Seasonal preoccupations can exercise considerable influence upon the restricted occupations of shut-ins. By emulating a vanishing generation which commenced to sew, knit, crochet, or otherwise assemble their handmade Christmas presents during the heat of midsummer, bored youngsters imprisoned by illness or weather may be interested in various creative projects which will help shorten the hours. It is upon this assumption that the following suggestions are offered as springboards for more personalized gift making.

Coasters can be cut from felt scraps marked into circles around an upended cup, and their edges overcast or blanket stitched.

Lens cleaners for spectacles are cut from layers of chamois and tied together with ribbon.

Calendar blotters consist of twelve strips of colored blotting paper with calendar leaves pasted to the corner of each, then tied together with a bow of ribbon.

Dust cloths cut from 2-ft. squares of colored cheesecloth and hemmed, can be folded and tied into attractive bundles.

Frames for flattering snapshots of the donor can be cut from cardboard and decorated with crayons or pasted cutouts, or closely wound with colored yarn or raffia.

Sachets are easy to make from lengths of wide ribbon folded back into squares which are stuffed with cotton sprinkled with sachet powder, before all three open sides are stitched shut.

Bath mitts without fingers are cut in two identical patterns from toweling and stitched together except at the wrist opening, near which the recipient's initials may be embroidered.

Paper mats woven from narrow strips of colored construction paper with the ends pasted down, are handy for grownups' or dolls' teas. Likewise

Paper doilies of delicate, lace-like designs are easy to make for Mother's tea table or the patient's own tray, by folding a paper napkin into a narrow wedge and cutting out small half moons and triangles from the edges.

Bookplates and greeting cards can be spatter printed or made up from pasted cutouts.

Christmas tree ornaments of various types will also prove interesting projects during December. Gold or silver paper cut into stars can have paper loops pasted in the rear for fasteners. Colored construction paper is easy to roll up and paste into cornucopias which can be equipped with thread loops for hanging. Paper pompoms can be cut from folded segments, and popcorn, either white or colored, strung on strong thread into lengths which can be added to from day to day.

Doll's Christmas Tree

If a little girl is convinced that the family tree has enough ornaments already in storage, she can usually be interested in equipping a tiny tree for her dolls. Everything is of course on a miniature scale, thus posing problems which will serve to whet the imagination. Colorful tree ornaments can be improvised from colored buttons, tinsel cutouts, tiny candies, and strings of silver and gold candy box cord.

It is in the selection and fabrication of the presents, however, that creative imagination will receive its sharpest spur. For example a new hat for the doll can be made by cutting a small circle from an old straw hat, wetting it, and then poking a finger up from underneath to make the crown. When dry, it can be trimmed with narrow ribbon, scraps of tulle, or tissue paper flowers. If it will fit into an empty pill box, the latter can be tied with suitable ribbons and labeled "Lily Dache" in dashing letters. Likewise, new doll dresses might as well be "Molyneux" products, and dime store beads enclosed in boxes from "Tiffany." If the doll's Christmas celebration is held early enough, her tree will make a most acceptable centerpiece for the family dinner table.

Doll's birthdays can be celebrated in much the same manner, without reference to seasons. Small scale gifts appropriately wrapped can be nestled about a miniature cake (muffin), equipped with tiny wax candles. This may bring to mind the imminence of some friend or relative's birthday for whom an appropriate gift can be manufactured from home materials.

Calendar celebrations vary with the seasons, but during nearly every month some excuse can be uncovered for a sickroom party commemorating a national or other holiday, for which the convalescent may assist in the preparation of various favors and decorations. February, of all the months, offers the most opportunities, not only because of Lincoln's and Washington's Birthdays, but on account of St. Valentine's Day, with its profusion of homemade valentines, both artistic and humorous.

Fig. 7.12. Indian encampment in a cigar box.

Easter, May or Memorial Day, Graduation day in June, the Fourth of July, Columbus Day, Halloween, and Thanksgiving Day provide occasions for the creation of fanciful favors for the patient's tray or the family table.

Cigar Box Dioramas

An exploitation of the theatrical inclination inherent in most children is the construction of realistic still life scenes in depth. Cigar boxes make satisfactory diorama "stages" when standing upright on their hinged sides, with their lids open and flat on the table, as in Figure 7.12. For open air compositions, the interior of the box is lined with light blue paper for a daylight scene, or with dark blue or purple for night time. The bottom of the box and the inside of the open lid or foreground can be covered with green paper for grass, tan or yellow for sand, or white paper to which cotton has been glued to represent snow.

As indicated in Figure 7.12, a skillful arrangement of small-scale "props" will create a strikingly realistic effect, with the flat background gradually merging into three-dimensional effects in the immediate foreground. In the Indian scene suggested, the stretcher frame for the chamois or tan cloth deerhide, the triangular travois held by the disappearing figure at the right, and the pot holder over the fire can be made up from toothpicks and wooden match sticks stained brown, if twigs are not at hand. The teepees and the disappearing squaw are cut from tan construction paper and their tabs pasted to the box as indicated in the details. If no toy or dime store cooking pot is available, one can be carved from a blackened hazel nut, or wired from a walnut half shell. The uprights holding the crossbar over the cooking fire are imbedded in carved corks carved to look like stones, or in lumps of modeling clay. The remaining stones in the circle can be pebbles, carved corks, or clay. Burnt match stick "logs" have red, orange, or yellow cellophane flames licking upward from their star-shaped center. The squaw tending the fire is assembled from a large cork or a spool around which cotton is molded to form a plump body for a piece of tan "deerhide" cloth. Black yarn braids complete the head. The papoose can be made from a peanut with a tan cloth or paper covering pasted around it to the triangular travois frame.