BOYS' OWN

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21296, 24 September 1932, Page 4 (Supplement)

BOYS' OWN

Here is a suggestion for a home-made toy that lias the advantage of being easily made and without the need of any special tools or knowledge. So many excellent home-made toys and amusements for children require so much preparation and so much skill in carpentry or metal working t that the average father may well be discouraged from trying his hand at making anything himself, and so he resorts to that refuge of the unimaginative, the toy-shop. But the advantage of making a toy on your own table at home, apart from its cheapness, is in its novelty, for there are many amusing toys that you can mako which arc not to be found in toyshops. One of these is the Comic Egg Portrait. All that is needed in the way of material and apparatus are some ordinary hen's eggs, some stiff white paper (unlined writing paper will do ) a box of water-

colours or coloured inks, a tube of secotine or some such glue, , a pencil and scissors. . ; f

First about the eggs, which are the foundation and main part of the toy. It is necessary to see that instead of the shells being broken they shall be blown out. That is easily done by pricking a hole in each end with a needle and enlarging one of the holes with a skewer or knitting needle, and then blowing through the smaller hole, which wilV force the contents out of the larger one into the bowl or receptacle/ready to receive them. The next thing to do is to draw lightly in pencil the outline on each egg as shown in the accompanying illustrations (fig. 1).

COMIC EGG PORTRAITS

After the faces are drawn in, paint them in the proper colours with inks or water-colours and then proceed to make collars for your family of eggs. The collars are very necessary, not only to finish off the portrait, but to form a base 011 which each Humpty Dumpty may stand upright with proper dignity. The collars must be drawn on the stiff white paper, then cut out with scissors, and after trying them around the base of the egg portraits they should be firmly glued in place. The neckties, also made out of paper, can be stuck around the collar after the latter is in position. The ears of the different heads may be drawn as

shown in the diagram, and cut out and | stuck in place unless it is preferred to i draw the ears directly on the eggs themselves. But ears pasted on look more real --jpP and more amusing, although if you d 6 ft|l this remember to paste only the forward part of the ear down, so that the rest of the ear may stand out in a comical and if? natural manner. All sorts of faces beyond those shown may be chosen. There is the Mad Hatter £ from Alice in Wonderland, Tweedledum £ and Tweedledce, Robinson Crusoe, J?f Riding Hood, John Bull, a Frenchman. * a Chinese, and various Dickens' characters. A navvy with a short pipe in his mouth can bo made by an ingenious craftsman. The pipe, two small pieces of wood, with " the stem stuck in a tiny hole drilled into ,§l| the painted mouth of the egg. There .is no limit to the number of instructive and amusing types that can bo made, but for the benefit of those who prefer to have some suggestions offered the faces shown in tho illustration may ba

easily copied. The "Johnnie" wears a paper topper which the diagram shows how to make. When it is made it should be painted black. The wing collar is shown in the diagram and should be cut out exactly ,the shape of a real collar (which can be used as a guide), after cutting out fold the corners down. The March Hare's ears are a simple matter. His* whiskers are simple enough too, and can be made from the hairs of an old brush. Stick them on by dippiEg the ends in secsotitte. The *' bun " on tip of the landlady's head can be made by sticking an ordinary raisin in the top, or a bit of dark plasticine or wax. Napoleon's hat is black and made of two pieces, back and front cut alike and glued together, but leaving the bottom open to admit his head. The clown's hat is a simplecone of paper. A comic effect can be got by tilting the hats at various rakish angles. And don't forget to 6elect the right shaped egg for each face. A round egg for the butcher and the schoolboy, a longish egg for the landlady, an oval symmetrical egg for the " Johnnie," and so on. And by making the pointed end of the egg the top or the bottom a " simple " or a " brainy " effect can be obtained. Thus with very little trouble you can make a most amusing tdy that is an adornment to any playroom.