Indoor and Outdoor Recreations for Girls

CHAPTER XVIII

FUNNY LITTLE APPLE TOYS

drawing Fig. 361.—Bent toothpick.

SUCH a funny little porcupine! See how his pointed spears bristle out in every direction, forming a fine coat of mail (Fig. 362). If he was only alive, he could coil himself up into a prickly ball—not a ball, though, that one could handle without being hurt. This little fellows differs from the Hystrix cristata, or real porcupine, in that he did not wait until his quills grew to turn into a ball, but was a ball to begin with, for he commenced life as an apple, and an apple is one of the nicest kinds of balls, as it may be tossed back and forth and then eaten later.

drawing Fig. 362.—The apple porcupine.

If you can find an apple with a bump on one side, you may make a porcupine in less than five minutes, for all that is necessary is to stick the apple full of wooden toothpicks, and that work will be as easy as putting pins into a cushion. Let the bump on the apple form the head of the animal. Bend four toothpicks like Fig. 361 and push them up into the apple to serve as legs and feet. Make the bent toothpicks balance the apple perfectly, so that the porcupine will stand firmly on its feet without other support. Use black pins for eyes and broom straws for the whiskers. Stick them into the head of the animal as shown in Fig. 362. Begin at the extreme back of the porcupine to insert the wooden toothpicks that are to serve as quills; although they are not hollow it makes very little difference, as this wee creature cannot shake them, causing the quills to knock against each other, as does the real animal when he wants to produce a rustling sound to warn off an enemy. Continue pushing in the toothpicks until the apple resembles Fig. 362. Keep the quills inclined backward and be careful not to have them stand out too far; slant the quills as much as possible, as the length of the porcupine must appear greater than the breadth. Now, if you could endow the animal with life, you would find that he was a vegetarian; that is, he could not eat meat, and you would be obliged to feed him on fruit, roots, and certain kinds of bark. You may be glad, though, that this porcupine is only a "make-believe one," for, if he lived, he would sleep all day and want to run about and take his exercise during the night; and, more than that, you would feel very sorry for the poor little fellow, because he would be extremely lonesome so far away from his native land of India, Africa, or some part of Southern Europe. So of the two, all things considered, the apple porcupine makes a better pet for the small members of the household.

drawing Fig. 364.—Shape of eye.

drawing Fig. 365.—Apple seed in centre of eye.

drawing Fig. 366.—The nose.

drawing Fig. 367.—Sally's open mouth.

drawing Fig. 368.—Strip of paper rolled up tight.

drawing Fig. 363.—Sally Walker's head.

drawing Fig. 369.—Sally's curl.

A round, delicately pink-tinted apple is best for

(Fig. 363). With the small blade of a pocket-knife cut the eyes near the centre of the apple, placing them far apart to give an innocent expression to the face (Fig. 363). Cut the lower line of the eyes straight and the upper curved, as in Fig. 364; then push the small, pointed end of an apple-seed in the centre of each eye; run the seed in so far that only a small portion of the blunt end stands out (Fig. 365). Cut away a small, half-moon-shaped piece of the skin (Fig. 366) to indicate the nose. The mouth must be open and made the shape of Fig. 367. Cut it into the apple a trifle more than an eighth of an inch in depth. Make the curls of two narrow strips of paper rolled up tight like Fig. 368; then pulled out as in Fig. 369. Pin one curl on each side of the head (Fig. 363). Cut a round piece of white paper for Sally's collar. Make a small hole in its centre and slip the collar on the end of a stick; then push the stick well up into the lower part of the head (Fig. 363). Keep the collar in place by two pins stuck through it into the apple.

drawing Fig. 370.—The apple Indian.

drawing Fig. 371.—Indian's nose.

drawing Fig. 372.—Paper feather for apple Indian.

The Indian

is very different in coloring and expression from Sally (Fig. 370). Notice how near together his eyes are; and see how long and narrow his nose is. If you examine the face of the next red man you see, or the picture of one, you will probably find that he has two deep, decided lines from his nose to his mouth, and that the mouth itself is firm and straight. Remember these hints when making the Indian's head. Select a dark-red apple, one that is rather long and narrow, if possible, for the red man seldom has a round face. Cut two eyes of white paper and pin them on the apple with black-headed pins pierced through the centre of each eye. Make the long nose of paper (Fig. 371). Cut two slits close together on the face and slide the sides of the nose (AA, Fig. 371) into the slits (Fig. 370). Cut two more slits, one on each side of the nose, down to the corners of the mouth, and insert in each a piece of narrow white paper to form the lines; then cut one more slit for the mouth and push in a strip of white paper, which may be bent down to show a wider portion (Fig. 370). Last, but not least, come the ornamental feathers. If you can obtain natural ones so much the better; if not, make paper feathers of bright, differently colored paper. Fig. 372 shows how to cut them. Roll the bottom portion to make a stiff stem and after punching holes in the top of the apple, forming them in a row around the crown of the head, push each feather in place, having the tallest in the centre, as in Fig. 370. Run a slender stick up into the bottom of the head and you will have something better than taffy-on-a-stick.

drawing Fig. 373.—The apple Jap.

The Jap's

(Fig. 373) features are formed very differently from those of either Sally or the Indian. His eyes are shaped like narrow almonds, rather bluntly rounded at the inner corners and pointed at the outer corners. Cut the eyes like Fig. 374 of black paper and stick them on the head with white-headed pins driven through the centre of each. Let the eyes slant up at the outer corners, for that is the way real Japanese eyes grow. They never have eyes like Sally's.

drawing Fig. 374.—Apple Jap's eye.

drawing Fig. 375.—For apple Jap's hair.

drawing Fig. 376.—Apple Jap's hair.

drawing Fig. 377.—Stick frame for apple Jap.

Make the nose crescent-shaped, and pin it on with two white pins. The mouth must be much larger than the nose, though cut in similar shape. Hold the mouth in position by running a row of white pins through it into the head. The pins will also form the Jap's teeth. Cut the hair of black paper (Fig. 375); if you have no black paper, make some with ink. Fringe the hair as in Fig. 376; then fasten the circle of stiff black hair on top of the head with black pins. Use a russet apple or a yellow one for the Jap, because, you know, these people do not have red cheeks or fair skins. When the head is finished, push it down on the top of a stick across which has been fastened another shorter stick near the top (Fig. 377). Make a simple kimono-like [213]
[214]gown of paper and hang it on over the Jap's arms. If you wish, you can paste the edges or seams of the garment together (Fig. 373).

Find a firm, sound, round apple, and we can

Build a Tower

(Fig. 378). Cut the fruit into rather thick slices, select the middle slice, that being the largest, and stick four toothpicks into it (Fig. 379). Take the slice next in size and push it down tight on top of the four toothpicks (Fig. 380). Stick four more toothpicks into the second slice (Fig. 381), placing the toothpicks in the spaces on the second slice between the lower first four toothpicks (Fig. 381). On the tops of the last toothpicks fasten another slice of apple, then stick in more toothpicks and so on, always remembering to place the top toothpicks in the spaces on the apple slice left between the lower toothpicks. Build up the tower at least seven slices high and do the work carefully, keeping the toothpicks straight and even, that the apple tower may stand erect and not resemble the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa; for if your building should incline to one side, as does the Pisa tower, it would not long retain that position, but the entire structure would come tumbling down, obliging you to try building again with another apple.

drawing Fig. 379.—Foundation of apple tower.

drawing Fig. 380.—Second floor of apple tower.

drawing Fig. 381.—Ready for third floor.

A fine Dutch windmill can be made of one apple and a paper pin-wheel, and there are lots of other interesting things you may manufacture from the same fruit.

drawing Fig. 378.—Apple tower.

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