CHAPTER VII

VEGETABLE ANIMALS AND FRUIT LANTERNS

Do you know that with the aid of a little enchantment equal to magic employed by the fairy folks of old, you can make a tiny fowl, one small enough to stand on the palm of your hand? A certain process which you shall learn will cause a common raw potato to change into a wee turkey of which anyone might well be proud.

The wands you will use for the work differ in nature and appearance and are far superior to the fairy wands; the latter are merely stiff sticks said to be endowed with magical powers, while yours are of most wonderful workmanship and adapted to any use to which you care to put them. More than that, you have complete control over the wands; at your command they do your bidding, making all kinds of useful and beautiful things, from the most delicate and fragile articles to the largest and heaviest creations. One of your wands is known as the right, the other as the left hand. Look at these pliable and exquisitely fashioned wands, think of all they have accomplished and may do for you, then set them both to work on your

=Potato Turkey=

Select a small potato (Fig. 192)[Illustration: Fig. 192.], break off the ends of three burnt matches and force the longer portions into the potato, two to serve as legs, and one as a support (Fig. 193 [Illustration: Fig. 193.]). Trace Fig. 194 [Illustration: Fig. 194.] on stiff brown pasteboard, an old box-lid will be the best thing to use, its surface being dull and almost the same in color as the potato. Cut out the tracing and mark eyes, mouth, and tuft on it with ink (Fig. 195 [Illustration: Fig. 195.]). If you wish to have your turkey look extra fine, make wattles of red paper or cloth (Fig. 196 [Illustration: Fig. 196.]); fold as in Fig. 197 [Illustration: Fig. 197.], and paste the band-like upper portion over each side of the turkey’s neck, allowing the lower flaps to hang free (Fig. 198 [Illustration: Fig. 198.]). Cut a slit in the potato (Fig. 192, A-A) and insert the head, pushing in the extension as far as the dotted line, or until it fits (Fig. 199). Make a small opening on each side of the turkey (Fig. 199, C) and stick in two curved feathers for wings. If you have only stiff feathers, choose two small ones, and with your forefinger and thumb bend the ribs (Fig. 200) until they are rounded enough to cling to the sides of the turkey. Use stiff feathers for the tail, first making holes in the turkey in which to insert them (Fig. 199). Push the feathers in securely, and should they stand up unevenly at varying heights, trim them carefully with scissors and the turkey will be finished (Fig. 201).

In the South a young pig, called

=A Shoat,=

is considered as desirable as a turkey and is eaten with much relish. Of course, each person is served with only a portion [Illustration: Fig. 202.] and cannot have a whole one, as is your privilege; for your shoat, like the turkey, will be very small, no larger than a lemon, and of the same color-in fact, it is a lemon to begin with (Fig. 202). Four sticks furnish the legs (Fig. 203). The ears are [Illustration: Fig. 203.] formed by cutting the skin in the shape of a V on each side of the pointed end of the lemon (Fig. 204, B) and bending up the points (Fig. 205). A slender stick bent at short intervals (Fig. 206) until it simulates a twist or curl is used for a tail (Fig. 207).

In cutting the ears be cautious not to pierce entirely through the skin; allow the point of the knife to enter only deep enough into the rind to cut a piece of sufficient thickness to turn up without [Illustration: Fig. 206.] [Illustration: Fig. 207.] breaking, and have the slender sticks used for legs and tail sharpened at one end so they may readily be pushed into the lemon. Ordinary wooden toothpicks will answer the purpose, but they must first be broken into shorter lengths for the legs. The eyes are two black-headed pins.

=Turtle Soup=

is thought a great delicacy by some families, who deem a holiday dinner incomplete without the dish. While we do not care for the soup, we would like a small turtle, one that will not snap at us but be content to remain quiet and look natural.

Ask for a large raisin (Fig. 208) and six cloves, five without and one with the round seed; work in the four cloves with claw-like ends to serve as feet (Fig. 209). Use the reverse end of a clove for the tail (Fig. 210) and the round seed clove for a head (Fig. 211). Bend the head and tail up and the feet down (Fig. 212). Beautiful golden pumpkins hold a prominent place in the minds of Americans. Beside the delicious pies made of the yellow fruit, there are the

=Funny Lanterns=

fashioned by cutting a semblance of a face in the pumpkin, shaking out the inside fibre and seeds, and, in the evening, placing a lighted candle in the queer head, causing the light to shine through eyes, nose, and mouth in a manner startling to those unaccustomed to the sight.

The real pumpkin is large and heavy to handle, but you can have

=A Substitute=

in the form of an apple. Choose one that is deep red in color, in order to have the greatest possible contrast between the features and the head proper. It will not be [Illustration: Fig. 216.] [Illustration: Fig. 217.] necessary nor desirable to light up the face, the apple head is comical enough with the face merely cut in its surface and the work is very easy. Cut out from the apple (Fig. 213) two triangles near the top for eyes (Fig. 214); directly below the eyes but in the central part cut the triangular nose (Fig. 215); under the nose make the mouth in the shape of a slender crescent (Fig. 216), and tie a ribbon on the stem as an ornamental headdress (Fig. 217). There! you have fairly made the apple laugh. Only see how it is stretching its mouth in a broad grin!