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For years she had been preparing fish dinners from the denizens of the lake near her home, but it wasn't until she heard of the competition that she paid any particular attention to them as craft material. Then she noticed that each fish had a "butterfly" in its head. This butterfly-shaped bone was different in each kind of fish—suckers, mullets, catfish, bass, muskies—some big, some little, but all found in the lake beside her home.

Pondering on her talents she had an idea. Why not combine her painting with fish bones in some way? Soon she had all the local fishermen dropping in with discarded fish heads and backbones. Some of the bones had delicate shapes that would make very fine artwork. Maybe the scales could be used, too?

THERE IS nothing so uninteresting as dry fish bones. But when Mrs. Aldred had quite a variety of them on hand, she began to think of making little pictures using a plywood background. She bought the wood by the sheet and had her brother cut "canvases" about 5½ by 5½ inches square. Some he cut round.

At first Mrs. Aldred used only the butterfly shaped bones and the scales against a solid background. These efforts were so much admired at the fair that she easily won the grand prize for originality. This gave her the needed impetus to go on to experiment, and before long she began weaving the other bones of the fish into pictures of beauty.

The designs were mostly Mrs. Aldred's own ideas, taken from the scenery near her home—flowers and trees and sailboats against a background of water. The bones and the scales are first assembled on paper so that she can see how they will look when finished. This tells her where they are to go in the finished design. These are glued into place on the plywood with household cement. Then the background scenery is painted in—leaves, sky, water, etc.—and the bones painted as well. When this is dry, the whole thing is gone over again twice, allowing it to dry in between times. The finished picture is given a coat of shellac and is ready for framing.

Scales are used for flowers; head and rib bones make flower stems, leaves and grass; rib bones of the carp make tree trunks and limbs of trees; mullet and sucker bones yield curly arches that are used for realistic "ferns" in the grass. Butterflies of catfish make small sail boats, and, of course, butterflies.

It is not possible to say exactly which bones are used for which. If a bone lends itself to a certain place it is used there; if not, Mrs. Aldred breaks larger bones with pliers to fit in. Anyone who makes the pictures must use his own judgment.

Scales are washed and curl as they dry. They can be used either turned inward or outward to make realistic flower petals.

Yellow stamens can be bought at the dime store to form centers for the flowers. But sometimes Mrs. Aldred uses mustard seeds and paints them yellow. These are stuck in with household cement.

Small picture hangers are pasted on the back of the plaques. Wooden frames cost about forty to seventy-five cents each. The finished plaque about 5½ by 5½ inches sells at $4.

A carp is one of the ugliest of the finny tribe, but looking at Mrs. Aldred's picture of bluebirds with apple blossoms in spring colors, one sees beauty grown out of ugliness. Set on black velvet in a shadow box frame, it brings many expressions of admiration.

OUT OF this picture craft grew yet another branch of artistry—making brooches and earrings. In the beginning, these were just miniature plaques on plywood, using small bits of bone and scales for little trees, flowers, sailboats, etc., and sold at $1 each.

Still yet another branch of the craft evolved from this—brooches and earrings from the scales alone.

One pair of earrings is made of four large curled scales. Bass scales are more attractive and delicate than those of carp. The scales are painted with thin white paint tipped with gold and are very dainty, indeed. They are assembled with the flat side towards the center and the outer edges curled up into a cup, onto a glass or plastic base. A small white pearl is cemented into the center, then ringed around with yellow stamens. When all this is dry, gold paint mixed with banana oil is used to tip the "petals."

The scales for brooches and earrings are first painted the desired color or combination of colors and the edges tipped with a contrasting one, making a pretty combination (like pink and blue). They are cemented one by one onto a plastic or glass brooch base starting with one in the center and spiraling around until the base is covered. For a cup earring, Mrs. Aldred puts the flat side down so that edges curl up. When all is dry, the whole is given a coat of clear shellac. On the bottom of the base, an earring clip or brooch clip is attached. For all cementing, Mrs. Aldred uses household cement applied with a bit of cotton wool on the end of a toothpick.

Carp scales, which are much larger, have been used for both the flowers and leaves of a large, floral centerpiece. Place cards and novelties have been successfully fashioned, using the scales as one would in doing shell work. This phase of the work has not yet been fully developed by Mrs. Aldred.

A gumwood jewel box made by Mrs. Aldred's brother is a lovely piece. The bones were used to form a design of pale green tinted leaves, pink flowers, yellow-dotted white butterfly, and because a bit of bone resembled one, a green fish! Often the shape of the bones, themselves, suggests part of a picture—a flower, fish, etc.—and such a bone is used for that.

APART FROM some early lessons in painting, Mrs. Aldred has had no training in craft work. Using her own ingenuity, which she says every worker in this craft must do, she makes up her own designs and works out her own methods of procedure. She has sold dozens of the gay little plaques, several large pictures, decorated a handsome fire screen, a tall wooden lamp base and jewel box, and dozens of the gay brooches and earrings.

"The bones are free," she says with a smile when queried about expenses, "but the oil paints, brushes, plywood, frames, etc., and the plastic or glass disks, pins and ear clips, have to be bought. The tools are simple and found in most homes—small pliers, wooden toothpicks, household cement.

The scale brooches and earrings, which cost about eighty cents each to produce, sell for $1.25 each or $2.50 per set. A large painting has sold for $20. These prices would have to be increased, of course, if time had to be counted in. In other districts they would vary depending on the cost of materials.

"As a farm wife, I can do this work only in between home jobs," says Mrs. Aldred. "As it is a hobby, I don't count my time in figuring costs. I paint each plaque several times. As the paints have to dry in between I can pick up a piece when I get a few free moments."

To prepare the bones for using, Mrs. Aldred cooks the fish heads a short time so that the bones come out easily. Then they are washed and washed. If they are still not white enough, a little bleach is added to the water. If they are left in too long, they will disintegrate.

Since that first prize at the local fair, other awards have come Mrs. Aldred's way. Two summers ago, she won fourth prize in a group of thirty-seven entrants for hobbies for older people at the large Canadian National Exhibition.

Many large orders have come to her through these local fairs and by word-of-mouth advertising, and Christmas brings an influx of requests from friends. Mrs. Aldred feels she gets all the work she can handle in her spare time.