FARM ANIMALS FROM PAPER AND MATCHES

Ladies' Mirror, Volume I, Issue 8, 1 February 1923, Page 18

FARM ANIMALS FROM PAPER AND MATCHES

TTHESE funny little toy animals really seem alive. They have what artists call character and action, and you can put them into many natural positions; yet they are the simplest things in the world to make when you know how. Writing paper, broom straws and scissors are all that are needed, and to make any one animal will take just about three minutes. It is the joint in the neck, the bend of the head, the lifting and lowering of the ears and tail that make all the difference. Sometimes slanting the legs forward and backward and even bending one leg will add to the expression. Select some good, strong broom straws and put them in a pan of water to soak while you make the paper part of your horse. Soaking the straws softens them so that they may be bent without breaking.

The cow is made of a square and an oblong of paper with broom straws for legs. Cut the paper for the cow's body three inches square. Fold this square through the middle, then cut off deep sections of the lower two corners and punch the holes as you see them in Fig. 1. Make the oblong of the paper for the neck and head two inches and an eighth long and an inch and three-quarters wide. Fold it lengthwise through the middle, then cut it like Fig. 2. Bend the head down and let the ears droop.

The hole C in the neck is for the joint, and the hole D over the ear is for the horns. Make the cow’s legs two inches long and put them in the body as you did the horse’s legs. Slit a broom straw at one end and bend it at the other end for the cow’s tail (Fig. 9). Push the bent end through the slits in the back, and the tail will hang down. Find a short broom straw for the horns (Fig. 10). Fasten the cow’s neck to the body and then push the horns through the holes in the head. The horse and dog are made in the same way. The man is cut with a fold down the centre, but you could make him in many different positions by altering his arms or by cutting him out so that he stood sideways.