Page:The Art of Modeling Flowers in Wax.djvu/36

 are few flowers more highly prized than the mignonnette; the delicacy and beauty of its form is expressed in France under the affectionate diminutive, "The Frenchman's Darling."

The petals of this chaste and beautiful flower are cut from thick white wax and rubbed with arrowroot; the stem should be made of the larger-sized wire, bent over several times at the top. Form the foundation of white wax, making it in the shape and size of a small almond. Place the three small petals in the palm of the hand and curl them so that the concave part of the petal should fit over the foundation. Place a larger size, three in number, in the spaces left by the small petals; the other petals are placed rather above. After you have put on five or six rows of the smaller petals, turn the larger sizes back; these should be placed round the centre and curled very much at the edge to give that beautiful thinness so observable in the natural flower.

The calyx is made of green wax, colored with a slight tint of brown.

The leaves are formed on the plaster mold with dark green wax, two thicknesses and a light shade at the back. After you have cut the fine edge, or