[Illustration: Diagrams of a Christmas Tree Stand.]
Now cut from your packing box sixteen strips or pickets one and three-quarters inches wide and fourteen inches long, like Fig. 8. These may be “ripped out” with a saw and smoothed up with a plane and sandpaper.
To “assemble” the standard join first the two Fig. 6 strips and two Fig. 7. This leaves a hole two inches square in the center and two strips projecting from each of the four sides. Place the first square frame that you made on this, so that its sides will be equally distant from the center, and nail in position. Next nail the pickets in position so that the lower end of the pickets will be “flush” with the lower side of the frame. Next, hold the upper frame, with the grooves up, in position, eight inches above the lower frame and nail the pickets to that. Fig. 9 shows the complete assembly.
Now give the frame, and the two pieces like Fig. 5 a coat of dark green paint, and the standard is ready for use. Slip the tree into the square hole in the base. If the trunk is a bit too large, whittle it to fit. Then place the two pieces like Fig. 5 around the trunk at the top of the frame for a clamp, and slip them into the grooves in the upper frame, and you will find your tree quite ready to stand up and behave.
How many boys and big folks, too, have at some time received a Christmas gift which was broken, or crushed, or spoiled in some way through the careless packing of the sender. Even at ordinary times the mail service and Express Companies are hard enough upon packages given to their care. The term “baggage-smasher” ought not to be restricted to the employees of the railways alone, and when at Christmas time the mails and express lines are congested with packages of all descriptions, and the men are tired and overworked trying to deliver gifts that have been sent at the last minute--then it is doubly needful to insure the safety of your Christmas presents by careful packing.
Of course the wrapping of a gift cannot change its value, but you should bear in mind that your gift will _seem_ doubly attractive to the one who receives it, if inside of the serviceable outside wrapping, there is another dainty one, and the expense is so trifling that it need hardly be considered. A dozen sheets of tissue paper cost only a dime. Pure white or warm “Christmassy” red are the most desirable kinds. Another dime will purchase a box of Christmas seals--small ones with pictures of holly and mistletoe, or large ones with Santa Claus heads or Christmas bells on them. If you prefer tying, to sealing, the ten cents will buy a dozen yards of “tying” ribbon, which is crimson “baby” ribbon in a cheaper grade than is ordinarily sold. Gilt cord is also very attractive for tying up gifts, and a tiny spray of holly tucked under the cord or ribbon gives a final dainty Christmas touch.