Читать книгу How to Amuse Yourself and Others: The American Girl's Handy Book - Adelia B. Beard - Страница 39

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It is a very pretty custom, that of sending Easter cards, altogether too pretty to be allowed to lapse into disuse, as many customs which are merely the expression of sentiment are apt to do in this busy, practical country of ours. One experiences a great deal of pleasure in selecting from the stock of beautiful cards found in the stores just before Easter those that seem suitable for one’s friends, but more pleasure will be derived from home-made Easter cards, both to the sender and recipient; for it is true that into everything we make we put a part of ourselves, and into many a home-made article is woven loving thoughts which make the gift priceless, although the materials of which it is composed may have cost little or nothing.

Several years ago the writer was visiting a friend in the country twenty miles from the nearest town where Easter cards could be purchased, but when Easter approached we sent off our cards, just the same, and I am sure our friends were as pleased with them, and more pleased, than if they had been of the most expensive kind. This is how we made them:

Pattern for the Chicken.

It was an early spring, and the woods were filled with wild-flowers, anemones and violets mostly; these we gathered, and arranging them in small bunches, stuck the stems through little slits cut in cards or pieces of heavy paper, as they are sometimes fastened in books when pressed. Underneath the bouquet we wrote the name of the person for whom it was intended, with some friendly message appropriate to the season, and signed our own names; then we carefully folded each in writing paper, taking pains not to crumple the flowers, and enclosing them in envelopes, sent them to their destination through the mail. Any kind of flowers can be used for these Easter cards, and instead of putting the stems through slits in the card, they may be tied to them with narrow ribbon. A card to be sent only a short distance should be put in a box just deep enough to leave room for the flowers, and fastened in some way to keep it from moving about; in this way it will reach its destination sweet and fresh.

To those who can paint their Easter cards we have no suggestions to offer, for they have an unlimited supply of designs at their command, and with their power of decoration, may turn almost anything into an Easter card, from a piece of satin ribbon, upon which they sketchily paint a spray of flowers, to an elaborate picture. A few suggestions are here given which our younger readers may like to carry out, as the cards we describe are easily made, and adapted to amuse the children.

“Stepping through the White House” the first card is called, and it represents a little chicken breaking through its shell. The pattern of the chicken is given in the diagrams. Fig. 7, the head and neck, is cut from yellow flannel; Figs. 8, 9, and 10, the main part and fragments of shell, are of white paper, and Fig. 11, the feet, of black paper. These are pasted to a tinted card, as shown in illustration. The eye and bill are made black with ink or paint.