One-Eye, Two-Eyes, and Three-Eyes

      There was once a woman who had three daughters, the eldest of whom was called One-Eye, because she had only one eye in the middle of her forehead, and the second, Two-Eyes, because she had two eyes like other folks, and the youngest, Three-Eyes, because she had three eyes ; and her third eye was in the centre of her forehead.

       Now, as Two-Eyes saw just as other human beings did, her sisters and her mother could not endure her. They said to her, "You, with your two eyes, are no better than common folk. You do not belong to us!" 

       They pushed her about, and threw old clothes to her, and gave her nothing to eat but what they left, and did everything that they could to make her unhappy.

       It came to pass that Two-Eyes had to go out into the fields and tend the goat, but she was still very hungry, because her sisters had given her so little to eat. She sat down on a ridge and began to weep, and so bitterly that two streams ran down from her eyes. 

       And one day, when she looked up in her grief, a woman was  standing beside her, who said, " Why are you weeping, little Two-Eyes?"

       Two-Eyes answered, " Have I not reason to weep, when I have two eyes like other people, and my sisters and mother hate me for it, and push me from one corner to another, throw old clothes at me, and give me nothing to eat but the scraps they leave? Today, they have given me so little that I am still very hungry." 

        Then the Wise Woman said, " Wipe away your tears, Two- Eyes, and I will tell you something to stop your ever suffering from hunger again; just say to your goat:

 " 'Bleat, bleat, my little Goat, bleat, 

 Cover the table with something to eat!'

and then a clean well-spread little table will stand before you, with the most delicious food upon it, of which you may eat as much as you are inclined. And when you have had enough, and have no more need of the little table, just say:

 " 'Bleat, bleat, my little Goat, I pray

, And take the table quite away!' 

and then it will vanish again from your sight." Hereupon the Wise Woman departed. But Two-Eyes thought, " I must instantly make a trial, and see if what she said is true, for I am far too hungry," and she said:

 "Bleat, bleat, my little Goat, bleat,

 Cover the table with something to eat!" 

and scarcely had she spoken the words than a little table, covered with a white cloth, was standing there, and on it was a plate with a knife and fork, and a silver spoon; and the most delicious food was there also, warm and smoking as if it had just come out of the kitchen. 

       Then Two-Eyes said a little prayer she knew, "Lord God, be with us always, Amen," and helped herself to some food, and enjoyed it. And when she was satisfied, she said, as the Wise Woman had taught her:

 "Bleat, bleat, my little Goat, I pray,

 And take the table quite away!"

and immediately the little table and everything on it was gone again. 

       "That is a delightful way of keeping house!" thought Two- Eyes, and was quite glad and happy.

 In the evening, when she went home with her goat, she found a small earthenware dish with some food, which her sisters had set ready for her, but she did not touch it. Next day, she again went out with her goat, and left the few bits of broken bread which had been handed to her, lying untouched.

 The first and second time that she did this, her sisters did not notice it, but as it happened every time, they did observe it, and said, "There is something wrong about Two-Eyes, she always leaves her food untasted. She used to eat up everything that was given her. She must have discovered other ways of getting food." 

       In order that they might learn the truth, they resolved to send One-Eye with Two-Eyes, when she went to drive her goat to the pasture, to watch what Two-Eyes did while she was there, and whether any one brought her things to eat and drink. So when Two-Eyes set out the next tune, One-Eye went to her and said, " I will go with you to the pasture, and see that the goat is well taken care of, and driven where there is food." 

       But Two-Eyes knew what was in One-Eye's mind, and drove the goat into high grass and said, "Come, One-Eye, we will sit down, and I will sing something to you."

       One-Eye sat down, and was tired with the unaccustomed walk and the heat of the sun, and Two-Eyes sang constantly:

One-Eye, wakest thou?

One-Eye, steepest thou?"

until One-Eye shut her one eye, and fell asleep. As soon as Two-Eyes saw that One-Eye was fast asleep, and could discover nothing, she said:

 

"Bleat, bleat, my little Goat, bleat, 

Cover the table with something to eat!" 

and seated herself at her table, and ate and drank until she was satisfied. Then she again cried:

 "Bleat, bleat, my little Goat, I pray,

 And take the table quite away!" 

and in an instant all was gone. 

       Two-Eyes now awakened One-Eye, and said, "One-Eye, you want to take care of the goat, and yet go to sleep while you are doing it! In the meantime, the goat might run all over the world. Come, let us go home again." 

       So they went home, and again Two-Eyes let her little dish stand untouched, and One-Eye could not tell her mother why she would not eat it, and to excuse herself said, "I fell asleep when I was out." 

        Next day, the mother said to Three-Eyes, "This time you shall go and watch if Two-Eyes eats anything when she is out, and if any one fetches her food and drink, for she must eat and drink in secret." 

       So Three-Eyes went to Two-Eyes, and said, " I will go with you and see if the goat is taken proper care of, and driven where there is food." 

       But Two-Eyes knew what was in Three-Eyes' mind, and drove the goat into high grass and said, "We will sit down, and I will sing something to you, Three-Eyes." Three-Eyes sat down and was tired with the walk and with the heat of the sun, and Two-Eyes began the same song as before, and sang:

 "Three-Eyes, are you waking?" 

but then, instead of singing, 

 "Three-Eyes, are you sleeping!" 

as she ought to have done, she thoughtlessly sang:

 "Two-Eyes, are you sleeping?"

 and sang all the time,

 "Three-Eyes, are you waking? 

Two-Eyes, are you sleeping?" 

       Then two of the eyes which Three-Eyes had, shut and fell asleep, but the third, as it had not been named in the song, did not sleep. It is true that Three-Eyes shut it, but only in her cunning, to pretend it was asleep too. But it blinked, and could see everything very well. And when Two-Eyes thought that Three-Eyes was fast asleep, she used her little charm:

 "Bleat, bleat, my little Goat, bleat, 
 Cover the table with something to eat!" 

 and ate and drank as much as her heart desired, and then ordered the table to go away again:

"Bleat, bleat, my little Goat, I pray, 

And take the table quite away!" 

and Three-Eyes had seen everything. 

       Then Two-Eyes came to her, waked her and said, "Have you been asleep, Three-Eyes? You are a good caretaker! Come, we will go home."

        And when they got home, Two-Eyes again did not eat, and Three-Eyes said to the mother, " Now, I know why that proud thing there does not eat. When she is out, she says to the goat:

 " 'Bleat, bleat, my little Goat, bleat, 

 Cover the table with something to eat!' 

and then a little table appears before her covered with the best of food, much better than any we have here. When she has eaten all she wants, she says:

 " 'Bleat, bleat, my little Goat, I pray, 

 And take the table quite away!' 

and all disappears. I watched everything closely. She put two of my eyes to sleep by using a charm, but luckily the one in my forehead kept awake." 

       Then the envious mother cried, " Do you want to fare better than we do? The desire shall pass away! " and she fetched a butcher's knife, and thrust it into the heart of the goat, which fell down dead.

 When Two-Eyes saw that, full of sorrow, she went outside, and seated herself on the ridge of grass at the edge of the field, and wept bitter tears. Suddenly the Wise Woman once more stood by her side, and said, " Two-Eyes, why are you weeping? " 

       "Have I not reason to weep? " she answered. " The goat, which covered the table for me every day when I spoke your charm, has been killed by my mother, and now I shall again have to bear hunger and want." 

       The Wise Woman said, " Two-Eyes, I will give you a piece of good advice. Ask your sisters to give you the entrails of the slaughtered goat, and bury them in the ground in front of the house, and your fortune will be made." 

       Then she vanished, and Two-Eyes went home and said to her sisters, " Dear Sisters, do give me some part of my goat. I don't wish for what is good, but give me the entrails." Then they laughed and said, " If that's all you want, you may have it." 

       So Two-Eyes took the entrails and buried them quietly, at evening, in front of the house-door, as the Wise Woman had counseled her to do. 

       Next morning, when they all awoke, and went to the house door, there stood a wonderful, magnificent tree with leaves of silver, and fruit of gold hanging among them, so that in all the wide world there was nothing more beautiful or precious. They did not know how the tree could have come there during the night, but Two-Eyes saw that it had grown up out of the entrails of the goat, for it was standing on the exact spot where she had buried them. 

       Then the mother said to One-Eye, " Climb up, my Child, and gather some of the fruit of the tree for us." One-Eye climbed up, but when she was about to lay hold of one of the golden apples, the branch escaped from her hands. And that happened each time, so that she could not pluck a single apple, let her do what she might. 

       Then said the mother, " Three-Eyes, do you climb up. You with your three eyes can look about you better than One-Eye." 

       One-Eye slipped down, and Three-Eyes climbed up. Three-Eyes was not more skillful, and might search as she liked, but the golden apples always escaped her. 

       At length, the mother grew impatient, and climbed up herself, but could grasp the fruit no better than One-Eye and Three-Eyes, for she always clutched empty air. 

       Then said Two-Eyes, " I will go up, perhaps I may succeed better." The sisters cried, " You, indeed, with your two eyes! What can you do?" 

       But Two-Eyes climbed up, and the golden apples did not get out of her way, but came into her hand of their own accord, so that she could pluck them one after the other. And she brought a whole apron full  down with her. The mother took them away from her, and instead of treating poor Two-Eyes any better for this, she and One-Eye and Three-Eyes were only envious, because Two-Eyes alone had been able to get the fruit. They treated her still more cruelly.

       It so befell that once, when they were all standing together by the tree, a young Knight came up. " Quick, Two-Eyes," cried the two sisters, "creep under this and don't disgrace us!" and with all speed they turned an empty barrel, which was standing close by the tree, over poor Two-Eyes, and they pushed the golden apples which she had been gathering, under it too. 

       When the Knight came nearer he was a handsome lord, who stopped and admired the magnificent gold and silver tree, and said to the two sisters, "To whom does this fine tree belong? Any one who will bestow one branch of it on me may, in return for it, ask whatsoever he desires." 

       Then One-Eye and Three-Eyes replied that the tree belonged to them, and that they would give him a branch. They both tried very hard, but they were not able to do it, for every time the branches and fruit moved away from them. 

       Then said the Knight, "It is very strange that the tree should belong to you, and yet you should still not be able to break a piece off." They again insisted that the tree was their property. Whilst they were saying so, Two-Eyes rolled a couple of golden apples from under the barrel to the feet of the Knight, for she was vexed with One-Eye and Three-Eyes, for not speaking the truth. 

       When the Knight saw the apples he was astonished, and asked from whence they came. One-Eye and Three-Eyes answered that they had another sister, who was not allowed to show herself, for she had only two eyes like any common person. 

      The Knight, however, desired to see her, and cried, "Two Eyes, come hither!" 

       Then Two-Eyes, quite cheered, came from beneath the barrel, and the Knight was surprised at her great beauty, and said, "You, Two-Eyes, can certainly break off a branch from the tree for me." 

        "Yes," replied Two-Eyes, "that I certainly shall be able to do, for the tree belongs to me." And she climbed up, and with the greatest ease broke off a branch with beautiful silver leaves and golden fruit, and gave it to the Knight. 

      Then said the Knight, " Two-Eyes, what shall I give you for it?" 

       "Alas!" answered Two-Eyes, " I suffer from hunger and thirst, grief and want, from early morning till late night. If you would take me with you, and deliver me from these things, I should be happy."

       So the Knight lifted Two-Eyes on his horse, and took her home with him to his father's castle. There he gave her beautiful clothes and meat and drink to her heart's content. And as he loved her so much he married her, and the wedding was solemnized with great rejoicing. When Two-Eyes was thus carried away by the handsome Knight, her two sisters grudged her good fortune in downright earnest. 

       "The wonderful tree, however, remains with us," thought they, " and even if we can gather no fruit from it, every one will stand still and look at it, and come to us and admire it. Who knows what good things may be in store for us?" 

       But next morning, the tree had vanished, and all their hopes were at an end. And when Two-Eyes looked out of the window of her own little room, to her great delight it was standing in front of it. And so it had followed her. Two-Eyes lived a long time in happiness. One day, two poor women came to her castle, and begged for alms. She looked in their faces, and recognized her sisters, One-Eye, and Three-Eyes, who had fallen into such poverty that they had to wander about and beg their bread from door to door. Two-Eyes made them welcome, and was kind to them, and took care of them, so that they both, with all their hearts, repented of the evil that they had done in their youth to their sister. 

• In old folklore, it is often believed that trees and plants have mysterious powers. This is perhaps a common allusion to the herbal medicine widely practiced by both ancient and modern people today. The Grimm Brothers preserved several fairy tales that include trees with magical powers in their printed volumes: The Hazel Branch, The Rose and The Ear of Corn. 

Little Two-Eyes picking from her apple tree.

R. F. D.

       W. Levi Clough, rural mail carrier, Queen Annes County, Maryland, saw the red flag up on the Enoch Sloan box. He stopped his horse at the box, opened it, and took out an alarm clock, with a note attached. The note read: "Pa's watch stopped. Will you please set our clock?" 

       It would appear that delivering mail to 30,000,000 people would be a big enough job for our 32,546 rural mail carriers without the added duty of setting clocks. But to the families lined up along the thousands of miles of rural routes in this country, the mail carrier is just another neighbor, willing and glad to help out with little favors. 

       The carriers themselves feel the same way about it. The service has a fine tradition of helpfulness and neighborliness back of it, built up during its relatively short life. The rural mail delivery service will observe its fifty-eighth birthday this year. 

       It all started back in the middle 1880's when a pert little farmer's wife got to her feet in a Grange meet- ing out in the Grand Prairie region of our Midwest and complained bitterly about having to drive eight miles over bad roads for the mail. “People in the cities have their mail delivered to them," she said. "Are they any better than we are; why can't we have a rural free delivery?" 

       The idea swept the country like a fire on the Grand Prairie. Politicians were quick to see its virtue as a rural vote getter. By 1891 there was sufficient pressure back of the idea to induce Postmaster General Wanamaker to suggest a bill in Congress to create such a service. The bill failed, but the next year Congress appropriated $10,000 for an experimental rural delivery route. Mr. Wanamaker was annoyed at the stingy appropriation and stated that it was inadequate for a full exploitation of even an experimental route. The appropriation was on an annual basis and by 1896 enough had accumulated to justify a start. 

       On June 9, 1896, the first R.F.D. route was started at Charles Town, West Virginia, and a little later in the same year two more routes were established in the same state. The service spread like the green bay tree. At its peak there were 45,382 routes serving the rural areas. 

       The name, Rural Free Delivery, is a misnomer, and although it was used officially for a time, the “free” was dropped in 1903, no one knows why. The official designation now is simply Rural Delivery. It is not now, and never was free. 

       Rural mail carriers are a race apart. Theirs is a lonely life. They go their appointed rounds, day after day over the same routes, with no company but their thoughts. They watch the snows of winter melt off the hillsides, the tender green of spring appear, merging into the lush summer and then into the painted autumn. They get to know every stick and stone and puddle along their piece of country highway. Some of the people along their routes remain only names on the mailboxes; others, as lonely as they, become friends and neighbors, coming to the end of the lane in sunbonnet and apron, to exchange a few words with the outside world. They see children grow up and become fathers and mothers and then grand- parents. From the very nature of their duties they become helpful neighbors, and their chores stretch beyond their official duties of carrying the mail, making out money orders, selling stamps. 

       W. Levi Clough, who set the clock, has been carrying the mail over the same route for forty-seven years. His total mileage would reach twenty times around the earth. He wore out more horses and buggies than he can remember, and nine automobiles. For thirteen years after he started his route in 1916 he drove a horse. Sometimes, when the bottom fell out of the dirt roads in winter, he rode horseback, taking short cuts across the fields. A runaway horse once dumped him, with all his mail, into a wet ditch. He once wrote a letter for an illiterate farmhand to his best girl. The letter, a proposal of marriage, was so convincing she said yes. 

       The Post Office Department learned very early that it could not restrict the extracurricular activities of its mail carriers. There are a few things they cannot do they cannot solicit on their routes, and they cannot make deliveries for business firms. But there is nothing in the regulations to prevent them from matching a spool of thread for a patron or stopping at the blacksmith shop for a sharpened plowshare. They have delivered babies, put out fires, helped round up strayed livestock, taken splinters out of fingers. Walter Hansen, of Vermont, found this note in a box: "Will you please stir my apple butter. I'm taking Lafe his dinner." 

       The telephone, radio, and daily paper have not seriously threatened to displace the mail carrier as purveyor of news, rumor, and neighborhood gossip. 

       The hazards of driving more than a million miles would seem to be a strain on the law of averages. Yet John Stansbury, who has carried the mail in Vermillion Parish, Louisiana, for thirty-two years, has never had an accident-"never even bumped into anyone," he says. The carriers have a remarkable safety record. 

       The department permits carriers to operate side- line businesses as long as they do not interfere with the delivery of the mail. Stansbury has a little farm, gets up at four o'clock, feeds his stock, and goes to the post office to sort his mail. He says that he always looks forward to his daily thirty-mile drive, for like all carriers he believes the people along his route are the best. "Why," he says, "I'm always finding a bunch of new onions or a length of sausage at butchering time, or a cup of hot coffee on the cold days." 

       If a carrier wants to stop and chat, there's nothing in the regulations to prevent it. He is not confined to a time schedule, but is expected to cover his route regardless of storm or heat or cold or gloom of night. If he finds a bridge out, he is permitted to take alternate roads, but otherwise he cannot take short cuts even though he has no mail to deliver. 

       When the service was started in the late nineties the routes were shorter than they are now. Up to the early twenties routes were laid out on the basis of the distance a cavalry horse could walk in eight hours. As automobiles replaced the horse, the length of routes has been increased. Very often when a carrier retires, his route is combined with another. The longest route today, 104.1 miles, is out of Edinsburg, Texas. The shortest is out of Robbin, Illinois, and is 6.25 miles in length. The standard route is 30 miles, and it is on this length that the basic salary is computed. The first carrier was paid $200 per year. Through the years the salary has been gradually in- creased. Today the maximum salary a carrier can draw is between $4,000 and $5,000, depending on the length of service, length of route, and the population served. He furnishes his own car, but is paid depreciation and maintenance. Carriers are required to retire at the age of seventy. A few reach this age with fifty years of service behind them. These veterans are regarded as the royal family among carriers. 

       A carrier is chosen from the area he will serve. When a vacancy occurs, a Civil Service examination is held and the highest man, usually, gets the appointment. The qualifications are simple—a citizen, must know postal rates and regulations, be able to read No. 4 print at fourteen inches, be sound of wind and limb. Both sexes are eligible, but the calling has scant appeal for women. Out of the 32,000-odd carriers, only 348 are women. 

       "Miss Lutie" Mayfield, Morely, Missouri, retired last year on her annuity at the age of seventy, one of the few women carriers to achieve that distinction. She became a carrier after the death in France of her husband in the First World War. She had previously been a schoolteacher. 

       Rural mail has been delivered from about every sort of contrivance that moves-buggy, motorcycle, sled, sleigh, wagon, bicycle, automobile, by foot, and from the back of a mule. About the turn of the century the Post Office Department authorized a standard delivery wagon, a boxlike affair, painted white, with the inscription, U.S. MAIL, and the route number. The mail was filed in a slotted shelf in front of the driver. The reins came through slits above the shelf. It could be closed tightly against the elements, but the windshield could be dropped and the sliding doors opened in pleasant weather. During the winter the carrier usually placed a lighted kerosene lantern between his legs to keep him warm. His lunch reposed under the seat. In those days the more elegant carriers wore a uniform, somewhat reminiscent of what was worn by the boys in blue during the Civil War. It was a trifle stuffy for hot July and August days, and was gradually discontinued. 

       The standard mail "hack" in turn gave way to the automobile. Fred. J. McKeown, Giddings, Texas, started carrying the mail on pony back in 1903 and retired in 1953 after fifty years of service. He acquired a two-wheel cart which he used when the Texas roads dried out. "During the winter rains I often had to swim my pony across streams and if I wasn't careful he could drop into a mud hole." 

       He thought a Model T Ford could get around as the roads improved, and he bought one in 1917. But he had to be pulled out of so many mud holes by friendly farmers that he went back to his pony for a few years more. 

       He passes daily the one-room schoolhouse which he attended, and four of his schoolmates are on his route. In the early days, before telephones were common, he was often asked to send the doctor after he got back in town. He still does a brisk business toting packages from town and to neighbors. 

       The old-time mail carrier periodically had a very knotty problem-what to do with his horse once he was through with him. A horse which had been used for any length of time by a mail carrier was ruined forever after as a driving animal. He wanted to stop at every mailbox along the road, and what was more frustrating, slowed up as soon as he saw one; he was reluctant to travel any road other than his old mail route. No one ever got anywhere on time with an old R.F.D. horse. The daily twenty to thirty miles of an average route soon took the ginger out of a horse, but he was still good as a family horse long after he was unfit for a mail route. Gypsies or traders usually bought the mail horses, at a very low price, and ped- dled them to suckers in strange neighborhoods. 

       A growing number of special cars are being made for the rural mail carrier. These have a right-hand drive which permits reaching the mailbox without sliding across the seat. They are equipped for easy and convenient storage of mail and packages. 

       When parcel post came along, the duties of the carriers were more than doubled. Packages up to seventy pounds were handled. The Post Office Department adopted a larger mailbox, capable of hand- ling the larger packages, and asked the carriers to push them. However, there are still many small rural boxes. When the carrier has a package larger than the box will accommodate, he may deliver it directly, if it is convenient. Otherwise, he leaves a note asking the patron to call at the post office for it, or to meet him at the box the next day. He cannot leave it outside. A carrier dare not take mail from a home which is quarantined. He must deliver a special delivery letter up to half a mile off his route. The department requests that he not leave his mail out of his sight, although it is doubtful if there would be a prosecution should a carrier be invited into a home for a chicken dinner.

       A carrier gets 13 days' vacation a year for less than 3 years' service, 20 days up to 15 years' service, and 26 days after that. He is allowed 13 days' sick leave per year with pay. 

      Rural mail delivery blankets the country today. There is scarcely a family, however isolated, that doesn't get its mail delivered regularly. Some isolated mountain communities are still served by pony ex- press. In the bayous of the South, where there are no roads, the mail is sometimes delivered by boat. Claude Underwood is one of the carriers down there. His route, in Baldwin County, Alabama, is served entirely by boat. He starts at Magnolia Springs, going through Weeks Bay and up the Fish River. He moves from one side of the river to another in his six-cylinder boat, "Jeanetta," stopping at docks, boathouses, and at boxes nailed on trees. He sometimes has to dodge alligators, and keeps an eye open for snakes. His route is a little over twenty-two miles long, with sixty- eight families. 

      Rural carriers have an exuberant national organization, The National Rural Letter Carriers' Association, with headquarters in Washington. Their patriotism takes no back seat, even to the D.A.R., and they have a zealous pride in their organization and membership. Each state has its own tight little association. The carriers have a death benefit association, the Rural Carriers' Provident Guild, and a social organization known as the Retired and Pioneer Carriers' Club. 

       In Washington the politicians come and go, but the rural mail carrier, oblivious to everything except the prompt and regular delivery of his mail, goes his appointed way. There are few who would challenge the statement that no government worker does a better job of serving the citizen.

• Return to The Good Old Days

Video about the R.F.D. by Smithsonian.

All The Days of July . . .

         Kids can celebrate all the days of July here by using our family blog posts. I will highlight the days of celebration in the United States/Canada with a pale orange color and the world days of observation with a pale lavender highlight. Sometimes the themes repeat themselves and so I will choose to list a topic under a month that has less content in order to spread things out a bit. I will be covering all of the months of the year. Readers will notice that I make additions to the listings over time and that I also choose content that is age appropriate in order to maintain my certifications.

1.) National Postal Worker Day - Post office related content here. 

2.) National Firefighter Day - The recycled fire fighter costume, fire fighter coloring pages

3.) National Hawaii Day - Visit our collection of Hawaii themed crafts and articles here and here.

4.) Independence Day (USA) - See our American patriotic doll crafts here.

5.) National Apple Turnover Day

6.) National Fried Chicken Day

7.) World Chocolate Day, - Celebrate world chocolates on July 7th, 

8.) Liberty Bell Day - Read about the Liberty Bell...

9.) National Sugar Cookie Day - sugar cookies on cookie sheets, hearts and stars sugar cookies

10.) Teddy Bear Picnic Day - Our collection of teddy bear crafts and articles here. National Kitten Day - Read about "Raggedy Ann and The Kittens"

11.) Cheer Up the Lonely Day

12.) National Eat Your Jello Day  - Craft tiny Jello products, coming soon

13.) National French Fry Day - How we crafted deep fried doll foods

14.) National Mac and Cheese Day - Macaroni and cheese casserole is sculpted along with many other side dishes here. and Cow Appreciation Day - The Ox and The Cow article

15.) National Give Something Away Day - share your dolls, make crafts for your friends

16.) World Snake Day - Make a friendly snake habitat for your doll, coming soon

17.) World Emoji Day -  Read about antiquated smilies, forerunners of Emojis, originally drawn and made famous by Harvey Peake. (and also the origin of the word 'twitter.')

18.) National Tropical Fruit Day - Search our growing collections of tropical fruits for dolls here and tropical fruits coloring sheets here

19.) National Ice Cream Day - So many flavors to make and for doll's to taste!

20.) World Chess Day - How we made a chess board for dolls.  and  Space Exploration Day - See our favorite links to space and dollplay here!

21.) Take a Monkey to Lunch Day - How to sew a mini sock monkey for your dolls...

22.) National Hammock Day - Our doll hammock craft for lazy Summer days...

23.) National Hot Dog Day - Our classic doll camp foods playset includes all American hot dogs!

24.) National Amelia Earhart Day  

25.) National Thread the Needle Day -  Check out our sewing projects for doll lovers.

26.) National Parents Day - Download and print out this lovely Birth Certificate to commemorate the first time you become a baby doll's new parent. and Then, give your new baby doll a name...

27.) Bagpipe Appreciation Day 

28.) World Nature Conservation Day - The index to our large collection of nature studies...

29.) National Lipstick Day - Craft doll-sized lip sticks. 

30.) Cheesecake Day - craft coming soon

31.) Harry Potter's Birthday - Read about Harry Potter and Friends Dolls

Your Birthday Trees

       A tree, like all growing things, belongs, in a way, to all who enjoy it. But it is a splendid idea for you to have a tree that is definitely your own. A tree that is at its best during your birthday month will soon come to be a real member of the family, watched and cherished.
       Many children plant their own trees. If your birthday happens to come in March or April, you can plant an oak or an elm, an apple or a maple, to celebrate the day, and as you grow, the tree grows with you. Presently you stop growing, but the tree goes on, and by the time you are a man or woman you will look at your tree and marvel at its size and beauty. It will some day give you a great thrill to tell some little child how you planted the acorn from which the oak grew, or the apple tree when it was only a whip. Many a grown man points with pride to some old tree that his grandfather planted.
       The trees that lose their leaves in winter are called deciduous trees and these can be planted successfully only when they are dormant or asleep, which is in the early spring or late fall; but evergreen trees - all except the holly - can be planted at any time during the spring and fall. They must have plenty of water given them for the first year, and they will repay your care. Here is a list of trees and shrubs to plant for birthday months:
       If you were born in May, plant a dogwood tree in April.
       If you are a June child, plant a climbing rose in April or in the late fall before the ground freezes.
       If you want a tree to do its best for you in July, plant a black cherry in April.
       If August is your month, plant in April a pair of pale pink or white Rose of Sharon bushes.
       In September a mountain ash is a lovely sight with all of its red berries. And ash planted early in April may not have berries for a year or two, but once it is started, your ash will not forget your birthdays.
       In October a maple changes to gold or red, or an apple tree bears its gifts.
       In November the little Christmas rose in a sheltered corner begins to bloom, or bittersweet is bright with fruit.
      For the December baby the holly is at its best. January is the month when a white pine is a welcome friend amid the snow. In February a pussy-willow will greet you with its furry buds. In March you can bring in branches of forsythia, and they will burst into bloom. Now that it is April, you can choose for yourself, you April children, what shall be your birthday tree, shrub, or flower? Wodell.

 

Poem illustrated.

 The Trees by John Martin

I turn away from my own fears,

And doubts and pain that come 

with these;

Forgetful of all loss and tears,

My soul communes with trees.

Oh, understanding friends of mine,

There are no heights or depths in me

Your fearless patience can't divine,

Your wisdom cannot see.

Your roots have pierced the somber earth;

You've spread your branches into

Heaven;

Tempest and sunshine taught you

mirth;

You've suffered and forgiven.

 

Your spirit speaks the living word

Out of the very heart of things.

The thunder and the song of bird

Out of your being springs.

 

No matter what I ask, you give;

An unmoved, faithfulness is yours.

I need not fret, complain, or strive,

When such calm strength endures.

You taught the meaning of true

prayer;

You bound God's goodness close

to me.

The perfect Song of Life

is where

He put His living Tree.

Our Unicorn Themed Doll Bedroom

The unicorn themed bedroom in our family dollhouse for 18 inch dolls. In this room there
are six pieces of furniture: the side table, canopy bed, a large dresser, a rocking chair,
a storage cabinet with sliding doors and a comfy cushion and a hanging curio cupboard.
There is also a hanging banner above the storage cabinet that I could not squeeze 
into the photo easily. I photo of it is below.

       To begin with, I completely upcycled a four-poster bed for this unicorn themed doll bedroom. Originally, it was painted white (from Our Generation called "My Sweet Canopy") but I chose to decoupage it with a lovely greyish-brown, faux-wood paper.

First I decoupaged the canopy bed once white with pink curtains. Then I painted the 'carved'
floral areas to match the woodgrain papers. After this I cut the mattress from a cushy piece
of foam, covered this with polka-dot sheet flannel and then cut and stuffed a bed pillow
in the same flannel fabric.

The flower motifs on the bed have been painted to match the decoupaged wood papers.
 The comforter is a blue print with unicorns. 

Left, see storage bench, for toys or games, with seat cushion. The sock unicorn and narwhal
 on top of cushion. The unicorn banners with three dimensional parts. Right is the large
 braided rug, for more pictures go here. The floors of this bedroom are made using
 woodgrain contact papers.

Left, bedside table. Right, large wooden dresser.

       The tops of both the side table and large doll dresser feature the following on display: a large handmade lamp, a collection of 'My little Ponies' real miniature glass perfume bottles, a doll cell phone, handcrafted books and a decorative unicorn sculpture purchased at a dollar store.

Interior decoupaged with chevron and floral paper.

       The lavender painted cupboard may be either hung on the wall or displayed on top of the large white dresser. It displays all kinds of 18 inch doll accessories like: a mermaid figurine, nail polish, lipstick, sun glasses and a cup for soft drinks with a handle, a fancy hair comb, perfume, and a cell phone all displayed on the outside, side shelves. Behind the glass front cabinet door are shelves containing a selection of books, head phone for listening to music and a small frame of a doll's friend and puppy.

 

Left, mirror. Center, unicorn felt banner with 3d crown, mane and horn.
 Right, paint your own unicorn picture for the walls...

Fancy laser-cut frames.

     To make the framed unicorn colored picture (photo below), cut from scrap cardboard, the backing and then glue your own colored version of the following coloring sheets (unicorn with rainbow and/or unicorn with princess).

       To make the mirror, we simply cut a cardboard backing and then glued mirrored paper to this before attaching it to a fancy laser cut frame with masking tape.

       Craft the 3D unicorn framed in an oval laser cut frame by backing it with a sturdy piece of cardboard cut to size and mounted inside the frame. Then sculpt the facial features: mussel, horn, and eyes with oven-bake clay. Glue these features as you see them below inside of the frame. 

       Unravel a cotton ball and layer this with white glue to shape a mane around the horn and eyes. Let everything dry and then paint these features to make a unique piece of wall art. 

Paint the wooden unicorn flat using a selection of your favorite colors. Paste on the lace
to further decorate the unicorn.

  

Left, see the shaped clay pieces pasted onto the white cardboard. These were sculpted
with oven-bake clay and then pasted onto the cardboard. Right, see how to paint the
 unicorn one way simply. But, you may paint your own version with the colors you prefer.

More Doll Sized Unicorn Bedrooms:

• American Girl Doll Unicorn Bedroom by Be Chic Forever - The room includes white furnishings with gold gilt trim, tiny unicorn dolls, a blue metal bed, pink star themed linens, contemporary tulle bed curtains, a bookcase, wardrobe storage and a variety of gold accessories like: a telephone, apple, clock, terrarium, signage etc....
• American Girl Doll Unicorn Bedroom by agoverseasfan - Watch agoverseasfan decorate her doll's unicorn bedroom with unicorn toys, a pink and white unicorn theme, cute card quotes and white fuzzy furnishings and rug.

Left is a unicorn pillow with a lace mane and shiny fabric horn. Right, is a coloring page
 printed colored and pasted to cardboard that fit the inside of the fancy frame.

Make Fruits From The Musaceae Family (Bananas)

       "Musaceae is a family of flowering plants composed of three genera with about 91 known species, placed in the order Zingiberales. The family is native to the tropics of Africa and Asia. The plants have a large herbaceous growth habit with leaves with overlapping basal sheaths that form a pseudostem making some members appear to be woody trees. In most treatments, the family has three genera, Musa, Musella and Ensete. Cultivated bananas are commercially important members of the family, and many others are grown as ornamental plants." Read more . . .

Left, apple-bananas. Center, red bananas. Right, Lady finger bananas all sculpted from oven-backe
clay and then painted using acrylic paints.

Cavendish bananas are most commonly
purchased in the United States.

 

       "The cultivated banana is doubtless the most important and most widely grown of all tropical fruits. It is a conspicuous example of a cultivated plant which has definitely lost its ability to produce seed and must be propagated by shoots from its underground stem. It was originally a native of the tropics. There are two main types, the common banana and the dwarf Chinese or Cavendish banana, each with numerous varieties, especially the former. The variety generally grown in Central America and the West Indies for the U. S. market is known as Gros-Michel." Dahlgren

More About Bananas:

• Banana poems and characters

Restoring The Our Generation Patio Treats Trolley

Above are photos of the refinished treats trolly by Our Generation, updated with faux wood
surfaces. Plus I had to restore the ice "sink" as it was missing from the piece I thrifted from
resale. I think this version looks far less manufactured. The new surfaces now look 
antique! I kept the 'marble' top and added a sink that looks like enamel.

 

        I found this treat trolley at resale. None of it's original foods or ice cubes were still with it. But, not to worry, I will show how to restore these play foods along with this brief review for those of you who are in need of making new accessories for your own playset.

       This trolley has three working wheels, is a periwinkle color with a granite looking top. There is a handle bar so that an 18 inch doll may be made to move the cart while she walks. 

       Originally, this cart would come with the following treats: a lemonade picture and two glasses of lemonade, two snow cones, two ice blocks, an ice bin (photo above), two ice cream pops, two sodas, a large fruit tray (below), tongs and two serving spoons, two dishes of ice cream and a floral display of some kind. Depending on the year you purchase this set, the flower pot with flowers may be different. I have also seen several versions of the fruit tray from different years and locations and some photos of the treat trolley also include a syrup bottle for the snow cones?

• Directions for crafting 18 inch doll-size ice cream treats in dishes is here
• Always Dolls gives a brief video review of this old set here at YouTube...
  

The surfaces have yet to be changed. Here you can see that I fitted the new sink first.
It is made from cardboard, masking tape and later painted white.

Left, see details from beneath. Center close-up of sink for ice and cold drinks. Right, the handle 
looks fine 'as-is' wouldn't change that at all.

 

       I decided to change the periwinkle color to better compliment our doll's cafe set. The faux granite top, a version in red, pink and white speckles, blends well with neutral grey and white so I will leave it alone. The gold colored handle bar also looks just as good with the chosen faux wood motif I selected for this project so this remained "untouched" as well. 

       I needed to make an ice bin to fill the hole in the top counter. I would have loved for it to been transparent like the original but I had to make it a painted cardboard ice bin instead. This version I painted white to blend with the granite top.

       There were several surfaces on this trolley that were covered with something sticky. Although I couldn't identify this substance, I removed it easily with cooking oil and a paper towel. Then I washed the cart afterwards with dish soap and warm water.

       I masked the periwinkle surfaces so that the decoupage would adhere properly. Then cut and fit the faux wood papers for every surface before applying even coats of white glue to the paper to stick to the trolley.  Afterwards I sealed it with a several coats of Mod Podge.

 

Left, I glued the Sculpey fruit slices directly inside of our covered tray. Center, side view. Right,
 the fruits include in our new version of the fruit tray include top to bottom: cantaloupe
cubes, kiwi slices, apple sections, mangos peeled and slices and strawberries.

This container once was used for a strange deck of cards.

• See how I restored a doll's desk using similar techniques here...

The story of Grasshopper Green and the Meadow Mice

 

       Of course you know the story of "The Grasshopper and the Ant"- and how one autumn, when the winds were growing raw and cold and the nights frosty, the poor Grasshopper, who hadn't done anything but fiddle and dance all through the pleasant summer and had nothing laid by for the hard winter, went to the thrifty Ant and asked for a bite to eat and a chance to warm his toes in the chimney corner. And how the tight-fisted Ant refused to help the Grasshopper.

       Ant said to the shivering Grasshopper, "Keep on fiddling and dancing, it may help to keep you warm!"

       This always seemed to me so cruel. 

       Now you've probably wondered, just as I used to, whatever finally became of that Grasshopper. 

       Well, dear old Great-Grandfather Goodheart, who knows all about such things, told me the following story one rainy day as we sat by the open fire roasting chestnuts. I enjoyed it so much that I'm sure you will too. 

       Now, make yourself comfortable and cozy and listen. After the sneering Ant had banged the door in his face, Grasshopper Green felt, as you may imagine miserable, forlorn and friendless.

       It was growing dark. He turned up the collar of his threadbare claw-hammer coat and shuffled along over the frozen ground, scarcely noticing where his benumbed feet were taking him. He tried wrapping himself in a fallen leaf; it was red and looked as though it might be warm. But, alas! it proved to be a very thin covering against the biting, icy wind. 

       He tried to cheer himself up by playing on his little fiddle, but his fingers were too cold to play lively, cheerful tunes. At last, feeling too chilled and hungry and discouraged to go any further, he sank down at the foot of an old apple tree. This was some protection at least from the wintry blasts which, by now, were moaning, "Whoo-ooh-whee-eeeh!" among the bare branches in a very disheartening way. 

       Poor Grasshopper Green wrapped his leaf cape tightly about him and, in spite of his chattering teeth, finally fell into an uneasy sleep. 

Grasshopper's bad dream.

       He dreamed that he was wandering over an immense field of ice. Suddenly there appeared before him a little red table, upon which was a large yellow bowl of steaming, fragrant broth! Beside the table stood a chair, over the back of which was thrown a thick, fur-lined coat. 

       Just as he reached for the coat, he heard a terrific howling, and the next moment a gigantic hand had swept past him, snatching away the coat and the soup, and so terrifying Grasshopper Green that he fell over backward-and awoke. 

       "Well, singe my whiskers, what's this? What's this?" he heard a hearty voice exclaiming, and, looking up, was astonished to find himself in the cozy home of a family of Meadow-Mice! 

       This is how it had happened. When Grasshopper Green sank down exhausted among the roots of the old apple tree, he had not noticed, in the darkness, that he was leaning against a small door; this was the door of the home of the Meadow-Mouse family, who lived here in a hollow part of the tree, near the roots. 

       An especially strong gust of wind had blown the door open and tumbled Grasshopper Green into the room. When he sat up and looked about he was not quite sure, at first, that this was not just a part of his dream. 

       Father and Mother Meadow-Mouse and their four children, Long-Tail, Sharp-Eyes, Pink-Ears, and Mouseykins, had finished their supper of cornbread and cheese, and Father Meadow-Mouse was telling of two narrow escapes he had had the night before, one from a horned owl and one from Farmer Green's cat, Mouser. He had just come to the most exciting part of his adventures and all the family were listening with breathless interest, when the door, which had been left unbolted, blew open, as I have told you, and in tumbled poor Grasshopper Green. 

       Father and Mother Meadow-Mouse helped him over to their most comfortable chair, by the fire, for the poor fellow was so benumbed by the cold that he could hardly even stand alone. 

Grasshopper gets goose-berry syrup for his cough.

       While Grasshopper Green was explaining, in a wheezing voice, interrupted by coughs, how it was that he had burst in on them so rudely, Mother Meadow-Mouse filled a plate with food for him; then, bustling over to a corner cupboard, she got down a little jug of homemade Goose-berry syrup, poured some of it into a pannikin and set this on the fire to heat, saying as she did so, "There's nothing like warmed Gooseberry syrup to break up a cough." 

       Father Meadow-Mouse would every now and then blow his nose and exclaim, "Well, singe my whiskers and twist my tail!" just to express his sympathy. 

       Of course the little Meadow-Mouse children looked on with the greatest interest. When they saw their mother's treasured Gooseberry juice brought out they all pretended to have coughs, and Mother Meadow-Mouse good-naturedly gave them each a few drops. 

       When famished Grasshopper Green had eaten all he could-which, of course, seemed like very little to the big, hearty Meadow-Mice and when he had drunk the delicious Gooseberry juice, he sank back in the comfortable chair with a contented sigh. 

       Just think how heavenly it must have seemed to him, after having been nearly frozen and starved to death, to be sitting cozily by a warm hearth after a good supper! Father Meadow-Mouse was helping Mother Meadow-Mouse to wash the supper dishes, which rattled in a very homelike way. Long-Tail, Sharp-Eyes, Pink- Ears, and Mouseykins had started droning their lessons for the next day.

Father and Mother Meadow-Mouse wash the dinner dishes.

       "What a wonderfully cheerful place this is," said Grasshopper Green to himself, drowsily. "What beautiful blue furniture-and what a fine red tablecloth-what delightful yellow curtains- and what a good motto hanging over the mantle! 'Do-unto-others-as-you-would-have-them-do-unto-you.'''

       Then Grasshopper Green went fast asleep in the chair.

       Father Meadow-Mouse carried him into the children's room, where there was an old cradle which was about the right size for him, for you see a grown-up Grasshopper is not much bigger than a baby mouse.

       Good Father Meadow-Mouse then covered him up carefully with the very warmest blanket from his own bed. 

Father Meadow Mouse tucks grasshopper into bed.

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