Gather two short skirts of tarlatan, make a waist of the same, sew with a few stitches to the doll, and cover the stitches with a sash of bright colored tissue paper; add a strip of tarlatan for a floating scarf, gluing it to the uplifted hands. Bend back the piece of cardboard projecting from the foot, and glue to it a small piece of bristle brush. The wire on the doll should be long enough to pass tightly around the brush, thus making it more secure. If you would like to have the Chinaman (Fig. 239) in your troupe of dancers, trace on cardboard Fig. 236, draw a face with slanting eyes, or paint it; then take several strands of black thread and tie them together in the centre with another piece of thread (Fig. 237), bring the ends down together (Fig. 238), braid them and sew the braid to the back of the Chinaman’s head (239). Cut a loose sacque from pattern Fig. 240, fold at the waved lines and sew together at the dotted lines; cut an opening for the head as seen in pattern. Make the hat of dark green paper cut in the form of Fig. 241, and crimp it from the centre (Fig. 242). Sew the hat to the back of the Chinaman’s head, bend the cardboard projection at the feet and glue it to a piece of brush. [Illustration: Fig. 240.—Chinaman’s Sacque.] [Illustration: Fig. 241.—Pattern of Chinaman’s Hat.] [Illustration: Fig. 242.—Chinaman’s Hat.] [Illustration: _Fig. 243_ _Fig. 244_ _Fig. 245_ _Fig. 246_ Butterfly Pattern.] [Illustration: _Fig. 247_ Butterfly.] Butterflies of brilliant hues, all hovering and circling, may take the place of the fairies, or they may mingle with them in the dance, presenting a scene indeed fairy-like. To make a butterfly, trace the pattern given in Fig. 243, on brilliantly colored paper. Form a body by rolling a small piece of beeswax between the fingers until it assumes the desired shape (Fig. 244); then attach the wings to the body by softening the wax and sticking them to it. Wax a piece of black thread to stiffen it, and make a knot in each end (Fig. 245), bend this in the middle and stick it on to the head to form the antennæ (Fig. 246). Fasten one end of a very fine wire securely in the middle of the wax body, and wrap the other end around a small piece of brush as seen in Fig. 247. A number of these butterflies placed on the pianoforte will move, bend and sway with the music as if endowed with life. Toys, also, which are small and light enough, can be made to “trip the light fantastic” in time to the music. Select those most suitable and glue them to pieces of brush in the way described for the other dancers. The children, generous little souls, always long to do their part towards making Christmas presents, and we hope that the suggestion we have offered will help them to manufacture, without other aid, many little gifts which their friends will prize the more highly for having been made by the loving little hands. [Illustration] CHAPTER XXX.