The point of the shell is the nose of the mouse; above it make two round, black eyes and then paste on two brown-paper ears. Cut the ears like [Fig. 143], bend back the little stems at the bottom, put a touch of paste on each stem and stick the ears to the mouse's head in the position shown in [Fig. 142]. Cut a piece of string about three inches long for the tail and paste one end of it on the inside edge of the shell at the large end.
If you make three of these mice and glue them to a piece of cardboard they will look very cunning. Or you can glue one mouse to a small card and use it for the top of a Christmas pen-wiper.
English-Walnut Shell Thimble-Box
A pretty way to give a small present at Christmas or on a birthday is to put it into an English-walnut shell box. A thimble fits in the box beautifully (see [Fig. 144]).
Open the shell of an English walnut in the way described ([Fig. 139]). Cut away the inside partitions and, with jeweller's cotton, make a soft little bed in one-half of the shell. Press down the cotton in the middle to make a hollow, and in this hollow fit the new thimble. Put a layer of cotton over the top of the thimble and tuck in the edges. The way to close the box is to cover the edges of the other half-shell with glue and then fit it on the half that holds the thimble, just as it was before you opened it.
Now you have a whole nut again, but the meat inside is very different from that which you took out. You can gild the nutshell after the glue has hardened or leave it as it is. Its own brown color is pretty enough. In either case you must have a piece of narrow ribbon to tie around the box and form a loop by which to hang it ([Fig. 145]).
Pass the ribbon under the small end of the nutshell, then bring it up and tie it securely at the top of the large end. The ribbon should not be over the seam but should pass across the middle of each half-shell. It will then hold the two parts together and keep the glue from loosening. After the ribbon is tied at the top of the nut, make a long loop above it and tie again in a bow-knot.