Fig. 196—The frosty snow pocket.
| Fig. 197—Fold the paper crosswise. | Fig. 198—Cut slits in the folded paper. |
Cut a strip of white tissue-paper five and a half inches wide and twenty-two inches long. Fold the paper crosswise through the middle; then fold it again and again until your folded piece is one inch wide. The folds must always be across the paper from start to finish ([Fig. 197]). Now, cut slits in the folded paper, first a slit on one side, and then a slit on the other, as in [Fig. 198]. Let the spaces between the slits be one-eighth of an inch wide, and cut each slit to within one-eighth of an inch of the edge. When this is done, carefully unfold the paper and spread it out flat, then lift the top edge with one hand, the bottom edge with the other, and gently pull the meshes apart. Gather the top edge into little plaits, and twist them together in a point; gather the bottom edge in the same way and twist that; then carefully pull the snow pocket out, and you will have a long, narrow bag of soft, white meshes. If it flares out too much, crush it together softly with your hand. Make a small gilt paper star and fasten a narrow strip of white tissue-paper to its top point. Open the bag, slip the star inside, and suspend it half-way from the top by pasting the end of the paper strip to the top of the bag. Make a loop of tissue-paper, fasten it to the top point of the bag, and then hang the snow pocket on the tree. The gold star gleaming through the frosty meshes is very pretty, but if you have several snow pockets, there need not be stars in all.
Jocko, the Monkey
([Fig. 199]) is not made of paper, but of delectable, sugary raisins. He is a funny fellow, and will delight the children.
Fig. 199—Jocko.
Thread a clean, cotton string in a large darning-needle, then select three of your largest raisins for the body and a suitably shaped one for the head. There must be three raisins for each leg, one for each foot, and three for each arm. Tie a knot in the end of your string and, beginning with one foot, string on three raisins for one leg, then the three for the body, and, lastly, the one for the head. Tie a knot close to the top at the head and leave a long end to the string. Thread your needle again and string on the raisins for the other foot and leg, then run the needle up through the lower raisin of the body, and fasten the second string to the first between the two body raisins.