The American Girl's Home Book of Work And Play
...as yet, though boys are provided for, girls have no book that will be a trustworthy guide, either in work or play; and it is hoped that the present one will fill that "long unoccupied niche" which many authors have felt it their mission to redeem from emptiness, and become the trusted friend and adviser of all the girls who are uncertain what is best in either work or play. All directions have been made as plain and explicit as possible; and the writer believes that every fact and figure may be trusted as the real result of real work, and that, while the Louisiana girl may have to plan a slightly different course from her Massachusetts sister, the same results are probable for both.
| Title | The American Girl's Home Book of Work And Play |
| Author | Helen Campbell |
| Publisher | G. P. Putnam's Sons |
| Year | 1890 |
| Copyright | 1883, G. P. Putnam's Sons |
| Amazon | The American girl's home book of work and play |
By Helen Campbell
Author Of "Under Green Apple-Boughs," "The Problem Of The Poor," "Patty Pearson's Boy," "The Ainslee Series," Etc.
New Edition, Revised And Enlarged Illustrated
G. P. Putnam's Sons
New York And London
The knickerbocker Press
Preface- Long ago, when the writer was young, she owned a little book, consulted with never-flagging enthusiasm, and written by a woman who did the first intelligent and sympathetic work for children ever acco...
- Preface To Revised Edition
- Five years have passed since the first edition of the American Girls' Home Book of Work and Play was prepared; and though there are many points in which it might be bettered, it has proved the safe ...
- Part First. Indoor Plays. Chapter I. Rainy-Day Amusements And Home-Made Toys For Younger. Children
- To begin with, some room where work or play can go on without interfering with the elder people ought to be set aside in every family. No matter how small, such a room--with long, low shelves on one s...
- Coloring Pictures
- It is always easier to color a picture before it has been cut from the paper. Let it lie smoothly before you on the table. Have every thing ready beforehand, with the cup of water for wetting the brus...
- Making Scrap-Books
- These are of two sorts. Where they are to be turned over and over by little fingers, it is well to have the leaves made of strong, thick cotton cloth; and after they are filled a bright cover can be m...
- A Picture-Puzzle
- Take a picture which has a good many figures in it, and color it, or leave it plain (though coloring will be best); or a small bright chromo can be used. Paste it carefully on a piece of stiff pastebo...
- Paper Dolls And Furniture
- These are sold in every toy-store; the dresses and furniture being printed on thick paper, which will bear a good deal of handling, ready for cutting out. In the country, where it may not be easy to b...
- Paper Fly-Boxes
- Cut a piece of stiff paper six inches square. Fold paper from A D, then from B C, making creases. Place points A, B, D, C, successively, to centre O, making creases da, etc. Fold points A, B, D, and C...
- Paper Caps Or Cocked Hats
- For a small cocked hat, take a piece of firm paper seven inches by five, and fold as in diagram. Fig. 13. - Hat before folding. I. Fold along the line A B, doubling the paper. II. Fold along the...
- Paper Boats
- To make a paper boat, make first the cocked hat, and then continue folding according to following directions : I. The lines C D, C E, D E, and O P, having been folded, fold along the line C F, and ope...
- Pricking Pictures
- Where kindergarten materials are kept in bookstores, cards on which outlines of animals, flowers, or geometrical patterns, are drawn, are used for the pricking; and needles for the purpose come with t...
- Soap-Bubbles
- The coarser the soap, the brighter and bigger the bubble will be. A set of common clay pipes can have place on one of the shelves, long ones giving better bubbles than those with short handles. Dissol...
- Keeping Store
- In the large toy-stores, tin stores, fitted up with counter, scales, and boxes, are sold; but quite as good ones can be made at home. An older brother who can use tools, or a carpenter, must be called...
- Home Newspapers
- Those who doubt if there can be any fun in this are referred to Little Women, and the newspaper edited and owned by Jo and Beth and the rest. If the boys, or girls either, own a home printing-press,...
- Home Post-Offices
- I wonder if any child takes the delight in these that I shared in my own childhood with the cronies who spent long Saturday afternoons writing the letters. Sometimes I was Robinson Crusoe, and the let...
- Chapter II. A Children's Party And The Games They Played
- It was a sensible party ; and that, you see, made it at once different from all every-day parties. The children did not come from eight in the evening to midnight, dressed in silk and lace, and jewelr...
- Stage-Coach
- This is sometimes called The Family Coach. The players sit as nearly in a row as possible, and each one receives the name of something connected with the coach, as in the form given, in which a stor...
- Buff
- This, like many of the games is only a way of collecting forfeits. One of the players comes forward with a poker, and knocks on the floor three times. Whence come you ? one of the company asks. ...
- Magic Music
- In this game one child is sent out of the room, and any one who can play the piano tolerably takes a place there. A pair of gloves, or any small object, must be hidden, and the banished one called in;...
- How Do You Like It? When Do You Like It? And Where Do You Like It?
- Then came an old-fashioned guessing game : How Do You Like It? When Do You Like It? AND Where Do You Like It ? In this, one of the company is sent out, and the rest choose some article or object wi...
- Hunt-The-Slipper
- All the players but one are placed in a circle: that one remains inside to hunt the slipper, which is passed from hand to hand very rapidly in the circle. The hunter cannot judge where it is, because ...
- Thus Says The Grand Mufti
- This is a favorite game among children. One stands up in a chair, who is called the Grand Mufti. He makes whatever motion he pleases; such as putting his hand on his heart, stretching out his arm, smi...
- The Emperor Of Morocco
- In this game two of the players must walk solemnly toward one another, bow ceremoniously without a smile, and look steadily at one another while they repeat the following dialogue: First Player. Th...
- The German Dwarf
- For this entertainment two people are needed, and there must be a loose and very gorgeous jacket with large sleeves. This may be made from turkey-red covered with gilt spangles, or from some bright ch...
- The Kentucky Giant And The Kentucky Giant's Wife
- For this two very long cloaks must be made of black cambric. Two tall boys are necessary to play the giant's part, as in the cut given, where one is perched on the shoulders of the other, and wears a ...
- The Elephant
- For this, two boys are needed, who must stand as shown in the cut, one boy representing the hind, and the other the fore legs. A thick quilt or comfortable must be doubled three or four times, and lai...
- Chapter III. Fifty Forfeits
- When a sufficient number of forfeits, or pawns, have been collected during the play, it is time to sell them. For this purpose, one of the girls is seated on a chair in the middle of the room, and bli...
- Fifty Forfeits. Continued
- Twenty-sixth. Kiss yourself in the looking-glass. Twenty-seventh. Guess a riddle or conundrum. Twenty-eighth. Spell new door in one word. This is done by writing on a slate or piece of paper o...
- Chapter IV. Some Games They Might Have Played
- Blind Man's Buff is an old favorite, so well known as to need no description, but, unless a large and almost unfurnished room can be had, is too noisy for a large party. Almost as much amusement may b...
- Shadow Buff, Or Portraits A La Silhouette
- Buff, or, as she is more elegantly called by the French, Colin Maillard, has not her eyes bandaged : on the contrary, she has need of all her penetration. A sheet is hung from the ceiling, as though...
- The Reader
- This is a most laughable game, and, though very simple, rarely fails to excite great mirth. One of the party assumes the post of reader ; whilst her companions each choose a trade or profession, be...
- The Elements
- A handkerchief is rolled up into the shape of a round ball. The little girls sit in a circle. She that is to begin the play takes the ball, and throws it to one of her companions, calling out either ...
- The Secret Word
- One of the company leaves the room, and the others fix on a word; such as like, care, sight, leave, hear, etc., which is to be introduced into all their answers to the questions she must put...
- Many Words In One. Many Words In One
- One of the company having left the room, the others fix on a word for her to guess. The word may be cake. She is called in, and stops before the first one in the row, who says, Cap. She goes to th...
- The Watchword
- One of the company must leave the room, while another touches some article in her absence, which she must endeavor to guess on her return. Before her departure, the mistress of the play takes her asid...
- The Merchants
- Each of the company, in turn, calls herself a merchant, and mentions an article that she has for sale. The one next to her must say whether that article is animal, vegetable, or mineral. If she makes ...
- Consequences
- This is best played by three persons, though four or two may engage in it. First prepare some white pasteboard or some blank cards by cutting them into small slips, all of one size. There should at le...
- How To Guess Any Number Thought Of
- Desire one of the company to think of any number she chooses, provided it be even. Tell her to triple it, halve the product, triple this half, and then tell you how many times nine will go into it. Mu...
- Here I Bake, And Here I Brew
- A circle of little girls hold each other firmly by the hand. One in the centre touches one pair of hands, saying,Here I bake ;another, saying,Here I brew;another, saying,Here I make my wedding-ca...
- You Are Nothing But A Goose
- This play consists in telling a story, and at the same time making marks to illustrate what you are telling. For instance,An old man and his wife lived in a little round cabin. I will sketch it for y...
- The Puzzle Wall
- Suppose there were a pond, round which four poor men built their houses, thus : Suppose four wicked rich men afterwards built houses around the poor people, thus : and wished to have all...
- Rondos And Music
- French children are especially fond of these graceful games, and several are given here. The songs, of course, require memorizing, and some one who plays the piano will add much to the enjoyment, thou...
- Girofle, Girofla!
- The players range themselves in a line, holding each other's hands, the tallest taking her station in the middle, and leading the song. One of the number, who, instead of joining her companions,...
- Good-Day, Cecilia!
- One of the players is blindfolded, and a long wand or stick given her. Her companions then join hands, and dance round her, singing the first verse of the rondo. When this is finished, they pause, and...
- The New French Fashion
- The leader of the game is called the captain, and his movements must be imitated by all the other players. Captain and men dance round, joining hands, and singing, Do you know how now they dance&...
- Sowing Oats
- The players then range themselves in a circle, and dance round without singing, whilst the air is played once. The song then commences thus : - I This is the way my father sows &n...
- The Black Art
- This is a very simple trick, which may cause much mystification. There must be two initiated ones. The magician sends his partner out of the room, and announces that any one of the company may choose ...
- To Put Three Children Through The Keyhole
- This is done by choosing three children, with a great deal of ceremony, and arranging them by the door, with orders to stand perfectly still till their turn comes. Then write their names, each on a se...
- How Two Children May Stand On A Handkerchief Without Touching One Another
- Lay a handkerchief across the sill of a door, close the door carefully, and have a child stand on each side of it, on the bit of handkerchief which will extend beyond it. ...
- French Blind Man's Buff
- Children form in circle. One is in the centre, blindfolded, and furnished with a stick. The children dance round in the circle to music, if possible, until the blindfolded person knocks the stick on t...
- Bachelor's Kitchen
- All the children sit in a row or a circle. Any number can play. One is namedthe old bachelor.He goes to each child, in turn, and says,Have you any thing for a poor old bachelor like me? Each play...
- Easter Eggs
- If a party is given on Easter Monday, or in Easter week, these may be made a very pretty and attractive feature. Decorated Easter eggs can, of course, be bought at con-fectioners', from simple painte...
- Chapter V. Hints For Parlor Plays
- In all entertainments at home, whether tableaux, living statuary, charades, or short plays, it is well to have ready certainproperties,as they are called, that add greatly to the effect, yet need no...
- Simple Tableaux Vivants, And Frame Pictures
- We will now give a few plain directions by which effective scenes can be arranged in any room, with but little trouble or expense. Necessary Materials. Ten wooden boxes of various sizes. ...
- Hints For Parlor Plays
- feet and a half in height between the top and bottom strips which form the frame; the width, four feet, the same as the distance between the two smaller frames ; and the bottom strip two feet and a ha...
- Plan For The Frames
- A A A A, four posts set upright from floor to ceiling, two feet and a half from back of stage, and at distances apart marked on diagram. Spaces marked B to be filled in with material to match the dra...
- Faith, Peace, And Glory
- Construct a cross of board, six inches wide, and about seven feet high, the cross-bar being two feet six inches long. Cover the cross with white paper or muslin, and nail the foot of the cross against...
- Ignorance Is Bliss (In Three Scenes)
- Scene First. At the left of the stage an old lady is asleep in a high chair. She is dressed in black, or in any plain dress; wears a white apron ; and has a white shawl folded across her shoul...
- The Execution Of Joan Of Arc
- Have no furniture upon the stage. In the centre place a wooden stool about six or eight inches high, and behind this have a tall, rough stick about nine feet long: a young tree stripped of branches is...
- Living Statuary
- Living statuary is the most troublesome and difficult of all parlor entertainments, yet one of the most beautiful and satisfactory; and the directions given here are from one who has made hundreds of ...
- Monumental Group
- The man stands in the top box (marked 3 in the illustration), in an attitude of making an address ; his right hand Fig. 37. extended, his left held in a curve, over which drapery is hung loosely. On...
- Chapter VI. Ballads In Action
- Illustrated ballads sound difficult, but are really one of the easiest forms of amusement for a winter evening, as very little rehearsing or scenery is needed. Children of any age above seven can be t...
- Auld Robin Gray
- Arranged By George B. Bartlett. Characters. Auld Robin Gray. Gray suit, knee-breeches, long vest, plaid, white wig, or powdered hair. Jamie. - Kilt, plaid, pea-jacket, sailor-hat. Jeannie....
- The Mistletoe-Bough
- Arranged By George B. Bartlett. Characters. The Bride. White dress and veil, wreath, also a faded wreath. Lovell. - Knee-breeches of white paper-cambric, coat faced with same, ruffled shir...
- Villikins And His Diniah,
- An Illustrated Ballad, to be performed by Children from Eight to Twelve years Old. Characters. Parent. Top-boots, knee-breeches, swallow-tail coat, ruffled shirt, white cravat, powdered h...
- Lord Ullin's Daughter
- A burlesque performance of Campbell's ballad is very simple to prepare, and very effective for children to act. The descriptive part of the poem must be read aloud slowly and distinctly; but each act...
- Chapter VII. The Miss Pelicoes
- Twelve girls must be arranged to form a graduated row or semicircle, with either curtains or screens for a background. Dresses must be in Kate Greenaway style, and carefully selected as to contrasting...
- Charades And Proverbs In Action. Chapter VIII. Charades And Proverbs In Action
- These may be given either in tableaux, in pantomime, or the performers may trust to the inspiration of the moment for words, and fill each part as perfectly as possible. Proverbs are given in a single...
- Dramatic
- DRAMATIC is a good word for tableau. Dram. Scene, a poorly furnished room. Centre of scene, a man poorly dressed stands facing audience. In one hand he holds a glass with a little liquor in i...
- Childhood
- Child. Centre of background a haystack, and behind this a boy and girl peeping out. Centre of foreground, facing audience, a very little child in a pretty country dress, looking half frightene...
- A Stitch In Time Saves Nine
- The scene is a boudoir, with two young ladies, in handsome walking-dresses, standing centre of foreground. Upon a chair, left of foreground, is a handsome dress, with a long ragged tear conspicuous up...
- Hunger Is The Best Sauce
- Two tables are standing over each side of foreground. At one is seated a dandy in the most elaborate costume, who holds the wing of a tiny bird upon a fork, and looks at it with an expression of perfe...
- Proverbs
- Money makes the mare go. Fine feathers make fine birds. It's an ill wind that blows nobody good. Take care of the pence, and the pounds will take care of themselves. Too many cooks spoil the broth. ...
- Acting Charades
- A room with folding-doors is of course best for a stage; but, wanting this, an iron rod suspended across the end of the room, on which a pair of curtains can be hung, will answer the purpose. Imprompt...
- Acting Charades. Continued
- Charades: Mischief Miss. Here, again, sound must be followed, and miss be the word, which could be acted in a variety of ways, - a young lady on her preferment, an old maid pretending to be y...
- Jack And The Bean-Stalk, In Rhyme (With A Moral)
- By Mrs. Charles Fernald. Preface. Then will it not be just as well The truth our little ones to tell, To let the darling children see Just what and where the fairies be, And where the giants really g...
- Chapter IX. Halloween And Other Amusements
- Snapdragon Though Halloween is really an English possession, it is kept more and more by those who prefer old frolics to new; and in many Southern families there is a great bowl, used for snapdragon ...
- Part Second. Outdoor Games. Chapter I. Lawn Tennis And Its Laws
- This deservedly popular game is not of mushroom growth, but is rather antiquated ; as it can be traced to the introduction of tennis into England, by certainpersons of superior rank,in the sixth yea...
- Lawn Tennis And Its Laws. Part 2
- Thus equipped, the game may be begun, after the choice or arrangement of the sides. The choice of sides, and the right of serving during the game, is usually decided by toss, with the proviso, that, i...
- Lawn Tennis And Its Laws. Part 3
- If, however, both players have won three strokes, the score is called deuce, and the next stroke won by either player is scored advantage for that player. The term advantage simply means that the play...
- The Art And Skill Of Lawn Tennis. By A Member Of Prince's Club, London
- Lawn tennis, when it was first introduced, was a mere pastime, involving little more skill than battledoor and shuttlecock. None of the science exhibited in cricket, croquet, or billiards, was require...
- The Art And Skill Of Lawn Tennis. Part 2
- 7. Forward play, underhand. 8. Back stroke. 1. The Fore Overhand Stroke. - Hold the racket short and firm, as in the overhand serve, and incline the face slightly, about ten ...
- The Art And Skill Of Lawn Tennis. Part 3
- Forward and Back Play. - We shall have to speak more of this when dealing with four-handed games; but for single-handed games, forward play, though it appears more brilliant, and wins more applause, i...
- Chapter II. Archery And Other Games
- So much of the pleasure of archery comes from competition, as well as from its social side, that it is never likely to be a solitary amusement. The first instinct, as with lawn tennis, is to form a cl...
- Rules For Target-Shooting
- I. That each archer have a scoring-card or paper on which to mark score, as follows: - Shooter's Name. Hits. Number Scored. Distance. Mary Smith 1 7 40 yards. Ist End...
- Croquet, Badminton, Etc
- Croquet is too well known to need any description; but a new form of it is not so much so, and makes a pleasant variety. This is called Croquet Pool, Or Addition And Subtraction This game is the ...
- Badminton
- Badminton is a game suited either for indoor or outdoor recreation : it may be played in the hall, or on the grass-plot or lawn. The dimensions of the ground for outdoor play should be 60 feet long by...
- Lawn Billiards
- This is an agreeable outdoor amusement. A ring which turns is placed in the centre of the lawn, and each player has one ball and a cue. They commence by bowling the balls as near the ring as possible,...
- Ship-Coil
- This is a favorite game on ship-board in long voyages, and was made known to us years ago in Mrs. Whitney'sWe Girls.Ten rings are made from rope, each ring eight or ten inches in diameter; and the o...
- Rounders
- Any number may play at this game. Two are selected to choose sides. Five points in the field are then marked out with stones or sticks, one for a home, the others for resting-places. One of the player...
- Chapter III. A Home Swimming-School
- Hardly a village in the land but owns a fresh-water pond, or small stream, where swimming could easily be learned. And before any one ventures into a boat, or makes even the shortest journey by water,...
- Chapter IV. Boating For Girls
- Swimming having been mastered, there are few as pleasant forms of gymnastics as a row in a light and well-made boat. The dress should be light and loose; dark flannel being the best, or some wash good...
- Chapter IV. Boating For Girls. Continued
- When the stroke is over, drop your hands, still grasping the oar, into your lap, at the same time turning them up again, so that the blade will come forward edgewise, or feathered, when you shoot them...
- Chapter V. Hints On Making Small Collections
- The insects which are generally collected by girls and boys are butterflies and moths, and it is to these chiefly that this article will be devoted. This preference arises from several reasons. In the...
- Hints On Making Small Collections. Part 2
- This is a most excellent way of obtaining specimens, but you must be prepared to undergo very many disappointments before you become proficient. You must carefully examine all the debris first, then t...
- Hints On Making Small Collections. Part 3
- It will be found useful to fasten with a tin tack a piece of white card above every patch of the composition/ You are thus able to see at a glance where to look, and it may also attract the moths. Th...
- Chapter VI. The Aquarium
- Nothing gives more pleasure in some ways than the ownership of either a marine or fresh-water aquarium; for, besides the enjoyment of watching the small inhabitants, there is the even greater one of c...
- A Marine Aquarium
- This is made on much the same plan as the fresh-water one, save that there should be a shallow, slanting, false bottom. The glass is set in a grooved frame, as with the first described; but the cement...
- A Marine Aquarium. Continued
- The engraving is a sectional view of one of his slope-back tanks,the invention of which has largely helped to revolutionize aquarium science. a is the dark water-chamber; b, aquarium proper; c, plat...
- Chapter VII. Walking-Clubs And Camping Out
- It is a real walking-club of, on the whole, very sensible girls, whose experience follows here; and it may stand as that of many who have attempted the same thing, and failed. There was once a party ...
- Chapter VIII. Light Gymnastics
- It is so well understood that health and happiness depend on bodily vigor, that no girl of the present age can afford to be ignorant of the value of gymnastics. Our maiden can, either alone or with on...
- Part Third. Occupations For Play Or Profit. Chapter I. Sewing And Doll's Dress-Making
- Sewing as it is generally learned is always a great bug-bear to a child, who is often made to sew an hour or more on a drearyover-and-overpatchwork-square. The sewing-schools in our great cities hav...
- Sewing And Doll's Dress-Making. Part 2
- Fig. 60. - Overcasting. Fig. 61. - Herringbone Stitches. Fig. 62. - Feather Stitches. Fig. 63. - Showing a Patch darned in. Fig. 64. - Stocking-Darn. FIG. 65. - A Tear Darned. ...
- Sewing And Doll's Dress-Making. Part 3
- Jackets. - Jackets are almost the hardest thing to make for dolls, especially if they are made of velvet or a thick cloth. The best material to make them of is, of course, black silk. Cut the fronts o...
- Chapter II. Fifty Christmas-Gifts For Small Fingers
- The accompanying gifts have been chosen from a list of two or three hundred, and many more could have been added, equally pretty and desirable. There are books on needlework of every sort, one or two ...
- Fifty Christmas-Gifts For Small Fingers. Part 2
- English Walnut Scent-Cases Make a little silk bag three inches and a half square, and fill with cotton-wool thickly sprinkled with sachet-powder. An even teaspoonful is a.good rule. Carefully halve t...
- Fifty Christmas-Gifts For Small Fingers. Part 3
- Parasol Penwipers Buy the smallest-sized lead-pencil for sale, provided with an ivory or ornamented tip, and sharpen the point. Cut a circle of silk, and another, rather smaller, of thin black clo...
- Fifty Christmas-Gifts For Small Fingers. Part 4
- Spatter-Work The materials needed for spatter-work are bristol-board, India-ink, a fine-toothed comb, toothbrush having long firm bristles, some fine pins, a tack-hammer, and a smooth board on which ...
- Fifty Christmas-Gifts For Small Fingers. Part 5
- Sand-Bags For Windows When the wind blows on a cold winter's night, and the window rattles, and lets in the cold air, a sand-bag will help to keep it out, and be a very useful present. It is made by ...
- Fifty Christmas-Gifts For Small Fingers. Part 6
- Glove-Box The material of this box may be very stiff cardboard; but a better way is to get a tinman to cut for you six strips of tin, of the dimensions given below, punched with rows of holes an inch...
- Chapter III. Doll's Houses And Make-Believe Housekeeping
- Dolls were once supposed to belong solely to little girls; but they are now so beautifully made, and so real, that to own a large one is next to playing with a live baby, and has a great advantage ove...
- Chapter IV. What Can Be Done With Tissue-Paper
- There is a disposition to sneer at several varieties of ornamental work which do not meet all the requirements of the present rage for high art. Wax flowers, leather-work, etc., are regarded as having...
- Large White Or Yellow Rose
- The large white roses are made in white paper, either prepared for the purpose by tinting stripes of it with primrosecolor (in which case the petals must have their points cut out of the striped part ...
- Chapter V. Cardboard And Its Uses
- Whoever learns to handle cardboard carefully, and to cut out with a steady hand the many beautiful designs that can be used, has taken the first step toward successful wood-carving. But cardboard is f...
- Chapter VI. Preserving Autumn Leaves, Ferns, Etc
- The walking-club already mentioned will have made the gathering of ferns and autumn leaves part of its work; and a little trouble expended in drying them carefully will give winter ornaments, which in...
- Chapter VII. What May Be Done With Leather
- The use of leather can be made much more general than is supposed by the many who recall picture-frames in country houses, covered thickly with impossible flowers, and who thinkleather-workonly anot...
- A Spray Of Ivy-Leaves
- This is, perhaps, the most easily modelled spray to begin with; and any patterns of leaves may be obtained by putting the real ones on paper, and tracing round them, and copying the veinings. Place th...
- Convolvulus Flowers And Leaves
- The flowers of the convolvulus are moulded in the moulds sold for the purpose, of various sizes, with pestles fitting into them. The leather is cut out, of the shape No. 3, wetted, and pressed into...
- Large Garden Rose
- The rose-petals are to be cut out in circles made up of five petals each. Three of No. 1 are required, and two of a size smaller, and one of the smallest size, which can easily be graduated from patte...
- The Redemption Of The Tin Can
- When any one has a slight knowledge of drawing, or even the faculty of selecting and simply tracing patterns, it is an easy matter to adorn a house cheaply and tastefully, or to make many objects whi...
- What May Be Done With Leather
- The tools needed for this work are few, cheap, and simple. It may be even elegantly effected with only an ivory paper-knife and a stamp made of a stick of any hard wood, the end of which has been cro...
- Chapter VIII. Wax Flowers
- These, too, have fallen under the ban of the many who prefer a sunflower in crewel to the most perfect imitation of nature. But a rosebud exquisitely modelled, or a spray of jasmine looking as if that...
- Wax Flowers. Continued
- Cut a piece of the thickest wire for the stalk of the camellia. Cover it with a strip of white wax for about three-fourths of an inch, and bend it back. Then roll more wax round this doubled...
- White Pink
- The white pink is very easily and accurately modelled in wax. The petals are bloomed on both sides, and slightly tinged with green in the centre of each petal. There are five of each (Figs. 1, 2, 3...
- The Common Pink China Or Monthly Rose
- The common pink china rose is one of the easiest roses to model. Five petals of Nos. i, 2, 3, 4, and three of No. 5, will be required. They are to be cut out of the medium white wax, and bloomed o...
- The Yellow Tea-Scented Rose
- All the yellow roses may be copied to perfection, if care be taken to color them exactly, shading the petals so as to give the deeper yellow centre, fading into primrose-color of white at the edges of...
- Lily-Of-The-Valley
- The lily-of-the-valley may be modelled, either by cutting out a straight piece of white wax, for the corolla, like Fig. 1, moulding and joining it, and curling back the six notches with the curling-pi...
- The Stephanotis And Hoya
- Another flower with a tube, the stephanotis, which is exceedingly well imitated in wax, is made in two parts, - a star and a tube, - each cut out of four thicknesses of wax. The star is curled back, a...
- Chapter IX. Shells, Mosses, Pine-Cones, Etc
- In the beginning let it be remembered, that, with shell-work at least, it is not an ornament for the parlor, even the most beautiful shell-flowers having a half-barbaric look. The chief use of shell, ...
- Chapter X. Wood-Carving And Light Carpentering
- The jig-saw has done much to convince people that girls can handle tools, but there is still room for a great advance in this direction. There is no reason in the nature of things why a girl should wa...
- Wood-Carving And Light Carpentering. Part 2
- Of carpenters' tools all that you would require would be a medium-sized saw, a spokeshave (which answers the purpose of a plane, and is much easier to use), a few rasps and files of different sizes (n...
- Wood-Carving And Light Carpentering. Part 3
- One of the first requisites to help you on your road to success is that your work should be firmly fixed. This can be done by fixing the wood to be carved to a deal board, and fastening this with iron...
- Wood-Carving And Light Carpentering. Part 4
- All wood employed for carving - purposes must be well seasoned, and free fromknots,or faults. If, however, work has been begun on a piece of wood which shows, bywarping,that it has not been proper...
- Wood-Carving And Light Carpentering. Part 5
- Try not to make a number of tiny cuts or stabs with your tools, but take as long a cut as the nature of your design will allow. The power given by being able to make long cuts can scarcely be over-rat...
- Chapter XI. Strawberry-Culture For Girls
- Nothing yields better returns, either in health and vigor, or in money, to a girl living out of town, than the culture of small fruits : of these, strawberries are, in many respects, the most desirabl...
- Chapter XII. Small Fruits, - Currants, Raspberries, And Blackberries
- For all these small fruits the ground must be thoroughly-prepared as for strawberries. Manure must not be spared, and the soil for raspberries should be thoroughly drained if possible. Currants need m...
- Chapter XIII. Canned Fruit, Jelly, And Preserves
- Our maiden who has successfully raised a bed of small fruits will desire to can or preserve any excess of them, either for home use, or to furnish herself with pin-money. The process is easily learned...
- Chapter XIV. The Rearing Of Poultry
- It is often remarked, that a farmer's wife will be frequently more successful in rearing an early lot of chickens than a man who has expended a great deal of money on his yards, and prides himself on ...
- Chapter XV. Canary-Birds, Their Rearing And Training
- It would be hard to find a girl who is not fond of these charming pets, or who does not delight in caring for them. Most of them are procured from bird-stores, where they have been imported; but there...
- Chapter XVI. The Honey-Bee
- No avocation for girls requires so much skill and coolness, excites so much enthusiasm, or produces such admirable results, as the charge of honey-bees. It demands a clear head, courage, steadiness, a...
- Chapter XVII. Silk-Culture
- Since two thousand years before Christ, when the empress of China discovered the mode of rearing silkworms, reeling silk, and weaving it into a soft and beautiful fabric, these industries have given o...
- Chapter XVIII. Floriculture
- Floriculture is the most charming of all those out-of door amusements to which American girls are more and more devoted. Here, as well as in the drawing-room, is opportunity for artistic culture; and ...
- Chapter XIX. Parlor-Gardening
- With the coming of the long winter months, our interest gradually recedes in outdoor vegetation; and the falling petals of flowers warn us to prepare them homes within our walls, where their lovelines...
- Chapter XX. Drawing And Designing
- To be able to picture simple objects correctly is not only a source of great pleasure, but the foundation of many accomplishments and industries. The first rude attempts of the child with pencil and s...
- Chapter XXI. Home-Made Candy
- WHEN the first edition of this book was prepared, homemade candy was still limited to a few varieties of molasses candy, only the ambitious girl venturing upon caramels or drops of any sort. To-day it...
- Chapter XXII. A New Home Industry
- Just off Regent Street, in the crowded West End of London, whose roar is sounding in my ears as I write these words, is a quiet corner known as Langham Chambers, where in the pleasant rooms one may se...
- Mosaic Work In Broken China
- Here the art has become so popular that it is actually taught in some of the evening schools; and frames and all needed appliances are now made, and can be had very cheaply. But it is still unknown in...
- Chapter XXIII. Cooking-Clubs And Work In General
- Cooking-clubs have been formed at so many points all over the country, and are always so popular, that they need little description, and certainly no recommendation. Whatever helps to interest one in ...
- Authorities. Consulted In Preparing The American Girl's Home Book Of. Work And Play
- The Girl's Own Book of Amusements, Studies, and Employments. By Mrs. L. Valentine and others. The Girl's Own Treasury ; specially designed for the Amusement and Instruction of Young Ladies. Every ...
- For Young Readers
- All high-class Juvenile Literature, well printed, on good paper, and illustrated. Uniformly bound in ornate covers. 12mo, cloth, yellow top, decorative linings, each, $1.25. Ames, L. T. ...
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