CHAPTER XV

A FLOWER FEAST

This dinner party will be great fun, especially as there need be no worry about cooking, for the sun, with the assistance of the rain and air, has attended to that part of the preparation.

We shall have to provide some sort of a dining-table. An ordinary letter-paper box about eight inches long and five inches wide will answer the purpose. Spread over the table a fresh, white table-cloth of paper, and for a centre-piece choose

=A Pineapple=

made of a cone one and one-half [Illustration: Fig. 349.] or two inches high (Fig. 345), cutting it off flat at the stem (Fig. 346) so that it will stand firmly on the table (Fig. 347). On the top of the fruit pin a small bunch of coarse grass tips tied together with thread (Figs. 348 and 349) and use the petals of a bright-colored flower, [Illustration: 200] which will lie flat when the lower portion is cut off, as an ornamental mat to place under the pineapple; a nasturtium blossom (Fig. 350) will look well.

Almost everyone is fond of

=A Fine, Fresh Fish=

for dinner, so we will select one which is sound and perfect. Carefully open a large-size milk-weed pod in the seam which you will find on the rounded side (Fig. 351) and take out the beautiful white fish composed of the seeds clinging to their downy wings, the seeds forming the fish’s scales (Fig. 352) and the down its body. Cut out a piece of white paper (Fig. 353) and with a drop of paste fasten it on the fish to form the tail (Fig. 354); also gum a small, round piece of inked paper in position for the eye; place the fish on a dish made from a long, green leaf (Fig. [Illustration: 250] 355). Hollyhock seeds, which are [Illustration: Fig. 353.] packed together in rounded forms, must furnish cheeses, the resemblance [Illustration: Fig. 355.] being very marked (Fig. 356). Two will be required and should be placed on the opposite sides of the table.

=The Rosy-cheeked Apples=

(Fig. 357) which come from the rose-bush are the seed-vessel of the flowers, and so closely do they imitate little apples, when detached from the bush they might easily be mistaken for such. Select a leaf plate, fill it with the apples and place them on the table between the pineapple and the salad. They give a bright note of color, which helps the decoration.

The

=Fruit Salad=

shall be dainty enough for a fairy queen. We will mix shredded orange from the petals of a full, fresh young dandelion blossom (Fig. 358 shows one of the petals magnified) with shredded strawberries produced from the common red-clover blossom (Fig. 359 represents an enlarged petal), and shredded cocoanut made from the ordinary white-clover petals (Fig. 360 also magnified). When these are well mixed serve them on a pretty, green leaf plate, and the dish will give another bit of mingled color with its pink, white, green, and yellow.

=The Cups and Saucers=

are furnished by the oak-tree and made of acorns. The lower part (Fig. 361) forms the saucer; the upper (Fig. 362) [Illustration: 75] the cup. Cut off the top, then remove the kernel and the cup is ready for use (Fig. 363). It is better to select a large-sized acorn for the saucer and a smaller one for the cup, in order that the [Illustration: 200] cup may have more space in the saucer and not fit too closely (Fig. 364). Miniature dippers can be fashioned of acorn cups by piercing a hole in one side near the top and pushing a slender stick through until it rests against the opposite side (Fig. 365).

Odd little baskets are also made of acorns (Fig. 366) by cutting away all of the top of the acorn except a band through its centre; this forms the handle. The acorn is [Illustration: Fig. 368.] left in its rough saucer, which gives the outer surface of the basket, the inner surface being the interior of the acorn proper. Make several cups and saucers, and the feast will be ready for others to see (Fig. 367). Of course, it is only intended to give pleasure in this way and not really to serve as food.

Rose petals make an excellent substitute for the common

=Snapping Bonbons,=

such as are usually served at parties with the refreshments. Choose [Illustration: Fig. 369.] [Illustration: Fig. 370.] the largest and best petals (Fig. 368) and gather up the edge of one all the way around, holding the folds securely; a little, bag-like object is thus formed (Fig. 369), which, when held firmly with the thumb and forefinger of one hand and struck against the out-stretched palm of the other, snaps with a loud noise. If any opening is allowed when gathering up the edges of the petal, the air will not be confined and consequently the bag will not snap, and you must try another.

Of the thorns covering the stems of the roses you can make chains by sticking the point of one thorn into the base of another and continuing in this manner until the chain is as long as you desire (Fig. 370).

The party being over we will make some

=Baskets of Green Burs.=

They are pretty and rustic and can be shaped into almost any style; each bur is provided with little hooked fingers (Fig. 371) that lock when the two burs are pressed against each other, enabling them to stick fast together—not so tight, however, that they cannot be separated when desired. Be sure the burs are young and fresh; they will then be free from all dryness and perfectly safe to work with; if too old they will be difficult to handle and apt to drop the small, thorny particles. Before commencing the work spread a newspaper out in front of you, then, placing your burs on that, take one bur and with several others form a circular row around it; another row around completes the bottom of the basket (Fig. 372). Build up the sides on the top of this last row and form the handle with a row of burs long enough to reach easily from side to side [Illustration: 500] of the basket (Fig. 373). You can experiment and make all sorts of things—vases, bowls, plates, chairs, tables, and houses—of burs, and the work is very interesting and easy.

Beside contributing to the salad, the dandelion furnishes

=A Variety of Amusement.=

You have only to hold its golden head up under your chin to learn if you are fond of butter. With one hand hold the flower (Fig. 374), with the other hand a mirror. If you see a yellow reflection cast upon your chin by the blossom underneath, you enjoy using plenty of butter on your bread. Take the grandfather dandelion with his round, white head (Fig. 375) and blow once, then again and again, three times in all; the number of downy seeds left on the head denotes the time of day. For instance, should all be blown away except three (Fig. 376), it would mean that it was three o’clock; if two are left it would say two o’clock, and so on.

Select another nice

=Old Grandfather Dandelion=

and he will tell you when you are fortunate enough to obtain a certain wish. First make a wish, then say aloud “yes” and give a single blow; next say “no” and blow again. Proceed in this way, repeating the two words alternately, giving one blow at each, until all the seeds are detached from the head. If the word “yes” comes at the last blow your wish will be granted; if “no” comes last it [Illustration: 300] will be denied. With stems of this same flower, which, you know, are hollow and much smaller at the top than at the bottom, you can make pretty green rings by pushing the smaller into the larger end of the stem (Fig. 377). To make a chain, join a number of rings together by first passing one end of the second stem through the first ring before the two ends of the second stem are fastened together, doing likewise with the third, fourth, and fifth stems (Fig. 378).

To make an odd little ornament, split the dandelion stem about two inches down lengthwise through the centre (Fig. 379) and draw one side strip through your lips several times—it is perfectly harmless—until it curls [Illustration: Fig. 379.] up (Fig. 380). Treat the other side in the same way and it will also curl (Fig. 381).

=The Morning-glory=

gives us some of the most fragile flowers of which we have knowledge; they are so delicate and fine of texture not many artists are able to render perfectly the peculiar charm of the blossom. [Illustration: Fig. 381.] Beautiful in their varied colors, they blossom until killed by frost, and growing as they do almost anywhere, even along the dusty roadside, their cheerful faces sing out a bright “Good-morning” if one is there in time to find them open. Usually they begin to close early in the day, and when they close they change into twisted elongated affairs which are eagerly sought by children bent on having a little sport. If you will gather a few of these floral cornucopiæ you can make them pop so loud they will rival the torpedo. Hold tight the opening end of the closed blossom with the thumb and forefinger of the right hand and fill it with air by gently blowing in the wee stem end; grasp this securely with the left hand; then suddenly push the two ends together, and snap! will go the flower.