t the
wind.

RACK FOR TOOTH-BRUSHES, IN RUSTIC-WORK.

This is very simple, but it is pretty as well. Cut two straight spruce
twigs, each having two or three little branches projecting upward at
an angle of forty-five degrees. These twigs must be as much alike in
shape as possible. Place them six inches apart; lay two cross-twigs
across, as you see them in the picture, and tie the corners with fine
wire, or fasten them with tiny pins. Two diagonal braces will add to
the strength of the rack. Hang it to the wall above the wash-stand by
a wire or ribbon. The tooth-brushes rest on the parallel branches.

[Illustration: A RACK FOR TOOTH-BRUSHES.]

For further particulars concerning spruce-wood work, see ST. NICHOLAS,
Vol. III., pp. 114 and 115.

MINIATURE HANGING-SHELVES.

[Illustration: MINIATURE HANGING-SHELVES.]

Boys who have learned to use their pocket-knives skillfully may make a
very pretty set of hanging-shelves by taking three bits of thin wood
(the sides of a cigar-box, for instance), well smoothed and oiled,
boring a hole in each corner, and suspending them with cords, run in,
and knotted underneath each shelf as in the picture. The wood should
be about eight inches long by three wide, and the shelves, small as
they are, will be found convenient for holding many little articles.

PAPER-CUTTERS.

Another idea for these graduates of the knife is this falchion-shaped
paper-cutter. It can be made of any sort of hard-wood, neatly cut out,
rubbed smooth with sand-paper, and oiled or varnished. It has the
advantage that the materials cost almost nothing. Suggestions for more
elaborate articles in wood will be given further on.

[Illustration: A FALCHION-SHAPED PAPER-CUTTER.]

A WALL LETTER-HOLDER.

This is something which quite a little boy could make. Cut out three
pieces of thin wood, a foot long by six inches wide; smooth and
sand-paper two of them, bore a hole in each corner and in the middle
of one side, and fasten them together with fine wire, cord, ribbon,
or the small brass pins which are used for holding manuscripts. The
pieces should be held a little apart. Cut one end of the third piece
into some ornamental shape, glue it firmly to the back of one of the
others, and suspend it from the wall by a hole bored in the top. It
will be found a useful thing to hold letters or pamphlets. A clever
boy could make this much handsomer by cutting a pattern over the
front, or an initial, or monogram,