.]
[Illustration: Fig. 314.—Scrap-book Folded and again Stitched.]
Any subject which pleases the fancy can be illustrated in this way,
and you will soon be deeply interested in the work and delighted at
the strange and striking pictorial characters that can be produced by
ingenious combinations.
Stories and little poems may be very nicely and aptly illustrated; but
the “Mother Goose Melodies” are, perhaps, the most suitable subjects
with which to interest younger children, as they will be easily
recognized by the little folk. Take, for instance, the “Three Wise Men
of Gotham,” who went to sea in a bowl. Will not Fig. 315 serve very
well as an illustration of the subject? Yet these figures are cut from
advertising cards, and no two from the same card. Fig. 316 shows the
materials, Fig. 315 the result of combining them.
[Illustration: Fig. 315.—“Three Wise Men of Gotham.”]
Again, the little man dancing so gayly (Fig. 317) is turned into
“Little Jack Horner” eating his Christmas pie (Fig. 318), by merely
cutting off his legs and substituting a dress-skirt and pair of feet
clipped from another card. The Christmas pie in his lap is from still
another card.
[Illustration: Fig. 316.—Figures cut from Advertising Cards.]
[Illustration: Fig. 317.—Figures cut from Christmas Cards.]
[Illustration: Fig. 318.—“Little Jack Horner.”]
In making pictures of this kind, figures that were originally standing
may be forced to sit; babies may be placed in arms which, on the cards
they were stolen from, held only cakes of soap, perhaps, or boxes
of blacking; heads may be ruthlessly torn from bodies to which they
belong, and as ruthlessly clapped upon strange shoulders; and you will
be surprised to see what amusing, and often excellent, illustrations
present themselves as the result of a little ingenuity in clipping and
pasting. Another kind, which we shall call the
=Transformation Scrap-Book,=
will be found exceedingly amusing on account of the various and
ever-changing pictures it presents.
Unlike any other, where the picture once pasted in must remain ever the
same, the transformation scrap-book alters one picture many times. To
work these transformations a blank book is the first article required;
one eight inches long by six and a half or seven wide is a good size.
[Illustration: Fig. 319.—Transformation Scrap-book with Pages cut.]
Cut the pages of this book across, one-third of the way down. Fig. 319
shows how this should be done. The three-cornered piece cut out near
the binding allows the pages to be turned without catching or tearing.
Leave the first page uncut; also the one in the middle of the book.
Cut from picture-cards, or old toy-books which have colored
illustrations, the odd and funny figures of men and women, boys and
girls, selecting those which will give a variety of costumes and
attitudes.
Paste a figure of a woman or girl on the first page, placing it so that
when the lower part of the next page is turned, the upper edge of it
will come across the neck of the figure where it is joined on to the
shoulders.
[Illustration: Leaves from a Transformation Scrap-book.]
Cut the heads from the rest of the pictured women, and choosing a
body as different as possible from the one just used, paste it upon
the lower part of the next page, directly under the head belonging to
the first body. Upon the upper part of the same page paste any one
of the other heads, being careful to place it so that it will fit the
body. Continue in this way, pasting the heads upon the upper, and the
bodies on the lower, part of the page, until the space allowed for the
women is filled up; then, commencing at the page left in the middle of
the book, paste upon it the figure of a man, and continue in the same
manner as with the woman, until the spaces are all used and the book is
complete.
The combinations formed in this way are very funny. Old heads with
young bodies; young heads with old bodies; then one head with a great
variety of bodies, and so on.
The first picture may represent a man, tall and thin, dressed in a
rowing costume, as shown in the illustration. Turn the lower part of
the next page, and no longer is he thin and tall, but short and stout,
the position of this body giving the expression of amazement, even to
the face. The next page turned shows him to be neither tall nor short,
thick nor thin, but a soldier, well-proportioned, who is looking over
his shoulder in the most natural manner possible.
The figures in the illustration were cut from advertising cards, and
the head belongs to none of the bodies.
A curious fact in arranging the pictures in this way is that the heads
all look as though they might really belong to any of the various
bodies given them.
Instead of having but one figure on a page, groups may be formed of
both men and women, and in the different arrangement of the figures
they can be made very ludicrous indeed.
A scrap-book for older girls, which might be termed more fitly
=An Album,=
can be made by mounting engravings, wood-cuts, photographs, and
water-colors on pieces of thin card-board all of the same size. If any
one subject be chosen, and such pictures selected as tend in some way
to illustrate that subject, the book will prove more interesting in the
making, and will be quite valuable when finished.
There will be no difficulty in mounting the pictures; simply paste
them on the card-board with good flour-paste, and press under a heavy
weight, keeping them perfectly neat and free from smears of paste on
the edges. When two or more are mounted at the same time, place clean
pieces of blotting-paper between, pile one upon another, and put the
heavy weight on top.
Such a scrap-book should be bound in a
=Home-made Book-cover,=
which is made in this way:
[Illustration: Fig. 320.—One Side of Book-cover with Holes cut near the
Edge.]
[Illustration: Fig. 321.—Book-cover Tied with Ribbons.]
[Illustration: Fig 322.—Book-cover Laced together with Silk Cord.]
Take two pieces of heavy card-board a trifle larger than the book you
wish to cover, make three holes near the edge of each (Fig. 320) and
corresponding holes in the edges of the book, which must not be too
thick—that is, contain too many leaves; pass narrow ribbons through
these holes and tie in bow-knots, as in Fig. 321. If the leaves of the
book are thin, more holes can be made in the back and the covers laced
together with silk cord (Fig. 322).
These book-covers may be beautifully decorated by anyone who can paint
in water-colors, and tinted card-board can also be used for them. They
are pretty, and suitable as covers for manuscript poems or stories, or
for a collection of autographs.
In making any kind of scrap-book it is very necessary that the paste
used should be good. If the paste is poor, the pictures will peel off
or the paste turn sour. The recipe given below we can recommend as an
excellent one for
=Flour-paste.=
Mix one-half cup of flour with enough cold water to make a very thin
batter, which must be smooth and free from lumps; put the batter on
top of the stove—not next to the fire—in a tin sauce-pan, and stir
continually until it boils; then remove from the stove, add three drops
of oil of cloves, and pour the paste into a cup or tumbler. This will
keep for a long time and will not become sour.
[Illustration]