Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 296, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 December 1915 — Page 3

Christmas Presents Any Boy Can Make

By A. NOLLY HALL

HERE are a few contrivances for the kitchen and pantry which will be appreciated by mother if made by her bandy boy. Nothing better could be selected for her Christmas gift. The tool rack shown tn Fig. 1 la most convenient when hung directly over the kitchen worktable. The length of the hook strip will be determined by the space in which it Is to hang, and by the number of forks.

spoons and other tools which it will be required to hold. The appearance of the rack will be improved by planing a bevel on the face edges of the hook strip and the end blocks, as in the illustration. Use brass screws or galvanized nails for hooks, and screw a screweye into the top edge of each end block to hang the rack by. The bottle rack in Fig. 2 will hold your mother’s bottles of extract, catchup, sauces and dressings, and eliminate the possibility of upsetting bottles when reaching for the one wanted. Narrow strips should be used for the division strips of the rack, to save apace and make the rack light in weight. Laths planed smooth on all sides will do for the side and center

strips, also for the cross strips. The ends must be about three inches wide. The swinging shelf shown in Fig. 4 is an excellent provision for the sugar and salt crocks, as it makes it possible to swing these out from between the pantry shelves, then back into place after using, without lifting them. Fig. S shows how the swinging bracket is made of a strip two inches wide and ten inches long (A), with a block two ipches wide and six inches long nailed to each side of it at one end (B), and how to the top of this bracket a cake tin is screwed or nailed

on which to set the crock. Hinge the end of the bracket strip A to one end of the shelf supports, or else set in an upright piece between two shelves to screw the hinge to. Use a me-dium-sized T hinge for this bracket In the same that the swinging shelf eliminates the lifting of the sugar crock, the platform shown in -Fig. 6 saves the lifting of the scrub pall from place to place while scrubbing, as it is provided with castors so it may be pushed about Fig. 7 allows how the castors are screwed to the platform, and how strips are nailed to forming a rim that' prevents the pay frpm sliding off. A ' Blither paint or shellac each article after assembling it, and if you have done your work carefully, mother will have something to be proud of. (Copyright. by A. Neely Halt)

(Copyright by A. Neely HaU)

IT is high time to be making Christ mas gifts. end the little articles 11lustratec* below are so simple that they can be completed in almost no time at all. They are inexpensive to make, too, requiring only bits of cardboard, and some pieces of silk and ribbon from mother's scrap-bag. The pretty heart-shaped needle-book shown in Fig. 1 has a pair of covers made of two pieces of cardboard measuring three and one-half inches each way, and four leaves of the same shape and size cut out of white or pretty colored flannel. Place the flannel hearts between the covers, and pierce two holes through both covers and leaves each side of the aenter of the top. Then pull a piece bf narrow ribbon through the holes and tie a small bow. Fasten pieces of ribbon to the lower points of the heart, both front and back, by which to tie the little case shut when not in use. Mark

“Needles” upon the front cover with ink or water colors. Fig. 2 shows a book-marker made of one and one-fourth yards of No. 7 white satin or grosgrain ribbon. Cut the ribbon into two pieces, one piece measuring 12 inches and the other 24 inches, and pull them half way through a little brass ring such as Is used in crochet work, fastening them in place with a few stitches. To complete the marker, letter the following upon the ribbons with black ink or water colors, placing one line of the stanza on each ribbon end: "Not mine to tell If the book is good; But 1 keep my place As a marker should.** The triangular-shaped book-marker shown in Fig. 3 is cut from a piece

of white writing paper seven inches square. Fold the square in half, diagonally, an. 4 cut along the folded line. Then take one-half and fold it in half again. The dotted line in Fig. 4 indicates where to fold. Punch holes through the folded piece near one open end (these holes are indicated on the unfolded piece), and with narrow ribbon lace the edges together, and tie the ribbon ends in a bow. Cut a picture from a magazine and paste it upon the front. This little marker clips over the corner of the page you want to mark. Tne pin case shown in Fig. 5 requires two pieces of cardboard each

six jn-nes long uid one and one-half inches wide. Cover each piece with pretty silk, turning over the edges of the silk and basting on the wrong side as. shown in Fig. 6. Then lay the pieces together, and sew the edges over and over as indicated in Fig. 7. Fasten a ribbon to the ends of one long side by which to hang np the case (Fig. 5). » (Copyright, by A. Feely Hall.)

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, IND.

Christmas Presents Easily Made at Home

By A. NEELY HALL

THIS little model of Santa Claus' castle, built upon the summit of a mountain, makes an attractive centerpiece for the Christmas dinner table. The first thing to build is the mountain, and for this you will need a large enough piece of cardboard to make a base about sixteen inches in diameter and “ top nine or ten inches

tn diameter (Fig. 4). Cardboard from a suit box will do. The lower portion of the castle is a square cardboard box (Fig. 5). Invert this box, and around its bottom glue a strip of cardboard having notches cut in the edge, as shown, for an embattled parapet wall. The lower tower stands upon the box base. It is made of a piece of cardboard notched along the upper edge, and bent into a cylinder with the edges lapped and glued together (Fig. 6). Make a roof out of a circular piece of cardboard with projecting tabs for turning down and gluing to the rides of the tower (Fig. 7). Make a second smaller tower and fasten It upon the lower tower (Figs. 1 and 8). To complete the castle, paint a number of long narrow windows upon the walls, and fasten a slim stick flagpole upon the upper tower. The mountain side must be covered with snow, and the best way to obtain the snow effect is by gluing cotton to the cardboard. Put the cotton on in varying thicknesses, to give the

mountain slopes a rocky appearance. And from the base form a trail up one side to the castle, by dampening and pressing down the cotton (Fig. 1) There must be trees, and excellent ones may be made by cutting long, slender wooden cones, similar to that shown in Fig. 2, driving a nail- into the base of each, and then whittling the surface with a sharp knife so as to make the shavings stand out in the form of boughs (Fig. 3). The way to prepare the boughs is to start at the apex of the cone, and whittle in the same manner that you sharpen a pencil, but very carefully so as not to split off any of the shavings. Stain the trees a dark green. Then stand them erect upon the mountain sides, sticking the nails in their ends down

through the cardboard. Pull the cotton up around their bases. Santa Claus should be shown-in his aeroplane about to alight at his castle (Fig. 1). His aeroplane may be suspended by a thread. The aeroplane (Fig. 9) consists of a strip of cardboard 7 inches long and 1 inch wide (A), with u V-shaped piece glued to both sides of its center (B, Figs. 9 and 10), a tail plane (C, Figs 9 and 11) glued to plane A. and a propeller (D, Figs. 9 and 12) pivoted by a pin run through its center into the edge of plane A (Fig. 10). Cut out the double picture of Santa Claus in Fig. 13. fold along the dotted line, and paste together the two halves with the exception of the feet which must be separate to straddle the framework of the aeroplane. Color Santa Claus’ clothes and toy pack with water-colors or crayons. (Copyright, by A. Neely HalL)

(Copyright by A. Neely Hall)

IT’S lots of fun maxing Christmas gifts, and the girl whe will give up the time to the work will be surprised to find how inexpensively she can provide something useful and pretty for everyone whom she wishes to remember. Likely some of the materials can be found at home, and a considers bie saving in the cost of the rest can bo made by getting your friends to buy with you. The football calendar tn Fig. 1 is a novel gift that brother will appreciate for his room. The football is made of cardboard. To make it symmetrical the edges must be curved alike, and the surest way of getting them so is by means of a paper pattern (Fig. 5). To make this pattern, take a piece of paper 7 by 9 inches in size, fold it along its center as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2. bring-

ing corner A over to corner B (Fig. 3), then fold it again, bringing corner A to corner C (Fig. 4). From the folded corner measure off a distance of three inches along the short folded edge, and four inches along the long folded edge. Then draw an arc of an ellipse between the points marked off (Fig. 4), cut along' the arc, unfold, and you will have the pattern shown In Fig. 5. Place the pattern. upon the cardboard, mark out around it, and cut out the piece. Color the football with brown, crayon or water-color, and shade the surface to make it look round. Buy a small calendar pad at the

stationery store and paste it to the center of the football. Then tie a bow in each end of a piece of baby ribbon long enough to form a loop for hanging up the calendar by, and sew these bows to the ends of the football. Father or mother will be pleased with a blotter-pad like that shown in Fig. 6. It is made of four pieces of blotter four inches wide and eight inches long, and a piece of cardboard of equal' size, held together at the ends with ribbon passed through holes punched near the corners and tied in bows. The Japanese pincushion in Fig. 7 consists of a little Japanese doll with a cushion tucked under each arm. seated upon a piece of heavy cardboard. Use a piece of cardboard four Inches square for the base, and cover it with bright colored silk. Sew the doll up-

on this base. Make the pincushions out of silk stuffed with cotton Fig. 8 shows a unique hatpin bolder for mother’s or sister’s dresser, made of three thread spools glued end to end, with a piece of narrow ribbon tied to the end spools to hang the holder by. 4 The necktie rack in Fig. 9 is made of a ribbon spool slipped over a stick 16 inches long, with a piece of ribbon tied to each end of the stick. The spools of the hatpin holder, and the spool and stick of the necktie rack, may be stained or gilaed. (Copyright, by A. Neely HalL)

Christinas Gift Ideas for Boys and Girls

By A. NEELY HALL

THE gifts illustrated below bare been designed along very simple lines wita the idee of providing articles that can be constructed easily with the tools almost every boy owns. The spool rack shown In Fig. 1 may be made out of a boxboard threeeighths Inch thick. The base piece should be cut about 4H inches wide and 6 Inches long, with the top edge

beveled off all around as sbpwn. Lacking a plane, the beveling can be done by rubbing the edge with sandpaper Thb two upright pieces should measure about 3 inches wide and 3 Inches high. Cut the sides and top of these on a slant as shown, being careful to get opposite edges equal. If you find it too hard to cut the edges slanted in this way you may leave them straight and possibly round off the top corners Instead. After preparing the upright pieces bore a hole through each threefourths inch below the top and large enough for a nail 4% inches long to slip through. If you haven’t a gimlet with which to bore, make the holes by driving a nail through the pieces. The nail forms a spindle for the thread spool to turn upon. Fasten the uprights at the edges of the base block with nails driven through the base into their ends. The size to make the little calendar board shown in Fig. 2 depends upon

the size of the calendar pad you can get Various sizes of calendar pads are sold in the stationery stores, and cost two or three cents apiece. When you get the calendar place it upon a piece of wood and mark out around it a design similar to that shown in Fig. 2. A piece of cigar box wood makes a very pretty board, and this wood is easily cut with a sharp knife. Fasten the calendar to the board with small tacks and screw a screw eye into the top edge of the board to hang up the calendar by. The whisk-broom holder shown in Fig. 4 is made of six easily cut strips (Fig. 3). Cigar-box wood will do nicely. Make strips A and B I*4 inches wide by 4 inches long. C three-fourths inch wide by 4% inches long, D 1% inches wide by the length of C. and E and F of the same size as C. Nail strips C, D, E and F to the edges of strips A and B, with C, E and F even with the ends of A and B, and the lower edge of D even with the lower edge of C. Allow the ends of the strips to project as shown. Screw a small screweye into the center of the top edge of strip D, by which to hang up the rack. Stain each gift with one of the modern stain finishes sold in paint stores, or, where you have used cigarbox wood, simply rub up the surfaces with boiled linseed oil (Copyright, by A. Neely Hall.)

Refusal Pleased Him.

Clerk —Can you let me oft tomorrow afternoon? My wife wants me to go Christmas shopping with her. Employer—Certainly not We are much too busy. Clerk—Thank you very much, sir. You are very kind!

(Copyright by A. Ne«ly H»ll)

THE shops are full of preUy cre-tonne-covered articles for a girl s room, and so simple are most of these to make that any girl who works carefully can easily duplicate them for acceptable Christmas gifts for her young friends. First of all, there is a sowing box. The proportions may be whatever you wish. If you don't find a box of the right size at home you can probably get it at the grocery store. The sewing box in Fig. 1 has legs made of strips 2 inches wide. 1 inch thick, and from 14 to 20 laches long, according to the height that you want to have the box. Fourteen or 15 inches is right if you wish to use the box as a bench to sit on. The cover of the sewing box should be wide enough and long enough to project % of an inch over the sides

all around. Therefore you must use the cover boards from a larger box. Nail a pair of wooden strips across them to hold them together (Fig. 3). These strips can be placed upon the under side of the boards in such a position that they will keep the cover from slipping from side to side, and from end to end. when it is placed upon the sewing box. By making the cover to lift off, you will save yourself the trouble of putting on hinges. Perhaps you can buy a large enough remnant in cretonne for your sewing box. The care with which you put on this covering material will determine whether or not the box will be a success. As a grocery box is more or less rough, and its boards are uneven, it is best to cover the wood with some other cloth, first, for a foundation for the cretonne. Stretch the cretonne over each surface neatly, and use gimp

tacks for fastening it Line the inside of the box with plain-colored cambric. Fig. 4 suggests how the inside may be divided off with cloth partitions. In the sewing box illustrated In Fig. 5 we have something of more elaborate form, though it is no more difficult to make. Fig. 6 shows how the frame is built of two upright strips nailed to one side of the box, and two crosspieces nailed to the uprights. The frame need not be higher than a chair back. Fig. 7 shows the box cover boards fastened together with crosspieces. Put on the cretonne covering in the same way as directed for the other

box. Fig. 6 shows how the frame ia covered, with a solid piece tacked over the back, and its edges brought around over the front of the framework strips. Make pockets out of extra pieces of. cretonne, to hold unfinished work, patterns, and notions; and form a heading in the pocket edges through which to run elastic. .Copyright, by A. Nwly HalU