Geranium. Materials: The geranium is made in the same way as the primrose, except that the petals are not indented at the top.

Lily of the Valley. Materials: White single Berlin wool for the petals, a deep yellow for the pistils, à deep gas-green for the leaves; some fine and medium size wire, and a wool needle.

The Petals are four in number; the wire must be very fine, and bent to the exact shape of Fig. 9, care being taken to have it nicely pointed. The mode of working is the same as in the primrose, white wool being used. When the petals are worked, the tops should be indented, and bent slightly backwards, to give them the natural form.

The Pistil is simply a loop of yellow, round which the four petals must be placed, and fastened to the stems.

The Stem is of wire, covered with green wool, which is done in fastening on the flowers.

The Leaf is worked in the same way as that of the primrose, the wire being bent the size and shape of engraving (Fig. 10).

The Clusters. Mount eight flowers, three buds, and two leaves in the manner shown in Fig. 8.

Mat with above Flowers. Materials: Two circular pieces of cardboard ten inches across; three-eighths black alpaca; three-eighths black velvet; three dozen skeins of gas-green single Berlin wool, in shades, for the moss; for the flowers, four skeins; five of primrose, two of gas-green, seven of white, four of scarlet.

The flowers consist of two sprays of geraniums, two sprays of primroses, and two sprays of lilies-of-the-valley. The velvet must be stretched over one piece of cardboard, then tack the flowers and moss round the edge, cover the second round of cardboard with alpaca, and sew the two together.

* Complete instructions will be found in "The Practical Point-Lace Book" and "The Royal Wool-Flower Book," published by J. Bedford and Co., 186, Regent Street, and 46,

Goodge Street, W., of whom patterns and materials may also be had.

For

Lace-Paper Cuttings. Fire-paper and Stove Ornaments, lacepaper cuttings serve much better than the ordinary paper or willow shavings. The tissue-paper should be in folds three or four inches wide. Mark the outside of the fold over in little diamonds with pencil and ruler; then sketch with a pencil any pattern you fancy; perhaps a bunch of grapes at the bottom, and a wreath of roses and leaves running up through the centre. Between the figures cut out all the diamonds, but be careful not to cut them in the figures. Three or four leaves, arranged in a circle, and cut in some pretty pattern, form tasteful ornaments for candlesticks. The beauty of cut-paper flowers and lace-paper cuttings depends very much upon the taste and ingenuity of the designer.

Paper Flowers may be easily made. They serve admirably to ornament a ball-room, to add to evergreens for Christmas decorations, &c. Roses are simple in construction; a few sheets of pink, yellow, and crimson paper, a little green moss, iron wire, and green cotton being all the materials necessary. Fold the paper into strips of an inch and a half to two inches wide. Then fold back each strip, and slightly scollop one edge; then with your scissors, which should have round ends, press out the edge so as to round and slightly crimp it. Cut a piece of wire, and begin to wind the paper round the end. Wind strip after strip loosely, so as gradually to form a flower; then tie it round the stem. White roses, pink, and crimson, with blush roses, having a little pale pink in the centre, may be made so; a calyx of moss should be added to some. Make buds half-blown, and full-blown flowers. Hyacinths are also pretty and easily made. Cut the paper in inch-wide strips, and notch the edges. Curl the strips with the blunt edge of a knife or scissors, and roll round each strip, with the curled edge outward. Roll each piece up to form a flower, and then secure the whole on a wire, placing them gradually down it, and winding a little green wool round the stem. Add long

Feather Ornaments. Fire

screens, composed of the wings of pheasants or other birds, are both pretty and useful, and, when hung at the fire-side, below the bell-pull, form

a nice addition to the decorations of a drawing-room. The wings must be cut off when the bird is fresh killed,

and as near the body as possible, being careful not to ruffle the feathers. When the wing is cut off, place the inner edges together, and sew them up till near the top feathers. When sewed, lay the screen on a table right side down, and, having placed a double paper over the sewing, press it with a hot iron. When that side is done,

turn the screen, and place a weight on the right side to give it a flat back;

it is then fit to attach to the handle

-a

gilt one looks best. Form rosettes of scarlet chenille, and sew one on each side, so as to cover where the

handle joins. A pair of scarlet chenille tassels and silk cord are required; the screen is hung by the loop of cord.

Potichomanie. This is an excellent imitation of every sort of porcelain--Sèvres, Etruscan, Japanese, Assyrian, &c.

The materials required for potichomanie are:-Glass vases, sheets of paper printed in various designs, var nish, dissolved gum-arabic, prepared colours, paint-brushes, essence of lavender, or turpentine, and fine scissors. The vases are of plain glass, in various forms; but, from the nature of the work, it is necessary to have the neck large enough to admit the hand. The graceful shape of the Etruscan vase is, therefore, not quite convenient to display potichimanie.

The sheets of paper are coloured, and printed in various designs-some with figures and other subjects in the graceful Etruscan style; others have dragons, trees, flowers, birds, &c., in Chinese design, or figures and decorations in the Assyrian style; and, again, there are medallions, and other

Be

only by long stems, and flowers with the pistil and stamens projecting, are considerably more difficult to arrange than simpler patterns.

including a clean towel, some soft old Lay all the materials on the table, linen, and a small bason of warm

water.

Fold a sheet of blotting-paper into several thicknesses, lay one of the subjects on it, and, with one of the brushes, cover the painted side of it entirely with gum. Of course, the vases have been previously thoroughly washed and well dried. Put the paper inside the glass, rubbing down every part with your nail, so that no air be left between the paper and the may glass. Proceed in this way with each figure, flower, or other design, until glass; borders may be added or not, sufficient patterns are placed on the according to fancy, but they must always harmonize with the rest of the design.

When all these are perfectly dry, examine them to see that no air-bubble is left. Then add a coating of gum at the back of the figures, and, when dry, a coat of varnish; in both cases without touching the glass. After this is thoroughly dry, remove with a wet cloth any spots of gum or varnish that may have fallen on the vase, and mix the colouring matter with sufficient essence of lavender to make it run freely. Pour the liquid into the vase, and twist it round and round until every part is completely coloured. Pour the remainder out, let the vase dry, and then add another coat of varnish.

A vase so prepared may hold water, but we do not recommend the trial. An inner vessel, filled with water, might readily be placed in the larger one for flowers. When the ground of the upper and lower parts is intended

to be black, and that of the centre light, the colour must be applied with brushes, and not poured in as directed. Each part should also be dry before the next band is applied. Great taste is required in the choice of the ground colour, as on it greatly depends the truthful hue of the china.

Vitro-manie, or Imitation Stained Glass. One of the prettiest ornamentations for windows is decorative glass-work. The materials are inexpensive and at hand. The best prints for the purpose are the coloured frontispieces of music, or coloured groups of flowers. Heads alone look well; but, whatever be the design, it must be coloured. Take one of these frontispieces, damp it through with a sponge and water, let it remain on a clean and smooth cloth till equally damp; then get a frame of a slate, the full size of the picture, or nearly so; rub some paste on the flat edge of the frame, letting it lie well on the surface; take up the print, place it on the frame; press the paper well down on it, let it remain some hours till dry; it will then, when tapped with the fingers, sound like a drum. Then procure some crystal, or white hard varnish, or Canada balsam, and varnish the picture on both sides. When dry, varnish it again, and perhaps a third time, as the oftener it is varnished the more transparent it will be, but it must be perfectly dry between each varnishing. The picture parts of music frontispieces are generally inclosed with an oval or square; take it out of the frame, and cut it in either of these lines, if there are any, as the case may be. It is now ready for putting on the window; but first get a square of figured net, such as is sold for ladies' sleeves. Have the net the exact size of the pane of glass; get some thin white paint, mixed principally with turpentine, or buy a tube of flake-white-this is already a thick

white paint; with the point of a knife mix it with a very little turpentine, and a sufficient portion of varnish to render it thin. Paint over somewhat thickly a sheet of paper. Lay the oval, or the square design which has been varnished, on to the net, and cut away the portion of the centre of the net where the design will come. Now lay the net from which the centre has been cut on to the paper, so that it shall absorb the paint on one side of the net; let it stay a few minutes, then take it up and lay it on the glass, taking care that it touches the glass in every part. Let it remain on the glass for a quarter of an hour, then strip it off; a perfect impression of the net will be left on the glass. When this is quite dry, varnish the back of the picture again; varnish also the clear portion of the glass, which answers to the shape of the picture; then place the two varnished surfaces together, pressing the print well on the glass, that it may not slip. The window-pane will now be complete, and will last for years.

Painting on Silk or Satin. Make an outline, then lay on with care a wash of isinglass, which will remove the glare and sleekiness of the silk, and make the colours work freely, melt the isinglass in clear water so as not to be glutinous, otherwise it would spoil the colours and discolour the silk; make the lights by a small tint mixed with flake white, of the colour of the intended flower, just sufficient to give a degree from the colour of the silk; for instance, if a blue flower, a very small quantity of bice or blue verditure mixed with white, using less of the white in proportion as the shades grow darker, indigo may be used alone in the darkest. Take care never to lay the colours on thick, as they will crack, to prevent which mix a little white sugar candy with the gum water.