Christmas trees-A. Spread an ice-cream cone with powdered sugar frosting which has been tinted green. Before the frosting dries, press popped corn all over the tree. Cinammon drops and cut-up gum drops stuck around the popcorn make the tree look as if it has lights. Make several and have a forest. Arrange on tables. B. A larger tree could be made from cardboard. Fold a sheet 12" x 18" into a cone shape. Trim and staple. Decorate.

Pipe cleaners or Twist-'Ems-Twist these into any shape that pleases you-a wreath, a tree, a bell.

Cornucopias-Fold a half circle of construction paper so the outside edges overlap enough to hold together with staples or paste. Punch a hole in the opposite side from the pasted side, and use a ribbon to hang it from the tree. Fill with candy, if you like.

More snowflakes-Tie fifteen or twenty soda straws together by drawing a string as tight as you can get it around the middle of all the straws. As you draw the string tight, the straws will spread. Hang on the tree, or hang from the ceiling with different lengths of thread. CeUophane straws are particularly attractive as they catch the light and sparkle.

Strung cranberries-Cranberries and popcorn strung alternately look pretty, but popcorn is a little tedious for small children. Use a large needle, double thread, and tie strings together for a continuous chain.

Decorated pine cones-A. Children love to paint them with poster paints or spray them gold, silver, white or pink, using the new pressurized paint cans. It is rather expensive. B. Popcorn and cranberries are easily stuck in the pinecones and look very effective. C. Touch the tips of the cone with glue and sprinkle glitter over it while the glue still is wet D. Put glue on the tips of the cone and press tiny glass balls (which come in strings like beads) on the ends.

Milk-bottle tops-Let the child put paste on both sides of the top, and then sprinkle with Christmas "snow" while the paste is still wet. Punch hole and hang on tree, adding ribbon.

Newspaper ornaments-(For mothers to make) Wad a piece of dry newspaper until it is round. Cover the wad with strips of paper (4" x 1") which have been dipped in a thin solution of wheat-paste flour and water. Wipe off excessive paste and set aside until dry. Note: this often takes two or three days. Paint with poster paint and decorate. An apple, orange, or gourd can be covered with the strips of pasted paper as described above and cut in half, when dry, with a sharp knife. When cutting, be careful not to cut the fruit, just to it After a string has been taped to the inside, put the two halves together again and wrap the hollow ball with more pasted strips. Decorate.

Bells can be made from paper cups. Stuff a wad of wet paper at the top and cover the inside and outside of the paper cup with the pasted strips. Allow to dry, paint and decorate.

A Christmas candle-A very good idea for all those who want to know "how many more days." From the top of a long candle paste the number 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, and on down to number 1, and then a message of "Merry Christmas." Each day, starting with the twelfth day before Christmas, the candle is burned one number.

See sections Things To Do and Making Things for more Christmas ideas, such as painting balloons, wire sculpture, etc.

Children's Trees

If the children want a tree of their own to put their own decorations on:

1. Buy two trees, maybe one could be a live tree.

2. Try one of the following:

A. Cut branches off the family tree and stick in a bucket of wet sand.

B. Find attractive branches of oak, pine, or pyracantha and set in a can of plaster of Paris or wet sand. Children can spray them with a snow bomb or paint the branches with white poster paint They will also like mixing up a thick solution of soap-flakes and water and rubbing "snow" on the branches.

"Food" trees have a special appeal to small children.

Lollipop tree: Hang lollipops all over the tree. When their friends come to call, they are to cut lollipops from the branch and give them to their friends.

Cookie tree: Before the cookie goes in the oven, make a hole in the dough so a ribbon can be run through the cookie. Hang from the tree same as lollipops, and they are to be shared in the same way.

Candy-cane tree: As above.

Popcorn-ball tree: Wrap popcorn balls in colored cellophane and hang from tree.

Treasure-chest tree: This decoration is made from the chocolate candy that comes wrapped in gold paper and looks like gold money. Heat the end of an ice pick, make a hole through each coin and hang on the tree with ribbon.

Gum-drop tree: Stick gum drops on a small branch; one that has been painted white is more effective.

Other suggestions for decorating Christmas trees and branches are:

All balloons: All one color or many colors is equally pretty. Stick colored stars on the balloons, or decorate with poster paints.

All pine cones: Whether or not the pine cones are painted is a matter of taste. A tree with small unpainted pine cones, all hanging from red ribbons, is very effective.

All pipe cleaners: Use colored pipe cleaners. On a small branch, twist them into the shapes of animals, people, Christmas bells, wreaths, or trees. Twist red-and-white pipe cleaners together to look like a candy cane.

A tree for the birds: If you have an evergreen growing outside, hang cranberry and popcorn strings or squares of dried bread on it. Birds don't seem to mind, however, if their Christmas treats are hung from a potted lemon or flowering plum.

Fourth week: The fourth week finds you ready and relaxed, waiting for Santa if you are like some of us, or frantically doing all of the things you didn't have time for in the first, second, and third week, if you are like Most of us.

Easter

Before the Easter bunny comes to your house, tell him not to leave expensive presents for your child, like stuffed animals or tricycles; for if he does, he is then a villain to the child next door who was left a chocolate-covered egg.

Easter bunnies are very co-operative. 1 They will fill grass nests which you have made and hidden around the house. 2 They will hide jelly beans along the baseboards. 3 They will bring only hard-cooked eggs to a sugar-free household. Or 4 they will bring their own variety of nests, baskets, and eggs.

Easter baskets can be made from cottage-cheese cartons which have been wrapped with strips of pastel crepe paper and stapled or pasted to the side of the carton. Wrap a cardboard handle and staple to the sides. Ice-cream cartons, strawberry baskets, and oatmeal cartons split in half also make good Easter Baskets. (See Things To Save And Why.)

Easter eggs can be dyed green with spinach juice, brown with coffee, yellow with onion skins, and red with beet juice. A single plant, such as a pansy, planted in half an eggshell, makes a nice gift for a small child to give for Easter.

Easter-egg tree: Set a small, attractive branch into a cottage-cheese container and pour plaster of Paris around the branch. When the plaster of Paris is hard, tear away the container. Paint or spray the branch.

Blown eggs: With a pin, poke a hole in the top and bottom of a raw egg. Blow over a large bowl (children love to blow eggs). If the egg is stubborn, puncture the yolk with a pin. After the insides have been blown out, decorate the shell with Easter-egg dyes and hang from the branch. Use the eggs for scrambling. Use the branch for Christmas decorations also.