The Greeny Girl
The little green-pea greenies, cousins of the brownies, shown in the illustration are funny, aren't they? But the drawing is not as funny as the real greenies, and you can make them in all sorts of absurd positions.
Two little men and a widely smiling greeny girl are given here ([Fig. 164]). The large green peas that come late in the season are used to make these little people. In fact, it is only the large peas that can be used for any of the things described. [Fig. 165] shows how the greeny girl is put together. Her arms, legs, and neck are made of broom-straws. Her body and head are green peas. Her dress is one end of a pea-pod and her feet are bits of a pea-pod cut the shape you see in [Fig. 165].
First cut short pieces of broom-straws for the legs and point them at both ends so that they will be easy to push into the peas and pods. Cut another piece the same length, pointed at the top end for the support. Push the legs and support into the large pea used for the body as you see them in [Fig. 165]. Now cut another piece of broom-straw pointed at both ends for the neck and push one end into the pea you have selected for the head.
| Fig.166 - Begin the tent in this way. | Fig.167 - The Greenies' Pea-pod tent. |
Cut off the stem of a large pea-pod, leaving the little leaves at the top, which were the calyx of the pea-blossom, for a collar, and then cut the pea-pod dress the proper length to fit the little woman. When that is done put the dress on over the headless body and push the lower end of the broom-straw neck in at the top, down through the collar, and into the pea which forms the body. With a pin make a hole on each side just under the collar and push a broom-straw arm in each of the armholes you have made. Bend one straw in the middle, as in [Fig. 165], to give the bent elbow.
Last of all cut two three-cornered feet like the one in [Fig. 165] from a pea-pod and push a foot on the end of each leg. Turn the toes in and the little figure will look very comical. To give her a face, dip a pen in black ink and make two round eyes in the head, a round nose, and a wide mouth turned up at the corners. The pen must be pushed through the skin of the pea to do this. When the greeny girl stands up, her dress hides the support at the back so that it cannot always be seen, and she looks as if she stood on her two feet just as you stand on yours.