“Christmas gift! Christmas gift! Ah, I've caught you! Hand over my present!” With a gay laugh the children exchange this salutation, without a thought of the request ever being granted, but simply for the fun of being the first to call out the Christmas greeting. Sometimes the forfeit is paid, usually with a handful of nuts or candy, a pretty trifle or anything the captive happens to have convenient at the moment. The giver enjoys the fun fully as much as the recipient, and with a hop, skip, and jump departs in hopes of likewise finding a fellow-playmate or some member of the family off guard, that she may, in turn, be the first to wish a “Merry Christmas” and claim a gift.
An All-day Christmas Pie
is a charming device for delivering gifts intended for one person, and the fun and expectancy last the entire day.
Cover the outside of a new tin pan with plaited white tissue-paper, and paste the paper along the top and over the bottom edges. Decide on the number of gifts you intend the pie to contain, and cut a corresponding number of slits in the circular piece of white tissue-paper which is to form the top crust (Fig. 552). Wrap each present in a bright-colored piece of tissue-paper, and tie with a narrow ribbon
Fig. 552. of like hue (Fig. 553); be sure to fasten the knot on top of the package securely, so there will be no possibility of its slipping from the parcel when it is jerked out of its bed of bran. Fill the pan with bran or sawdust, arrange the gifts on top in the order you wish, then put more bran over the parcels, heaping it in the centre; thread each ribbon through its respective slit in the cover and bring the cover
Fig. 553. cautiously down over the pudding without tearing. Gather the edge a little at a time with your fingers, and paste it down over the sides (Fig. 554).
Paste a double-edged fringe of white tissue-paper around the top edge of the pie. To do this, fold several