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Figurine-Making Is Handy At Christmas

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Parent Issue
Day
1
Month
December
Year
1949
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Donated by the Ann Arbor News. © The Ann Arbor News.
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Figurine-Making Is Handy At Christmas

By Dick Emmons

Give Mrs. Leonard Mallory of 102 Ninth St. enough paraffin, pipe-cleaners and paint and Mrs. Mallory will give you some of the most decorative little figurines this side of the nearest novelty shop.

She suggests her hobby as one which might appeal to others—particularly with the gift season reaching its annual height.

Since picking the original idea out of a do-it-at-home magazine recently, Mrs. Mallory has made six of the ornamental little wax figures, complete with costumes, hair and headpieces.

For Christmas Gifts

She plans to give the little paraffin people away to relatives and friends for Christmas. "I just enjoy doing it,” she says.

So far, she has turned out a little princess, a gay carol-singer whose dress is straight from a discarded apron, a southern "mammy” and three others a little less easy to type.

Here’s how it’s done: twist ordinary pipe-cleaners into human-figure shape. Dip them into hot canning paraffin and, while the wax is still workable, add more to form head, hands and feet.

Dunk a small piece of wool yarn into the liquid wax and stick in on the dummy’s head: you’ve got the hair.

Similarly, dip pre-cut pieces of cloth into the substance, mold; them to the figure and shape into folds while still moist. Melt the end of a child's black crayon with a candle and rub the liquid on the figure's feet, giving it shoes.

Finished In An Hour

A touch of paint here and there finishes the job in about one hour, i according to Mrs. Mallory’s timetable.

Another hand-craft she has enjoyed is making flower buds about the size of a penny and suitable for pins, earrings and decorations on place-cards.

These Mrs. Mallory molds entirely by hand from a paste of salt, flour and water. After a 24-j hour drying period, she paints them with water-colors and then shellacs with nail polish.

The Ninth St. resident has turned out water-lillies, pansies, sweetpeas and rosebuds, among others. It takes a little patience, quite a lot of practice, and a set of nimble fingers.

For beginners, Mrs. Mallory’s exactness demonstrates she has altered the old adage to read: “Haste with paste makes waste."

Spare time for Mrs. Leonard Mallory of 102 Ninth St. means a chance to make decorative little flower-buds from a mixture of salt, flour and water. She illustrates how they look as place-card decorations and as a blouse pin. Another hobby is making tiny wax dolls of paraffin and pipe-cleaners.