WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 224, 21 September 1935, Page 4 (Supplement)

WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?

'"Spare Time Activities for Boys and Girls:

THE FASCINATION OF BEAD CRAFT,

WOODEN BEADS AND THEIR USES.

Because tce feel llic popularity of beadwork with girls is universal, we have arranged for a short series of articles, the first of which appears to-day on this fascinating craft. Although the actual making of articles with heads trill he dealt with, the decoration of articles already made will he given greater pi ominence.

The uses of bends are innumerable and for long have proved a source of attraction both for young and old alike. A tiny infant will gurgle with delight at the eight of a string of beads; a kindergarten child will play for hours with lica/1 slates, and adults gain pleasure and profit from a craft which in recent yeai-3 has gained in popularity and perfection.

Nearly every house lias a small cork "dinner mat. These are useful and necessary, but can hardly be considered as an added attraction to a dinner table. They may, however, with a little patience be made quite attractive and a pleasing addition when visitors, ate expected. Our illustration shows clearly the way in which these plain mats may be decorated.

The beads required should be about the same thickness as the cork mat you are decorating, and it is also necessary that they are square ones. By twing different colours and arranging them in some definite order, many attractive variations may be obtained. The beads nre attached to the cork mat with coloured mercerised cotton to tone with the predominating colour of the bends used. The positions of the stitches are spaced and marked first at the edge

of the mat so that they are kept regular, for the appearance of the mat depends ' a good deal on this. Measure in lin from the edge and lightly draw a line around the mat to mark the depth of the stitches. Then mark dots along this line 3in 01* 3-10 in to mark the position of the stit'-hes. This must be adjusted a little to fit round the particular sized mat being used so that the beads are evenly spaced. Tt is also as well when using more than one colour of beads to count round the spaces to see that the colours will fit in according to the pattern being made, and adjust them if necessary.

Thread a medium-sized needle with a long strand of mercerised cotton. Insert the needle through one of the dots on the mat in a vertical position so that the stitches will be the same length on both sides of the mat. Make a buttonhole stitch, leaving an end of cotton 3in long. This is tied to the final end when the- border is complete. Make another buttonhole stitch into the same hole, then v thread a bead on the cotton and make two more buttonhole stitches through the next dot. Thread on another bead, make two more buttonhole stitches in the next dot, and so on, drawing the cotton sufficiently tight to hold the beads firmly in position against the edge of the mat (see diagram 1), where a portion of the edge of tl(e mat shows the marks for the stitches and the sewing on of the beads.

When it is necessary to join .on a new length of cotton, tie the new strand to the end of the old one with a knot, arranging for the knot to come inside the next bead. When the starting point of the sewing is reached, tie the last strand securely to the end of the first strand; then thread one end through the bead on the left of the knot and the other through the bead on the right, after which cut the ends off quite close to the bead in each case.

ELASTIC GUNS. TWO SIMPLY MADE WEAPONS. There may not sound anything very exciting in elastic guns, but don't make up your mind too quickly. These two little weapons will afford you much fun, both in the making and using and, according to the designer, Air. J. Baclidoit, in the "Modern Handy Boy's Book," they can be made by any boy who cares. The first is: — An Elastic Ring Firer. Any boy can make up one in less than half "an hour, the only materials needed being a clothes peg, four stout rubber bands, a board and a nail. The sketch shows how the clothes peg in split in half. The half peg makes the gun butt, also the trigger mechanism. Three rubber bands bind the peg to one end of the board, which is usually about Gin or 7in long. The fourth band is slipped over the end. It is stretched back to the peg and slipped between the pin and the board end.

The pressure of the other three bands on the wood pin holds the fourth rubber firmly. When the gun is fired the marksman grasps the peg against the palm of his hand and with his trigger finger pulls a nail, half driven into the board about 2in from the butt. A pull against the nail springs the peg back and releases the rubber rirfg, which shoots a distance of about loft to 20ft. A good target for this gun is a board with nails and scoring numbers. Try to hang the rubber missile over one of the nails. An Elastic Target Gun. Try this model of the rigid crossbow, which .also gets its power from stretched elastic. The stock is designed as a separate piece from the barrel, as this makes the gun easier

to makes A length of 2in square soft pine is about right for the stock. The bore may be square or round, but must be accurate. Sandpaper

the bore to a fine finish, and oil it well with vaseline or grease. In principle the gun is a sling shot and the pocket of the sling is a short length of brass picture wive.

Notice in the drawing that two small blocks (B) are aida.i to the barrel at the muzzle, and'that the barrel end of the stock is raised to the height of these blocks so that a cover of thin lath (L) can be fitted over, leaving an open slot along which the sling travels when it propels a missile set in the groove of the barrel. The trigger (T1 is pivoted above the notch that holds the sling. An old inner tube of a car tyre sliced across makes good rubber bands (R) for this type of elastic gun. The advantage of the crossbow model in guns of this sort is the long stretch it gives the elastic. Any weapon capable of shooting is dangerous. The most innocent wooden gun tlint fires a cork or pellet can do harm. So remember: Be careful.