Indian children sometimes used beads of clay, and so did the little Egyptians, for the fine clay by the river Nile made beautiful beads, as well as pottery. The children of the North--the little Esquimaux--had beads of amber, and the Indian tribes farther south strung shells that look so much like the teeth of animals one can hardly believe they are anything else. Look for them at the Natural History Museum and you will see that this is so. Nowadays there are of course many more kinds of beads--beads of glass, china, gold and silver, and even of semi-precious stones. After all, though, the child who lives in the country or by the sea can gather the most interesting kind of all--such as were strung by those children who lived so long ago--seeds, berries, shells and seaweed. Gather them on a sunshiny day and store them away for use in the dull hours when you are obliged to be indoors. The seeds of muskmelons are soft enough to pierce; watermelon seeds will take more effort and a stronger needle. Then there are the orange berries of bittersweet and the red ones of holly. Haws or hawthorn berries are a beautiful red, too, and perhaps you will find in a neighbour's garden a bush of Job's tears--gray, white or brown. The grape-like seaweed which bursts with a pop when you step on it makes very pretty beads. Cut each one close to the bulb, yet far enough to leave a short piece of the stem on each side of the bead. Pierce the bulbs while they are still wet, and after they have dried for a few days they will be ready to string. Apple and flax seeds, beans and peas before they have dried, make excellent beads. A few of the small glass beads which come in bunches may be used with these natural beads, and will set them off wonderfully. Although they are usually sold in bunches, eight skeins to a bunch, the skeins can sometimes be bought separately. Olive-green crystal beads of the size that dealers call No. 3-0 are beautiful with red berries, and what could be prettier to string with brown seeds or Job's tears than gold-lined crystal beads? Let us use them in making a chain for a muff or fan. _Muff Chain in Brown and Gold_ =Materials Required:= 12 brown seeds or Job's tears, A bunch of gold-lined crystal beads, No. 3-0, A spool of No. 60 white linen thread, A No. 5 needle. Have you ever seen any Job's tears--the interesting tear-shaped seeds of an East Indian grass? It grows very well in this climate, and you may like to raise it yourself. Think of being able to pick beads from a plant of your own!