It will be best to begin with only simple designs, and after some
practice you can attempt more elaborate ones. A rustic cottage can be
made of thin, dark colored card-boards ; the front and back should be
about two inches in width, the sides one inch ; mark it out with a lead
pencil all in one piece, sloping the front and back pieces for the roof.
Mark out a door in the center of the front with a window on each
side ; cut the windows entirely out and glue in the space white cape net,
and behind the net white mica or thin glass; cut the door entirely
through on one side and on top, and on the other side cut it half through
from the inside, enough to bend it outward, so that it will appear a little
way open ; cut the corners of the house also half through the card and
bend it round, making the seam come in the back.
Cut the roof of proper size, glue it on, and taking the tiny scales
of a very small cone, glue them on in neat rows until the roof is covered ;
330 SCRAP BOOKS.
paint the rest of the cottage with glue, and dust with coarse sand ; glue
on the chimney and the cottage is finished. You can glue moss on it
to imitate vines if you wish. If a log cabin is desired, glue on tiny
twigs instead of using the sand.
Very pretty cottages and villas can be made of white Bristol board
with verandas and Venetian blinds, and picket fences can easily be cut
from it. Castles can be formed of cigar box lids ; for turrets, use the
long round boxes, such as druggists use for adhesive plaster ; cut the
tracery of the windows carefully out and glue in red mica, which will
be a beautiful imitation of stained glass.
If for a bracket, lay out the grounds by using the greenest moss for
grass plats ; sand the walks and border with pebbles. On one side put
a spreading tree, with rustic tea-table and chairs under it ; on the'other
an old-fashioned well and sweep, with the " old oaken bucket," etc.
Build a rustic fence two inches high around the edge of the bracket,
making a gate in the center.
Winter pictures are lovely as companion pictures to the summer
scenes ; in these the clouds must be made of dark stone colored cotton
to imitate the dull leaden hue of a winter sky. Snow is formed of fine
French plaster mixed with diamond frosting. All trees and shrubs
must be crystalized with a solution of alum ; thread also crystalized
will form pretty icicles. Ice can be formed by placing a piece of clear
glass over light blue paper, and gamming on pieces of blue and white
flake frosting. Little scrap figures in the act of skating or sleighing
will be suitable for this work.
It will be best for the first piece of work to copy from some pretty
picture, but after some practice any favorite song or poem may be illus-
trated. A lovely bit of landscape seen in the "long ago." Or those
who are far away from the home of their childhood can copy it faith-
fully from memory, just as they remember to have seen it last. When
the picture is finished, a neat frame with glass must be fitted to the box.
A rustic frame is most suitable.
SCRAP BOOKS.
FOR PICTURES AND PAINTINGS.
Page 292
Presented as published in 1886. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
It will be best to begin with only simple designs, and after some practice you can attempt more elaborate ones. A rustic cottage can be made of thin, dark colored card-boards ; the front and back should be about two inches in width, the sides one inch ; mark it out with a lead pencil all in one piece, sloping the front and back pieces for the roof.
Mark out a door in the center of the front with a window on each side ; cut the windows entirely out and glue in the space white cape net, and behind the net white mica or thin glass; cut the door entirely through on one side and on top, and on the other side cut it half through from the inside, enough to bend it outward, so that it will appear a little way open ; cut the corners of the house also half through the card and bend it round, making the seam come in the back.
Cut the roof of proper size, glue it on, and taking the tiny scales of a very small cone, glue them on in neat rows until the roof is covered ;
330 SCRAP BOOKS.
paint the rest of the cottage with glue, and dust with coarse sand ; glue on the chimney and the cottage is finished. You can glue moss on it to imitate vines if you wish. If a log cabin is desired, glue on tiny twigs instead of using the sand.
Very pretty cottages and villas can be made of white Bristol board with verandas and Venetian blinds, and picket fences can easily be cut from it. Castles can be formed of cigar box lids ; for turrets, use the long round boxes, such as druggists use for adhesive plaster ; cut the tracery of the windows carefully out and glue in red mica, which will be a beautiful imitation of stained glass.
If for a bracket, lay out the grounds by using the greenest moss for grass plats ; sand the walks and border with pebbles. On one side put a spreading tree, with rustic tea-table and chairs under it ; on the other an old-fashioned well and sweep, with the " old oaken bucket," etc.
Build a rustic fence two inches high around the edge of the bracket, making a gate in the center.
Winter pictures are lovely as companion pictures to the summer scenes ; in these the clouds must be made of dark stone colored cotton to imitate the dull leaden hue of a winter sky. Snow is formed of fine French plaster mixed with diamond frosting. All trees and shrubs must be crystalized with a solution of alum ; thread also crystalized will form pretty icicles. Ice can be formed by placing a piece of clear glass over light blue paper, and gumming on pieces of blue and white flake frosting. Little scrap figures in the act of skating or sleighing will be suitable for this work.
It will be best for the first piece of work to copy from some pretty picture, but after some practice any favorite song or poem may be illustrated. A lovely bit of landscape seen in the "long ago." Or those who are far away from the home of their childhood can copy it faithfully from memory, just as they remember to have seen it last. When the picture is finished, a neat frame with glass must be fitted to the box. A rustic frame is most suitable.
SCRAP BOOKS.
FOR PICTURES AND PAINTINGS.