Suppose you try keeping a notebook; begin it now, and write down the little things that you hear the family wish for during the year--tiny things, maybe, but just what they want. For instance, Aunt Helen, who writes, never has enough pencils--her nieces and nephews know why. Father is unable to find an express tag when he wants one, because he has no case to hang close beside his desk. Joe says he wishes someone would make him a chamois cover for his new knife--it is getting scratched already; and mamma cannot find that recipe for potted pigeons that she cut from the paper Saturday evening. What a number of entries you will be able to make in your gift book! See how it reads: Aunt Helen: One dozen pencils. Father: Leather tag case and tags. Mother: A blank book with her newspaper recipes pasted in. Joe: A chamois knife case. And this is just a beginning. When you visit your friends you will soon see or hear what little things will please them. Then you can begin collecting the materials for your gift box, and when a rainy day comes what pleasant hours you will spend. Let us begin with the _Beaded Knife Case_ =Materials Required:= Some scraps of chamois skin in the natural or another colour, 1 skein No. 4-0 beads in a colour that will harmonise with the leather, 1 E bead of the same colour, A spool of letter A sewing silk the colour of the leather, A No. 11 needle. One of the simplest and prettiest gifts you can make is this beaded knife case. If you have made the Indian costume described in Chapter V. you will have plenty of scraps of chamois left. Otherwise you can buy a small chamois skin in the natural colour, or, if you prefer another colour, skins of beautiful tints may be bought. Red is very effective and not as costly as some others. In buying a skin, choose a colour that you will not tire of, for you will be able to make so many small things of it that it will be well to have a colour you will always like; either red or green or a soft brown that is not too light will be a good choice. [Illustration: FIG. 70] [Illustration: FIG. 71]